How I See It

Gall Bladder Flush

2011-06-16T21:38:00.003-04:00

A friend came to my aid on Facebook about the Gall Bladder. She informed me that her chiropractor suggested she do a gall bladder and liver cleanse. She sent me the how tos and I went from there, desperate!

The more I researched, the more I realized it worked...

I created a JogtheWeb sight to put the information all in one spot! You can find it here!

This way if you could care less about your gall bladder or liver;

Really? Who are you anyway?

...than you need not be subject to the ghastly detail!

Gall Bladder Gitmo

2011-06-16T19:55:00.007-04:00

Ok, so yeah....LOTS has happened since then. Take facebook for instance! Who has time to blog when you could be facebooking? Or, say you have just decided to host an angry birds water balloon fight?

Anyway, so fast forward to today~this day~a day for sonograms on gall bladders!
I have been dealing with this issue for over a year. Frankly, I am sick of it and eating like I am a weirdo from planet weirdness.

Yes, it is a place.
How do I know?
I have been there for the past year!

I have always felt like a "weirdo from planet weirdness" since I was a child. I was diagnosed in the 6th grade with allergies to food~wheat, dairy products, chocolate(yes, I said chocolate), corn, and dogs and other things I can not remember. I had external eczema as a result which was annoying, painful, and embarrassing for as long as I could remember it. However, as I grew up the external went away...but I suppose the inside continued to "deal" with these allergens as I was not real good about avoiding them. At 18, I had my appendix removed in an emergency surgery. Now, I deal with the "gall bladderish" issues. Luckily, today found out blood work came back normal for issues in that area. So, I remain hopeful that the issue will clear itself up and I will not need surgery. I am telling you I have tried EVERYTHING...right down to a royal flush!!! However, that's another post altogether, and one I fully intend to write.

I eat plenty of weird things and I love beets...yeah, I said beets~what's it to ya???

Lately, anytime I find a different recipe tht sounds healthy and make my life with food more interesting, I like to try it. Well, I should say now that I am staring down the barrel of a shotgun named "gallbladder surgery" I am even more willing to try it!

Take for instance this delicious sounding recipe from a blog called Raw Lawyer . Considering 75% of my diet should be raw, I am thinking I am going to like her blog!

"Chia Chocolate Pudding for the Exhausted

* 1 cup vanilla almond milk
* 1 scoop Sun Warrior Chocolate Protein Powder
* 3-4 tablespoons of (white is my preference) Chia seeds

Put in small container with lid. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes so Chia seeds can expand. Shake container every now and then to prevent clumpy-ness. Eat while lying in bed with good book.

Chia is a great source of Omega 3 fatty acids, fibre and is an antioxidant."

Thank you very much Raw Lawyer...I will be trying that one tomorrow.

You see in my search for being more aware of what I am eating, I find myself realizing I just might be one of those kind of people that are more sensitive to food. It's a life sentence because "food is my friend". I love it...all of it. Okay, maybe not liver and certainly not mutton! I miss wine the most.

I began the stages of loss and grief for the "foods" I can no longer eat already. I am dealing with it, and realizing I am not lucky like the woman who shared her gall bladder was loaded with stones and she had no problems. WHACK!!!! Yeah, that was me slapping her! Acting like, "what's the big deal" towards me.

"Michael, go out back and heat up that poker and let's jam it through her back just under the scapula and give her a little taste of what gall bladder attacks feel like. Make sure and laugh at her as she desperately tries to belch to make herself feel better!!! No, honey do not give her TUMS; TUMS WON'T make it feel better!!!"

Ok, yeah, so maybe I am in the Anger stage of dealing with this loss!

I digress,

And please pass the Olive Oil and Grapefruit juice.

Groundhog Day

2010-02-02T18:25:00.003-05:00

The groundhog did not see it's shadow here in Florida...does that mean Springs around the corner??? I am ready!

In August of 2007 we were there...it is a real place and it is beautiful in the summer time!

Happy 13th Birthday Jacob!!!

2010-01-24T18:38:00.007-05:00

It's official! My oldest has turned 13 years old! I shared photos of him as a baby on up through the ages in a birthday post last year! Go HERE to see the baby that is now a TEENAGER! You'll hopefully enjoy this post as much as I did! There are some great pictures of the children and great grandpa!
I took some photos of Jacob yesterday in a photo shoot outside before his birthday party!
Here they are straight out of the camera!

At 1:30ish, Jacob's friends arrived at the house. We piled in the Tahoe and headed out to the bowling alley. I got a great glimpse into the world of 7th graders! ACK! They were repeating lines from the Office and giggling the whole way there!
Once we arrived at the alley, we bowled for two hours! The boys had a ball. Jayda and Mike and Jay joined us shortly after we began. She had gone to a girl scouting event earlier in the day!

The bowling was a great success and the boys wholeheartedly agreed that this was way better than video games any day! They get so caught up in video games they do not think that much else matters! UGH! A source of contention in our house. Jacob wanted to use the money he has been saving to buy a Play Station 3. He has a wii, xbox, and nintendo 64. I had to be the "mean" mom and put my foot down about that one! He settled for buying himself the latest video game for the wii and is surprisingly happy!
After we finished bowling, we headed over to CiCi's pizza for all you can eat pizza...isn't this ever 13 year olds dream come true??? hahaha Jacob loves the joint and so did his friends!
Then it was back to the house! The boys played outside for about an hour...working off all that pizza they had eaten. It was a lot of fun for all of the boys! Then off course, it was in to play some video games!

Don't forget about the ice cream cake. Unfortunately, the icing made the ice cream melt more than usual...it didn't look as pretty as it usually comes out...but it was delish!!!
Michael gave jay icecream last night, he only broke out a little from it and told me, "I yuv iceceam!".

I missed him blowing out candles, but this was just after he blew!

Overall, it was one very fun day! Just before bed, Jacob came into my room and said, "Mom, thanks this was a really fun day!" I totally have to agree and look forward to many more wonderful birthdays. Next birthday up in the immediate family is Jayda...as she informed me this morning. 5 months and counting! hahaha

ABC's of Me!

2010-01-22T15:16:00.003-05:00

This has been moving about the blog world and I wanted to add my little part! Copy and fill in the ABC's of you and then link me back so I can read about you!

ABC’s of me

A – Age: Let's just say it is fall in my world.

B – Bed size: Queen who is desperately in need of a King!

C – Chore you hate: Housework, cooking, cleaning up, bathrooms, laundry...

D – Dog’s name: Jay Harvey...oh wait he is a boy.

E – Essential “start your day” item: Caramel Macchiatto.

F – Favorite color: Robin's Egg blue

G – Gold or Silver: Silver.

H – Height: 5′9″ish

I – Instruments you play(ed): Flute in past and most recently gazoo today! Jay loved it!

J – Job title: 1st grade teacher is first job of the day, 2nd job mother/wife. Both highly underpaid

K – Kid(s):3...my fav number

M – Mum’s name: Um, I call her “Mother and Mom.”

N – Nicknames: In childhood, Jessabellybutton. In grown-up-hood, JessyMessy or messyjessy.

O – Overnight hospital stay other than childbirth: broken leg, appendectomy, a surgery I shoould have been hospitalized and drugged heavily is the most recent hernia repair...who's idea was it to have outpatient surgery??? :o)

P – Pet Peeve: Lack of intelligence, or commonsense for that matter. People who throw up their problems on your shoes. Anything that smells bad. Rude people. Dumb people. People who cut line...didn't they go to Kindergarten???????????? Oh wait, they are the ones who did it even back then!

Q – Quote from a movie: I wish I could remember one.

R – Right- or left-handed: Right, because I am.

S – Siblings: Yes, but it doesn’t matter ‘cuz my mom loves ME best.

T – Time you wake up: 2 am, 4 am at 5 am then finally give in and get up! I guess when you go to bed at 730 or 8 pm this is bound to happen.

U- Underwear: Underwhere? Of course I wear underwear.

V – Vegetable you dislike: tomatoes or is that a fruit?

W – Ways you drink your coffee: hot, sweet and fulfilling...like me!

X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, leg, chest, ankles, other leg

Y – Yummy food you make: monkey bread

Z – Zoo favorite : dolphins

Now it’s your turn. Post the ABC of YOU in comments, or link us to your blog. C’mon, you know you want to!

2010-01-04T19:45:00.002-05:00

It was a cold cold cold morning! Up at 5:45 am and hot showered...to bring my body temperature up to something above 65*...and then out the door. I could act like I hated being up so early...but the caramel macchiato and blueberry scone were way worth it!!! hehehehe

School went well and the children were well behaved. {Made for a wonderful day back at the grind!}

Dinner at my mothers house...perfect ending to a long day!

Brrr...

2010-01-02T12:08:00.005-05:00

It sure is winter! Brrr....it is going to be colder tonight! Did you happen to notice the Blue Moon on the 31st? I managed to get a glimpse of the moon rising last night and I was floored! Our world is so beautiful.

Heard from Michael early this morning. He said it is so cold in Illinois that he can barely breathe outside. I do not miss the cold!

Today, I got dressed and Jay dressed and headed out to the car...but he wouldn't get in his car seat. Marched him right back in, set him in time out, and we did not go anywhere all afternoon.

Totally different story when we went to my mothers for dinner! He was all about getting in the seat! Then iot was the normal hijinx while there!

Not to worry though, he has not turned over a new leaf...
*within the half hour he was standing on the dining room table playing with the chandelier crystals. {I know, where was I? ~~~ About 10 feet away.}
*it was then on to the big wheel and putting in on the coffee table and trying to climb up on it.{Where was I? ~~~ About 3 feet away.}
*he had pulled out about 40 tissues from the tissue box...just kept pulling and holding them in one hand. {I knew it was too quiet and peeked around the corner.}
*he goes in the bathroom and does one of several things depending on his level of ingenuity{I call it naughtiness.}: gets in the bathtub and tries to play with the bath toys{occasionally reaches to try and turn on water.}, undresses and tries to get on potty, or will stand and proceed to unravel the toilet paper as quick as possible by hand{because he knows I hear that and come running and it is his goal to get through as much as possible in as short amount of time as possible.}.
*pulls dining room chair to window, stands on it, and tries to slide lock over.

Let's just say he knows where the time out area is and knows the tone that causes him to flee and sit there. Depending on what he feels the level of my anger is he will do one of the following:
*Sit eyes wide open and quiet{usually when he has done something where he has hurt himself.}
*Wail and cry.
*Sneak away the second I turn my back.
*Find some game in his world to play.

If I had to describe him in one word...it would be BUSY!
If I had to describe me in one word...it would be EXHAUSTED!
But look how cute he is!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T14:45:00.004-05:00

December 31st- Jay was potty trained until about 8 pm. Used the heck out of the potty, made it every time except once! Then grew weary of it.
Today, January 1st...not so much. Could be for the best...I am solo this weekend as Mike has had to travel north to pay his final respects for his grandfather.

This afternoon, Jay and I are spending with my mother. Then out to dinner together!
Jay and I have gotten closer over the last two days! I am still not back to being better yet from my hernia surgery three weeks ago. It pains me to sit here at my computer this very instant!
Yet, I digress from my woes!

This year is a year all about love for me! Myself. My Family. My Friends. My Students. ETC.

Afterall, we all need a little more love!

Speaking of...Resolutions. So what are yours???
Have you set out to make some new ones?

Here are a few of mine:
1. Love more.
2. Create more.
3. Blog daily.
4. Clean more.
5. De-clutter.
6. Leave stories behind.
7. Create moments/stories/memories.
8. Fish more/Catch more fish!
9. Heal to the point where I can begin to exercise.
10. Be Health conscious! Celebrate the fact that my surgery cured my indigestion...I hope or it is back to Dr. Brawnstein for gall bladder surgery. I am not so sure I am ready for another of those! But, if I must...there is no better surgeon out there!
11. Remember others in little ways! Paying it forward.

Well, I must go and try and find something warm to wear that wont hurt my incision. I need to get out and beat the blustery day doldrums!
Til then...

A sad day for us!

2010-01-01T14:36:00.002-05:00

However, the angels sing.

Lloyd E."Red" Hall

Commercial-News

December 30, 2009

— Lloyd E. "Red" Hall, 95, of Danville, passed away on Dec. 30, 2009, at the VA Illiana Health Care System in Danville.
He was born March 18, 1914, in Georgetown, the son of Stanley A. and Ruth Grace (Clark) Hall.
Lloyd married Laura Jean-ette Myers on Nov. 5, 1938, in Danville. She preceded him in death on June 6, 2002.
He is survived by his son, Charles C. (Kim) Hall of Danville; his daughter, Peggy (Jay) Carter of Ocala, Fla.; one sister, Annabelle Walker of Indianapolis; five grandchildren, Michael J. (Jessica) Carter of Deltona, Fla., Jayne Ann Carter of Ocala, Fla., Rachel C. (Dustin Howes) Hall of Baton Rouge, La.; Sarah C. (Christopher Harpst) Hall of Champaign, Ill., Daniel C. Hall of Chapel Hill, N.C.; and three great-grandchildren, Jay H. Carter, Jacob and Jayda Fantauzzi, all of Deltona, Fla. Lloyd was preceded in death by his parents, wife and two brothers, Stan and Harold Hall.
Lloyd served in the United States Navy during World War II. When he returned he started working at the Danville Post Office. He retired from the Post Office in January 1972 with the title of assistant postmaster.
After retirement, Lloyd and his wife spent the next 25 years traveling.
Lloyd enjoyed spending his winters with his wife at Llano Grande Lake Park in Mercedes, Texas.
He was an avid St. Louis Cardinals and Illini fan. Lloyd enjoyed golfing and loved following his grandchildren in their many sports and other
activities.
He was a member of Olive Branch Masonic Lodge 38 in Danville, the Ansar Shrine, York Rites, and a 33rd degree Mason with the Valley of Danville Scottish Rite. Lloyd also was a member of the Elks, Boy Scouts, NARFE, United Commercial Travelers and St. James United Methodist Church of Danville.
A private family service will be held for Lloyd Hall at Sunset Funeral Home in Danville. Burial will take place beside his wife at Spring Hill Cemetery in Danville.
Memorial donations may be made in Lloyd�s name to the St. James United Methodist Church.
Email condolences can be sent to the family at: www.sunsetfuneralhome.com.

Photos

Lloyd E. "Red" Hall

I feel so blessed to have known Grandpa Red!
You can read some about him here:
Grandpa and Jay
and some more here:
Danville Trip

He will be missed but never forgotten! His memory will live on through the stories we tell.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2009-12-22T10:21:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Joy is...

2009-11-28T09:06:00.004-05:00

...waking up and laying in a warm warm bad, covers pulled up over your head!

...as I laid in bed I thought of an amazing necklace bracelet combo to create.

...getting up and sketching said necklace combo and loving it even more than what I imagined it to be.

...getting on the Publix scale and finding I weigh 9 pounds less than I had imagined.

...having Christmas shopping 75% done!

...having spent a wonderful thanksgiving with family I love and cherish!

Mmmmm...nothing better than a couple of roasted beasts to get my mouth watering!
Jay LOVED pumpkin pie!
The children had a ball playing indoors and outdoors in Ocala!
This is baby's 3rd Thanksgiving bib! Each year they scratch out one number and put the next!
The dreaded kids table was one of the better tables to sit.
The hosts of the day!
The folks enjoying their meals!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T17:54:00.000-05:00

Birthdays to Basketball to Present

2009-11-24T09:04:00.011-05:00

Life is good, and busy, and full of fun!
I brought home "Froggy" from school. He is the class mascot and needed a bath! Jay took an immediate liking to him and I can't very well blame him!He tells the best secrets and stories about all his adventures with my students at their house on the weekends.
Jacob captured a few shots of The baby and Michael and me. However, we got to laughing about how Michael smiles and that it looks like he has slight constipation. It makes me laugh because he has the most beautiful smile...when someone isn't asking him to smile! :o)
To make it fair, I placed a weirdo pic of me here!

Jacob has been playing basketball for a couple weeks now and he is getting better each week. No points the first week, 4 points the second week. Considering their final score in the second game was 15, he is doing well. hahaha

Jay loves playing outside! He would be outside all day if he could be.
I have been craving two things prior to my birthday. PR's mexican and Starbucks Caramel Macchiato's. I managed to get both in on my birthday weekend!
Jay got to play at Denning Park in Winter Park after we ate. He had a ball!

Then, here is me...on the dreaded 39th!

See how I feel about it here: The Fall Season of my life!

And then I have this precious child to remind me I am young and still alive!
Not to be left alone as a mother for even a second, I had the wonderful pleasure of overseeing Jacob's 2nd science fair project. This year it was about rust! Iodized salt water and regular water each holding a nail. Which do you think rusted first???????
School has been a flurry of learning and native american projects!
Dreamcatcher:
Legend water painting:
Book created to hold all of the information we have gathered.
Oh, yeah...then there was that fun afternoon we had Friday before thanksgiving! We did some fun projects!
Turkey Oreo:
Thankful headband:
Turkey Pine Cone:
Oh and another native american project.
The Northwestern Native American Totem Pole:
Oh, yes...Jay loves Froggy!
Might even get him potty trained before going back to school. Froggy that is;Jay has NOOOO desire yet!
Froggy needs fed!
Jay realizing he forgot froggy as he was off to the park!
Playing at the park on the climbing wall.
Down the slide...smiling the whole way and coming out looking like this each time!
Then discovering how fun a fire hydrant can be! I photoshopped a barrier out of the background...could you tell?

Thanksgiving Day is a hop and skip away...Christmas a hop, skip, and jjump away. I asked the children what they wanted for Christmas this year...other than video games! They himmed and hawed. I said, I think we need to get back to the real meaning of Christmas this year...I am getting you gold, frankencense, and myrrh.

Wow! Time does fly. I believe their is like 39 days left in this year.
So much has passed since I last blogged. I suppose I have been busy!

PS: I have a daughter too if your wondering. She doesn't like her pic taken and also the pics I WOULD have, would have her with a sour look on her face as she is going through a phase...which I am working on breaking her of!

My relaxing weekend and The Old Ceremony!

2009-11-08T21:13:00.005-05:00

My biggest outing this weekend was the grocery store! I actually enjoyed cleaning my house(that is just after Michael took Jay to the store for a bit to pick up some odds and ends). I even used Old English on all my wood furniture. I love that stuff! The smell, why it brings back memories from my childhood!

The weather here is fabulous! It was in the high 70's today and breezy.
We grilled out last night and had a beef tenderloin. It was delicious!

Jay is getting more verbal, if you understand 2 year old gibberish. He's two...I still can't seem to believe it. Where did time go?
He loves to play outside and begs us every chance he gets to go out. Then cries when it is time to get in. We can trick him in...I know, "bad mom"...allow him to ring the doorbell and then open the door. For whatever reason, he walks right in. No tears, no fears!

I am reading The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in 1938.

I know I know I know...I should have had this read years ago. But, I never had to for school. I am going to be so sad when it is over! I get the feeling I am going to be so sad before it is over actually.

Do you have another classic in mind that I should pick up and read? If so, leave me a comment!

By the way...have you heard this song before???

It is called Talk Straight by The Old Ceremony. I absolutely love this song! You can check out their website here! Michael and I had the pleasure of hearing them live in Orlando a few weeks ago! You may be wondering why I was downtown on a school night listening to a band until after 11 pm...Michael's cousin is the drummer! Their music is amazing. They are out of North Carolina and are just finishing up a year tour. Be sure and check when they will be in your neck of the woods and GO SEE THEM! They are the nicest group of guys! Introduce yourself to the drummer, Dan Hall, and tell them Jessica and Mike sent you to see them!

County Fair!

2009-11-08T20:58:00.004-05:00

Jay wanted to get out and walk so bad. The mass chaos of it all had him a bit overwhelmed. He held onto Jayda so he could gawk around at the sights.
We had an absolute ball at the fair. The children were so excited and really enjoyed themselves.
For me...it was all about the corn dog and sweet potato fries.......MMM!
Mother and Dad treat us every year to the fair. It has become a tradition!

Jay's Ocala Birthday and Halloween!

2009-11-08T20:08:00.008-05:00

Photos are random due to blogger uploading them backwards and all wonky...oh well...you'll get the gist! :o)
Jay is a pro at blowing out candles. He got it the first time on his candles at home and Grammy and Grampy's house.

Poor Jacob...you will see him below as a prop to a 2 year old. Je is supposed to be a toadstool.

Jayda is a disco diva,,,,minus the white pleather boots!
Yup...there is always a bit o' fishin' goin' on when we get together! It was cold that day!

You might be a redneck if...

Trick or treat!

Guess who is two!?!?!

2009-11-03T16:29:00.012-05:00

This is a huge post and full of lots of things!
Jacob was inducted into the Beta Club (National Honor Society). Jayda was out in full force and fashion. Snacks abounded afterwards...and Jay took Jacob's while he was up getting a spoon. hehehe

Jacob is starting to play basketball. Jay checked out his size 12 shoes.
Michael and Jay haul in two nights worth of fish for our family. They caught some beautiful trout! To bake fresh fish: Preheat to 425*. Dry pat the fish, season. Spray pan with no stick spray. Bake 6-12 minutes. Ours ended up being 10 minutes.
In Ocala, we went to a pumpkin patch. Jay had a ball. Peggy and Jay enjoyed watching his capers. He was non stop...from one place to another!

I came home on Thursday the 29th to find this lovely carved pumpkin. Mike said he did it while Jay napped. I said WHAT???? Wouldn't it have been a better experience if Jay was involved. Mike thought it would be such a mess if he had his hand in the mix. I laughed. But, I think it is the sweetest thing that he made it.
Later that evening, Jay celebrated his 2nd birthday!

Jay loved his cake.

We had his 2 year portraits taken in his Halloween costume. They thought it cute to put him in every background the travelocity gnome was in. I was a bit irritated, the photographer was not very good.

The beach?? WTH?

Anyway, it has been such a busy couple of weeks!

Jay is now two. He is 37 inches tall and 32 pounds. He is doing very well. He has begun to talk in short sentences.
"Mama, its dark outside."
"I want some candy."
Oh yeah, he is a stinking candy and cookie hog. SERIOUS! But he loves his food so I guess it is ok to have a little now and then.

Jacob has scored all A's on his report card and Jayda had a couple of B's and the rest A's. I am proud of both of them!
I will hopefully have halloween photos very soon. I haven't even downloaded them from my calendar from this past weekend!

Central Florida Zoo

2009-10-18T18:31:00.008-04:00

How about this weather??? I am loving it!

Friday Jayda had the mall lock in for girl scouts. We are still trying to decide what the point of "lock ins" are. She stays up all night and she is pretty much a mess the next day! Oh well...let the fun continue.

Saturday morning I scrubbed the floors and cleaned. Then, I went and got groceries with Jacob. Jayda's friend came over and spent the day and night with us. We went to sign Jacob up for basketball. Then off to the grand opening of the library. I was MOST impressed with the library and how stunning the whole thing is! The most exciting thing is that it is 5 min from our house....and story time is on Tuesdays at 10:30 am ! YAY!!! Daddy can take Jay every week! Then home for a bit. Friday I wore shoes my mother gave me only to come home with the worst blisters I have had in my life! I was determined to find new shoes...and so off I went with the girls to look. After the third store, they were out of control and that was over!

We played outside last evening and again first thing this morning!

The weather is amazing! The children went with their father this afternoon and we were determined to get out and enjoy the day! We decided to go to the zoo with Jay. Upon further study, it was zoo boo. The children dress up and they have 8 booths set up for the children to get treats. I liked it because it was candy and prizes...that Jay just loved! We have a gnome costume for him, but decided with the weather and the place...he needed to dress up like Tigger.

Michael always makes me laugh...

These two turtles are in their early 60s!

Yes, it is true we have a leash for our son! He loves it...except when we wouldn't let him go to the water...it was only 70 degrees today with a bitter wind.

It was such a wonderful end to the zoo...a hayride and then a train ride. The train ride was so awesome until this.....

No that's not Mike trying to rescue the train. Some oddball parent who thought he was strong enough...LOL...he wasn't!

Yes, it is true, I was the caboose...yes it is true the train went off its tracks...but he said it happened earlier too...so it wasn't just me. Some other mom with a big butt had the same thing happen to her...hahahaha! Mike had to photograph the ticked off people as he walked by...

What an awesome time at the zoo! Afterwards, we went and had lunch at chili's. Then some more shoe shopping. I got two cute pairs...we will see what happens.
Here is one of them.

The other is a pair of brown shoes. Not in love with them like the pink...but they will suffice. Now in search of black shoes.

Our weekend!

2009-09-27T22:15:00.005-04:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have recouperated from my illness and had a runny nose and sore throat in the meantime. hahahaha
I have been super busy over at my school blog, creative blog, and now I am starting our class Flat Stanley Blog!
Rachel, if I send you a flat stanley to your class...will you entertain my class by having your students write back to us??? Send me your school address! EMAIL ME if anyone is interested! Cousin Amy...would your class like a flat stanley from me??? Check out www.mrscartersflatstanley.blogspot.com for more details!

We spent the weekend in Ocala! It was a wonderfully fun weekend for us as a family!
I took my three children to see the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Jay fell asleep after the first 15 minutes. It was a fun movie and full of imagination and creativity! The children swam and played at Mike's parents house. My husband went fishing in the Gulf with his dad. I relaxed and enjoyed the time I had to spend with my family! Except that awful work I had to do for 4 hours on Saturday for my ESOL certification and 60 in-service points to re-certify in June of 2010! On Sunday, I wrote out a scavenger hunt of things to find in Ocala and off we went to find them.
Scavenger Hunt List:
-4 unreal horses (Ocala is known for horses! They have large horse statues painted in different themes all across Ocala.)
-1 real horse
-white fence
-1 fall leaf
-cows
-a stick that looks like a fork
-a parking meter
-shampoo
-toothpaste
-deodorant for Jacob
-Toys for Jay(His 2nd birthday is October 29th and I wanted some sort of an idea what he would want. He picked out his favorite~and didn't want to leave it behind. He cried and threw a mini fit. I told him, you don't always get what you want and you have to wait until your birthday.)

Yes, it is true. We headed to Ocala's town square and found several of the things on our list. I added the end things because I had to also go to the store!

Don't be afraid to try this sometime with your own children. They loved the whole process of a scavenger hunt! (And they didn't mind the errand I threw in there!) Plus, they got to explore a little of the town we visit often!

Mmmmm....Dandelions...delicious!

Z Pack...

2009-09-08T20:29:00.002-04:00

...doesn't that sound like space shuttle talk?
Speaking of, it is due to land back in Florida tomorrow evening. It is always an exciting, albeit, startling experience when you hear the boom.

I digress.

I went to the dr. today, makings of pneumonia and definitely laryngitis. My lungs hurt so badly. I want to cry when I cough. I am going to take excedrin to ease the pain! I have lead a sheltered life the last two years. Boohoo, poor me.

Pity parties welcomed!

Hey ~ head over to my class blog if you want to see what we did today!

Sorry I can not add more here, I am beat and need to get to bed!

Again, all pity parties will be collected and celebrated in the order they arrived!

Labor Day Weekend!

2009-09-07T14:27:00.003-04:00

Spent Labor Day weekend in Ocala. The plans were for Mike to go fishing. After all, all week long he is Mr. Mom. The weekend was for him to enjoy. Unfortunately, Jay had to do some work on his roof and Mike helped. Then the next day, 40% chance of rain. So Monday it would be for fishing. NOT!!! Sunday evening, I went to bed at 5:30 ish and woke up at 5:15 am and a terrible ache/ripping/coughing of the lungs. I feel like I have pneumonia. This had Mike at home and not fishing. But there was some good that came out of it!
Jay went for some rides on the tractor...he even steered. Doesn't watch where he is going though!
Saturday, I took Toddler Jay, Jayda, Jake, and Peggy on an excursion! We ended up going to this neat leather/moccasin shop for coupons to local restaurants....I of course felt guilty just taking coupons so I looked around....and found these awesome purses and had to have them!
They were marked down from 42.00 to 15.00 a piece. Handmade, all leather out of Florence Alabama! Handbags by TJ. A USA company that is now out of business! How sad for them...if I had only found these purses sooner, they would NOT have gone out of business!!!!
Then on to CiCi's pizza to take the children somewhere fun! With my first paycheck, I had to take them to do something they would enjoy! LOVED the macaroni and cheese pizza. You'll have to try that sometime!!!
Heading back a couple of weeks, because I have been a bad blogger....
It is Michael's 43rd Birthday...although he got creative with the candles!
1st bad birthday song Mike must endure!

Jay and Mike had a chance to fish on Mike's birthday weekend.
Upon arriving home, Mike has to endure yet another really bad birthday song!

Day one of school for my oldest babies. Jacob starting 7th grade and Jayda starting 5th grade. This was taken at 6:30 am before I had to leave for work...boohoo!

Whirlwind week...

2009-09-03T06:15:00.002-04:00

All day yesterday, I thought it was Thursday. Some may say it was confusion...I say it was WISHFUL THINKING!!!!!!!!!! That would have made today Friday. I have not been this tired in so long...although today was easier to get up that yesterday was....
Maybe it is because I think today is Friday!
HA!
Let me know what you think?!

On a side note. I love garden gnomes. So, if you see any, I want one or two. You know like your neighbor has in their yard? Oh, I am not condoning stealing one of theirs though. Although in this new era of "fairness" perhaps they should just give it to you to give to me. After all, they should not have something better than I do...even if they worked hard to shop for it and lovingly place it in their own yard! I bet they are on sale now or will be after labor day weekend. So maybe I will look for one at the garden center. After all, I will be getting my first paycheck in over 2 years! WOOHOO! Look at that.....amazing when you go to work what happens. You make your own money and get to buy your own things.

PS: I know Michael, it's for bills. But, a girl can dream can't she???

Ok, it is 6:22 am I need to get in the car and get on my way to work!
Ta-ta!

I survived Open House...

2009-09-02T06:13:00.003-04:00

...in fact it went extremely well. Teaching is my gift and I am top notch when it comes to teachers!
I work hard at what I do, but much of it comes naturally. So enough of my bragging...here let me show you a darling note I received from a parent this morning by email. All names have been changed to protect their innocence!!!!!

Hi Mrs. Magillacutty!

I just wanted to thank you for the great open house and to let you know how much Vincent is enjoying first grade so far. He came home today and told me that you’d taught him how to differentiate his “b’s” from his “d’s” -- “The ‘d’ has a big behind and the ‘b’ has a big belly.” And then he told me he likes to draw a dot inside his b’s sometimes for a belly button. Ha! (He also told me last week when I asked about a question he’d gotten incorrect that he’d tried to do the worksheet with his eyes closed — something I strongly discouraged him from trying again ;-)

I also wanted you to know that I really regret not being able to Dividend — I did last year when I was pregnant with baby #4 but now that she’s here and I’m back to work I just can’t swing it. Maybe by the time baby #4 starts 1st grade I’ll be able to pick it back up again!!

Thanks for everything you do and hope you have a great rest of the week,
Mama of 4

Okay, so maybe it WASN'T my finest hour as a teacher...BUT THAT CRACKED ME UP!!!!

I made it!

2009-08-28T17:54:00.002-04:00

I walked out of the school at 3:20 pm today! woohoo.
But I had to walk back in twice, I couldn't find my cell phone.
I have been to work before 7 am (an hour and a half early) and until almost 6 pm every night. I deserved the break. But all that time has me ready for next week!
But alas, I was home shortly after 4 pm(traffic was horrible). Mike went out and picked up a couple of pizza's. Mmmm, delish! I had dinner all planned out this week. Sunday, dinner at my mothers. Monday, Leftover pulled pork. Tuesday, grilled chicken. Wednesday, chili. Thursday, leftover chili. Friday, pizza!
This weekend we are spending time with the in-laws! Michael's parents on Saturday and then my parents on Sunday! It is the week of Jayne's, Peggy's and Michael's birthday! So lots of celebrating.....
Although, I feel like sleeping! Phew, it has been a crazy week!

Jay is feeling better. Mike is getting the hang of Mr. Mom, but Jayda is keeping him on his toes...or should I say at his wits end. hahaha She is soooo much like me when I was her age! Jake is doing homework...yes on a Friday night....something's wrong with that!!!!!!

Well, it is 6:02 pm and I want to shut my eyes. But we have to visit with Mike's folks. I am taking tooth picks with me to keep my eyes open!

Pros and Cons

2009-08-25T20:38:00.003-04:00

Pros:
I love to teach.
I am mentally challenged every day.
I lost 5 pounds so far!
I love cute skirts and shirts that match...add in my jewelery and I am stoked!
Cons:
Jay is at play school and with Mike(who may be at his wits end already).
I missed Jacob and Jayda' meet your teacher day.
I missed Jacob and Jayda's first day of school.
Jay was sick this weekend from playschool-fever 103.5-tested for swine flu.
Pros:
Jay did not have swine flu.
I got paid last Friday and get another paycheck next week.
I have a great class.
I love first grade.
Cons:
I need some new cute shoes that are COMFORTABLE!
I do not get a chance to sit down all day.
I have worked until 5 pm or later every day for the last three weeks.
I have to get up at 5:45 am.
Pros:
I get to go shopping for new shoes.
I am good at what I do!
I get to use sharpie markers, I love sharpie markers.
I am not teaching kindergarten.
Cons:
Straightening my hair takes forever.
20 minute lunches.
Student study meetings on the second day of school with administration.
Time flies.
Pros:
Time flies!
I am making a difference.
I have a new teacher friend.
I write great lesson plans and execute them.

Hmmm....no matter how you look at it....the good the bad the ugly...I love it all!

PS: Mike gets an A+ as Mr. Mom!

Look out 1st grade...

2009-08-21T18:54:00.006-04:00

...here I come!
This is how I went to meet your teacher day! Jayda said I had to buy this dress or she was going to buy it for me...she loved it!

Yeah, I know, I keep looking at the picture and thinking I look pregnant. I AM NOT! I just haven't lost Jay yet! Work will make it happen!
Look closely at the necklace and bracelet...can you see it?
Well here is the story. I decided to straighten my hair this morning. I think I am going to straighten my hair every day. hahaha we will see!
Anyway, I was 10 minutes late for work today.
You see, I was up at 5:50 am. I got dressed...and as soon as I put the dress on, I was missing something. I have been saving the lava beads and coral beads for the perfect outfit...
Only problem is, it wasn't made yet...so I went and made this jewelery using my good sterling silver and beads. Then I hustled and straightened my hair.
I arrived at work 10 minutes late, but not to worry...it is a workday with meet your teacher at 10 am. I stiffled my panic attack on the way to work becasue I kept thinking I was an hour late...you see I have been first one to work all week and last one to leave almost. Last night I was up til 12:30 am working on lesson plans(which are still not done!) and figured...I could be a few minutes late!
As I walked in, Diana(my first grade teacher pal) called me because she was worrying something may have happened...just as I was walking down the hall and my phone was still ringing, they met me there!
I have hit it off with Diana...she is an awesome teacher and a great person! We are going to be planning together as we teach 1st for the first time!
So, anyway...my hair was straight, I felt great and I LOVE my new jewelery!

Now on to the important stuff...my room!

Yeah...about that shoe in the picture...I couldn't wait to get rid of my shoes. They were killing my feet....hahahah!

Oh, wait...isn't this little guy a smidge young for 1st??? Here he is with his backpack for his school!

Jay is adjusting very well to his "school" also known as daycare 3 days a week!
Now, I must get something to eat...it is 742 pm and I have not had dinner. Plus, I need to spend some time with my family!

Mr. Mom and other things...

2009-08-19T21:40:00.002-04:00

Michael has taken over the parenting role this past week as I have gone in head first at school! I have been home no earlier than 6 pm all week and to tell you the truth, it is catching up to me!

Michael has been getting jay to his school M, W, and soon Friday! He has shuttled children to friends, appointments, girl scouts, school, store, and even grilled chicken and made mashed potatoes for dinner tonight!

Jay was a little whimpery when mike dropped him off at school today. But, when mike went to pick him up Jay kind of walked over and hugged his leg. Then hurried back over to a table upon being called by his teacher. Her son had found a turtle and brought it in to share with the kids!
Mike asked how he did and the teacher said he did fine. She said he is a very happy child!

I have been trying to get in the mind of a first grader and decided it is just like a kindergartners, only a smidge more prepared. It will be easier than I thought...and I always said..."Every year I get them right where I want them, then have to send them off to first!" So, I guess I am in luck!

I got a wonderfully encouraging compliment today from administration on how gracious and professionally I handled my big "change". I guess I pulled off spitting mad with kindness and understanding. I can not tell you how many teachers and administrators alike have said how much they admired me for my attitude. WOOHOO!

No sooner did I hear that but then in our 1st grade meeting, the ASD(autistic spectrum disorder) teacher commented to me that I was highly recommended and highly spoken of in regards to my ability to handle special needs children.

So glad this is the reputation I have established in my professional career. Makes coming back to teaching all that much more rewarding. Although, I can't take full credit. Teaching is my gift.

There is another teacher new in 1st grade too. She is immediately across the hall from me. We have hit it off wonderfully! We are going to plan together. We have very similar teaching techniques and are both equally great teachers. HEY! It's not bragging! Consider it, I know what my gift is!

The first grade team is so wonderful! They never say a mean thing about anyone and are very kind. Sometimes, too kind!

The new principal and assistant principal are out of this world, amazingly awesome, and such compliments to our school that I can't even put it into words. I will say that there is no greater gift for children than for their school to be run by outstanding administration!

The new school is well, NEW! Clean! Smells good!

I have a self contained classroom with more storage space than I can store things in...how great is that??? No clutter....love it!

This has all the makings of a wonderful year!

WHERE ARE THE PICTURES??? I have yet to take my camera. But I am tomorrow.
Stay tuned. And send some chicken noodle soup or something, I am thinking I might be getting a cold/sick. My glands hurt, head hurts, and my back is killing me.

I could spit fire!

2009-08-17T21:44:00.004-04:00

I am so mad.
Three days before school starts...
The principal informs me I am moving from Kindergarten to First Grade.
Ummm...ok, he told me today aft 3 pm.
I was so angry I channeled that energy into creating a 1st grade class from a Kindergarten class.
2 hours and 45 minutes later I had it almost perfect!
What the heck am I going to do??? I never taught first grade.

Here's the deal:
Last week I spent 14 hours in my classroom and more hours than I care to admit on line after hours at home creating a writers workshop for my kindergarten class. Prior to school ever starting. Today I arrived at 710 am in my class. I was the first teacher there. We were not to be there until 745 am. I left at 545pm, the last teacher out of the building.
I have spent the last 2 hours going through every book I own and marking them for the accelerated reading program by levels.
This is just the beginning....I have no idea what I am doing.

Pity parties are accepted!

PS:
Jake had a great dr. visit today! He is 5'4" and weighs 121 pounds. He got his shot and took it like a man!
Jayda's girl scouts was fabulous and she is so excited for a camp out next month.
Jay had a great first day of day care, he seemed to do just fine...except he was sent out to mike with a poopy diaper??? How long was he in that???
We are keeping track of his status and will keep you informed.

Daycare

2009-08-14T17:56:00.004-04:00

The simple word bristles the hair on the back of my neck and sends shock waves of fear through my body.
But alas, as awesome as I am...my child needs little people to interact and play with. We were lucky to be encouraged to try out a particular day care. It is very small and nice. The children seem to be very well cared for and it smelled as nice this afternoon when I went back to drop off paperwork as it did first thing this morning. I have met two of the three teachers and feel confident this is going to be a positive experience for him. Michael will be dropping him off about 830 am and picking him up before nap(1pm) the three days he will attend.
When we walked out, I told Jay to stand still I wanted his picture...so as I am getting ready he catches a glimpse of the grate and bends over and yells, "HELLO IN DARE"!!! aka, HELLO IN THERE!
One of the questions they asked on the questionnaire and you were to put an X by the options...Is your child easily distracted~well, yes I believe so. However, I believe for a 21 and a half month old, he is probably right at where he needs to be.

Upon reading the requirements as a parent: We realized we would need a lunch box and a small blanket and pillow. A lunchbox??? He is not even two! Oh, but how excited he was to get a lunch box. He walked into Target with us, and touched everything...I mean everything...right down to the three big red cement balls out front! Once we arrived in the lunchbox isle, he ran right to this lunch box and wanted it...because he watches this every day! Actually, he wanted two one for each hand.

Michael absolutely flat out refused...I don't know why.
Mike suggested a camouflaged one and Jay stated ~ matter of factly, NO!
Ok, so off to walmart to look for a better option. Never really happened...Spiderman or Cinderella. WTH???
We opted for a black one that looks just like this one. It will do.

In the process, I realized if I waited a minute later to buy Jake and Jayda's supplies...there would be nothing left! So, we stocked up on all their needs. It is amazing how quickly back packs and supplies add up. The two children still need new lunchboxes as they pack everyday. Theirs had become quite disgusting...to say the least!
So today was a mad scramble, daycare, dr. office, target, walmart, home, dr. office, bank, daycare and home. PHEW!
Tomorrow, I believe my mother and I are going to Daytona to a new restaurant for lunch before I go back to work. I should probably clean the house. Hmmm, let me weigh these in my head...............ok, lunch it is!

Kindergarten Prep

2009-08-14T17:49:00.002-04:00

I sent an email to a teacher who is moving from 4th grade to Kindergarten. After I reread it, I nearly peed my pants. Not really peed my pants, but it had me giggling hard!
I went ahead and copied the email into this post...maybe you will gain a little insight into the life of a kindergarten teacher!
Hey Jill...are you feeling overwhelmed yet?
If you are not now...you may be this coming week!
But do not fret...it will all come together!
Here are a few tips:
*On Friday when the parents come in the classroom for meet your teacher...DO NOT LET THEM LEAVE WITHOUT FINDING OUT HOW THEIR CHILD WILL GO HOME ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL AND THE OTHER DAYS THEREAFTER!
Friday after we go out to lunch together, we come back to school and get our lists together and ready for monday!
I would also encourage them to bring in their school supplies on friday! This will alleviate the massive amounts of supplies on monday and all the confusion!
*Have lots of water stocked in your fridge and take the time to drink it! You will be so parched from talking so much!
Oh, yeah, I will repeat that you will repeat things over and over again! hahaha
*Expect the same behavior you would of your fourth graders...it is not okay to roll over on top of your neighbor during circle time...it is not okay to pull your shoe lace untied and chew and suck on it...it is not okay to disrupt by shouting out any of the following: WHEN DO WE PLAY? WHEN DO WE GO HOME? WHEN DO WE EAT? i GOTTA GO PEE!
Which brings me to the next topic,
*When the children need to use the restroom I have them raise their arm and show me the sign language for using the bathroom(check with me I'll show ya). See, if you have them raise their hand...you never know for sure if it is a bathroom question or a question about the story I am reading...most times they always raise their hand because they always want to talk and they know they can't shout out. Even if you're reading about the gingerbread man, they may want to raise their hand to tell you about their uncle who ran from the police like the gingerbread ran away.
I have a small beanie baby I use that the child gets and puts at their seat so the children always know if someone is in the bathroom(and they do not barge in on someone) and I can tell who is in the bathroom because the stuffed critter is on their table where they sit. The sign language allows you to understand what they want without a disruption. I give a nod yes, or I will say "in a second so you can get the directions before you go." Know what I mean?
*They LOVE SHOW AND TELL! Most K teachers do it every friday. It can ruin an entire morning if you do it whole group. The children have no desire to listen to what the others talk about and by the 3rd one they are done and being disruptive. Instead, every day during circletime I pick three popsicle sticks out of a can with the child's name on it. I give a hint about the child by their name, something we may all know about them, or a fun fact about that child...and they have to guess who it is! I hand them a show and tell bag(old black Kindergarten bag) and the show and tell must fit in there...no weapons or violent toys are my only no no's. I found if you dont limit it...they bring in that huge stuffed animal their uncle won at the fair and carried around on his shoulders at the fair.
They love the time they get to share...but they also do not become behavior problems.
*As the time draws nearer to beginning, you may feel like everyone is to busy to help you! I do know that Nancy is going to feel a huge burden with having to train a new assistant! Kindergarten is a massive undertaking assistant-wise! Just come ask me or anyone else, we will do whatever we can to help! If you want to look at ANYTHING of mine, or peruse my SUB FOLDER I made before I went on leave of absence...it was the total handbook on how to teach K!
In the meantime, check out these sights:
http://childcareland.com/
www.drjean.org
http://www.jmeacham.com/
...have a great weekend!!!

Day 11: Ocala FL ~~ Day 12: Kindergarten Class

2009-08-13T07:54:00.004-04:00

We left relatively early from Tallahassee to head to Grammy and Grampy's house. Jay's fever flamed all night and luckily Tylenol brought it down, but only for four hours.
We drove through Gainsville and then on down through Mycanopy and several other small towns along the way. Amazing how trees and buildings can be preserved for so long.
It wasn't long and we were in Ocala.
We spent the afternoon relaxing!!! Jay played and I watched him while mike washed the car. Jay was out of sorts as he didn't feel well.
We had a great meal of my absolutely favorite meal...Hamburger and hotdogs. Maybe it is the smell of the grill, or the familiar meal, or even the onion on my hotdog that is so comforting!
As usual, it was the best bed and breakfast out there!!!

Wednesday morning we were geared and set for home. I had to get into my classroom and get it dusted and cleaned before I bring my stuff in. I started on one end and dusted and cleaned. I worked my way from one end to the next...then the task of figuring out how to arrange my room which is like a piece of pie????
Who makes rooms like this????
grrr
I met Mr. Senko again. He is our new principal. He is very laid back and has had such positive remarks from everyone. I look forward to a wonderful year under his administration!
There are only 81 children enrolled and 6 Kindergarten Teachers. That is roughly 13.5 children per teacher. Hmmm, too low. One of our K teachers are being considered for 1st grade. That would make 16.2 children per teacher. However, here is the case. Parents wait until the very last minute to get their children enrolled for reasons beyond me. We always end up with 120-130 students every year. However, with the housing market what it is, I do not doubt numbers will be down.
Anyway, I left class yesterday at 4:45 pm with everything clean and organized. I wanted to get bulletin boards up...but no such luck. What was I thinking? hahahaha
Today's agenda:
Get into school, get bulletin boards done, visit the teacher store to get froggy name tags and bulletin board things.
Michael is making a trip to Ocala today to gather up all my boxes from my in-laws garage and bring it to school. Then he must come back out here and get more school stuff from the house. Jay is riding along with his dad!
Tomorrow we go and visit his daycare. I am also going to look into one other one as he is spending more morning time and mike picks him up in the afternoon. I would want for him to have a chance to hear stories, sing songs and maybe paint or color. Rather than just being in a playroom all morning.
Well, that's on the agenda for tomorrow.
So, I wish I could sit and chat for a while longer but I must get through some boxes in the garage and shed.

Day 10: Tallahassee FL

2009-08-10T20:56:00.004-04:00

We were up this morning at 5 am wanting to get a jump on the traffic and travel.
Jay went out asleep and in his jammies as he went to bed late.
Stopped nearby at a McD's for breakfast and then scooted out of Memphis.
The trip went surprisingly very well!!!
We stopped to use the restroom and kept driving driving driving.
We stopped in Troy, AL for lunch at a place called Sister's. I wanted to try something that was not a chain, and by golly this was the neatest southern restaurant run by Sisters.
Check it out here!
The menu had 4 choices and no prices...
Beef tips and rice, fried pork chop, fried livers, bbq chicken. Then you were able to choose two sides from:
white peas
potato salad
string beans
turnips
fried okra
scallop potatoes
and I can not remember if there was anything else.
The meals were served with fritters and a bun.
I had the beef tips with rice and mike had the fried pork chop. He chose white peas and scallop potatoes. I chose white peas and fried okra. Sweet tea was perfection to wash the rib stickin' meal down!
Jay wandered briefly outside, but it was so darn hot he was ready to get back in the car. At this point, we only had 3 hours to go of the 9 hour total trip.
Just outside of Tallahassee we had to stop and get gas. Believe it...we went from Memphis to outskirts of Tallahassee on one tank of gas...LOVE my new Honda!
Once into the hotel, I immediately took Jay swimming. The pool was outdoor and super duper warm. It was a lot of fun til I spied a mosquito on Jay's forehead. By the time I got there and smushed it, blood splattered across his forehead. NICE! So out we went.
It was around 6:30 when we decided we needed somewhere to eat. So, I asked at the front desk where the best place in town was to eat...she mentioned a bunch of places to us. In particular, a sushi restaurant. It was called Mr. Roboto's. It was a definite collegey hangout kind of place! We ordered the "Roboto", spicy tuna and "Yum Yum" um, I ordered it quickly...some kind of tempura something or other roll, seaweed salad and two mini egg rolls. Jay grabbed up his chopsticks and ate some seaweed salad. Had no real interest in anything else. Next stop, McDonalds for some chicken, apple juice, and apple slices.
I think he has a fever. Mike had to run out and get some children's tylenol(I do not know where the one I packed went...but then again, we have only been in like 7 hotels since our trip started.) Oh yeah, and Mike had to buy some new underwear...he ran out of clean. hehehe
Saw the Florida State University and the stadium, long with the historic capital building. I think we are sleeping in tomorrow and then heading to our next stop to relax a bit. Jay needs to start to get back to normal....and frankly, so do I! However, I repeat....I have had a fabulous time and have acquired so many wonderful memories!!!
Jay's just about out of the tub and I need to go and cuddle him, he is not feeling so great!
Til I blog ya later!

Day 9: Memphis TN

2009-08-10T20:54:00.001-04:00

Memphis, TN here we come! We left Hilton at the ballpark early after mike stopped into Starbucks for a Caramel Macchiato and then we were off! It was a 4 hour trek from St. Louis to Memphis. I was disappointed when we arrived in Memphis and I had booked the Hilton instead of the Double Tree Downtown. I do not know why I changed it and opted to stay out of town??? Anyway, I suddenly felt better when all the research I did of Memphis had turned up the fact that it is a driving city. We drove on into the Downtown area which is right along the Mississippi River. Our first stop, Gus’s Famous Fried Chicken. Man vs. Food on the Food channel has been to this restaurant several times. It is very spicy and hot out of the fryer. It was some of the best fried chicken I have ever had! The sides are beans and slaw and the slaw was top notch! The beans had salsa mixed in, so I was not so thrilled with that. At the last second, I ordered fried pickles and then regretted not getting fried green tomatoes. Mike and I just kept drinking and drinking the sweet tea, and MAN WAS IT SWEET! Delish! It was a total hole in the wall and we ate on paper plates with plastic silverware. After reading so much about this joint on the chowhound, it totally lived up to its reputation and Michael said it was a good call!
Several blocks away was the Mud Walk park. We caught the monorail across the river and then explored the river on our own. It is a life size model of the Mississippi River from start to finish, right down to the tiniest tributaries. Filled with running water that children and adults alike are encouraged to explore. I walked along with Jay for a while and when I quit, he went right for it…on my warnings to be careful, he still took a spill right in the water. I think it was one of the best things he could have done in his mind. He enjoyed scooting on his bottom up the river. When his shoes came off and floated downstream he became so tickled!
We took the last monorail back across the river to our car. It was so blasted hot this afternoon, Jay was thrilled to cool off and I was thrilled I had a second outfit in my bag for just such an incident as falling in the Mississippi River.
Next stop, Graceland. It was a mere ten minutes out of town in a horrible section of the city. If Elvis was alive, there is no way he would ever still live there! There was a festival of some sorts happening in the parking lot there and I can only imagine it was Elvis reincarnated in some hopeful fan. I managed to get a picture of Graceland Gates and the Heartbreak Hotel as we drove by. I felt completely satisfied in having seen it!
Set the GPS for the Hilton and head on home. It dawned on me that we were very close to Marc’s condo he owns in Tennessee. After seeing the area, I am wondering what possessed him to move to Florida. A few blocks from his condo are these extravagant mansions and he was surrounded by yuppyish homes. A very nice neighborhood indeed.
Then on home where we both happily crashed on the king size bed, with Jay nestled in between us...he has mastered the art of climbing out of the crib while in Chicago. Although Mike shared with me today he is dreading the 525 mile trip we have tomorrow. I don’t blame him, it is going to be difficult with Jay. Heck, it is just going to be difficult!

Day 8: St. Louis

2009-08-10T20:53:00.000-04:00

This morning we were up and had the best breakfast while on the road! The French toast was made with actual French bread….such a perfect touch! The food at the Pere Marquette is absolutely out of this world. Highly recommend it!
St. Louis is the next stop!
Packed up and headed out on the road. We were making our way south by way of a town called University city. This is one of the strangest places I have ever visited. It is yuppy with a twist of ghetto. Strangest area and hard to correctly label. Lots of really interesting restaurants and stores. It also had stars on the sidewalk of famous people from the area.
Our destination was a place called Fitz’s Restaurant. Just outside of St. Louis, It was one of the highlights of the trip! It was everything I had hoped for and then some! We walked in and got our beeper to tell us when our table was ready. We walked over to a big glass where we were able to watch them make rootber and other sodas. Our seat was ready in about 5 minutes in the best spot possible! The food comin gout of the kitchen looked to die for! I ordered a coney dog and onion rings washed down with a homemade rootbeer! DELISH! Like holy smokes ….the best ever!
Back in the car and heading for the St Louis zoo. It was free but you could pay for things inside if you chose to do them like ride a train or go see the sting rays. We opted for none of that and didn’t feel cheated. There was so many amazing animals to see.:giraffes, seals, gazelles, camels, lions, penguins, ducks, bears, cheetah, and elephants…and on and on.
But let me assure you, 97* in St. Louis feels the same as 97* in florida! We were so hot and bothered by the time we left there…
We head into the city to check in to the Hilton at the Ballpark. We wre expecting to have a city view, but lucked out with an amazing room over looking the ball park! Very cool!
Unpack a bit and then head down to the Arch. WOW! You just can’t explain it in words unless you see it in person. The walking area overlooks the Mississippi River. Jay walked and walked, and then napped and napped. He missed Lacleade’s Landing, but truthfully it was just really touristy and the restaurants were dead and it was 6:30 pm.
We headed back to the hotel to the pizza shop, Imo’s in the hotel for some st. louis pizza. The type of chese they use is Provel I believe and it is a very thick and creamy cheese. The pizza crust is thin and the toppings were fabulous, but it was kind of hard to get past the strong taste it has. We were not thrilled with it, but decided the pizza was terrific otherwise and decided we had a little taste of St Louis and that was worth it!
We decided to head over to Cabela’s in a mall type place and chased Jay around there. He is so curious and totally on sensory overload with everything to look at and attempt to touch! As we walked through the mall, he wanted to hold both our hands. Just about every 4th step, he would just quit walking and let his legs drag behind him. Yet, he didn’t want to be carried. Then he would walk and the just crumble to the floor for fun. Yeah, Mike had had enough of all that!
Back to the hotel and showered and cleaned up, and now Jay sleeps soundly. We are all tired today. This was a huge busy day! The best thing about todat, Fitz’s Rootbeer without a doubt.
We had some issues with the GPS lately…when there are a lot of streets to choose from, she sometimes tells us the wrong way. Mike wants to divorce her, but I am insisting she can still be part of the family!
So, for now, I am sure I am forgetting things…maybe I will remember them when I add pictures to all the posts!
Tata for now!

Day 7: Peoria, IL

2009-08-07T16:47:00.004-04:00

I fell asleep last night just after Mike said he was going to go out and take some pictures of Chicago's skyline from the pier. They turned out fabulous! He also stopped at Fox & Obel, a fresh market. He picked me up some rootbeer to bring back to me. Imagine his disappointment when he got back and I was sound asleep! I slept so good. Until I was awakened by a horrible dream. I was teaching again and the children were all the age of Jay! The teachers around me were talking behind my back about how bad a teacher I was and the children were running off and playing in streets and near water. ACK!!!!

We ate a great breakfast in the lobby and arrived early before the mob house let out again for free breakfast! I had a made to order omelet and gave 3/4 of it to mike and opted for the huge cream doughnut. Hmmm, imagine! He says to me after I nearly finished it, I guess that doughnut was good?? hehe

We packed up and went and sat in the lobby...well, I sat and Jay climbed on the couch and then kept walking circles around the planter while Michael packed the car up. It wasn't too much longer and we were out and on the road. A time I do not have as the car is set to Eastern time and we are in Central time, and yes...this many days later I am still having difficulty with time! However, Jay napped and we drove through rain as the weather has turned cold and rainy.
After he awoke from his nap, Jay decided he did not want to be in the car. I held him off awhile with the DVD player and playing games. Then, he started pulling stuff out of the food box and generally becoming cantankerous. I get the good idea to put my heavy diaper bag up on the box to stop it. What was I thinking?? No sooner had I placed it up there and turned around to relax, I hear giggling. There's Jay, grabbing out the sunscreen and squirting it over his shoulder!! All Over my car! ACK! So, I grab it and I was all hollering at him and he is screaming at an equally high level and squeezing it and it's squirting all over and then I get it turned around and sure enough he and I pulling on it squirted it in my eye and all over me! All this driving down the highway...

Crisis over and cleaned up.

Moments later we arrive at the Pere Marquette, Mike's Uncle's Hotel. We were given a suite on the top floor overlooking the Civic Center and gorgeous old church!
Bill met us for lunch in the hotel and Jay took only a few moments to warm up to Bill and then he three two spoons across the table. Don't you worry, I was moving to remove him from the table when the second one went flying. We took a little side trip to the bathroom for a little talk and some discipline. It worked. Back at the table he was much better! We played a little and then we started whispering in each others ears. He liked playing secrets! He garbled, I said, use your good manners! We had an amazing meal! Michael had a buffalo style chicken sandwich and I had a pork loin sandwich. Mmmm so good. They take a pork loin and flatten it and fry it! Delish! Luckily, Bill shared mine with me, because I could never have finished it on my own! Jay shared mine, but nibbled on the fries and chose to suck the ketchup off the fries instead. Yeah, it was not his best moment manner wise.
Bill kept saying Jy should spend the afternoon with him, Mike and I looked at each other and said in unison. It would last one minute before you were calling for us to come get him! hahahaha
He still thought he needed to hang out with him! Wish we had planned to spend two days here! I am not sure if it is the pull I feel to explore the city or to lavish around here in luxury!!!
Dinner is planned for Bill and Susan's house this evening. Jack is looking forward to seeing Jay.

We are dreading the stairs...
It was raining all afternoon, but we took a walk over to the Caterpillar store and Jay got his first CAT earth mover. He called it a "beebage truck". AKA-garbage truck.
Mike got a hat. Imagine...
:o)

We left for Bill and Susan’s house at 530 pm and arrived shortly there after. Their home is beautiful and so homey feeling! Susan had prepared some amazing hor dourves. We had brie and blackberries, bacon wrapped water chestnuts, strawberries and cocktails! Let me tell you, I was in desperate need of some lively spirits after the past week with Jay! The wine was flowing, laughter abounding, and family reconnecting!
Jay was having a ball after his token shy period. Susan said, he is fine on his own he can’t hurt anything. In no time, he had pulled down the fire place tools with a loud crash and was walking around with the poker poking the floor. ACK!!! Jack had a hard time sharing with Jay and was near mortified when Jay attacked his toy box and took out two wrestlers. Let me tell you, it is not easy dealing with Jay…right down to the moment he walked over to Jack’s dinner tray and took his glass of juice and drank from it~spilling it down his shirt and on the couch. So yeah, Jack had a right to be fed up! Although, Jay was also very kind to Jack and vice versa.
Dinner was out of this world at Bill and Susan’s~Beef Tenderloin, cooked to complete and utter perfection!
We are still claiming this as the best meal we have had so far or in a long time for that matter!!!
Home late and tipsy with some wine, there was no way I could blog about our day!

Day 6: Chicago, IL

2009-08-07T16:36:00.006-04:00

We were up at 6:22 am. Somehow I missed the train and honkers. Oh well.
Up, everything packed, and down for a hotel breakfast. Back to room and grab bags and pack up the car. Set the GPS for Chicago and head North through West Lafayette for a stop at Purdue University! We parked in the lot just outside of Ross Ade field where all tailgating takes place! It was super Quiet on the campus…save for the few tours being given to high school students. Mike said it has changed so much since he was there. We passed the XXX Diner which is highly touted on the chowhound boards and from other foodies. Mike can not understand how some find the food so good there... but did confide in me that he once dined and dashed 20 years ago. Can you believe it? @#$%&* college kids!!!!!!
I snapped some pictures and particularly enjoyed Michael and Jay tossing around the pigskin…errr the nerf.

From there we headed on into the city by way of the south side of Chicago. We rode up Lake Shore Drive clear way up into Lincoln Park to where Mike lived, past Wrigley~where we nearly stopped for a Chicago hotdog but parking was an issue, then on down past the Westin where he worked ending up at our hotel, the Embassy Suites Downtown. Downtown is crazy mad with taxi drivers and drivers trying to dodge them and pedestrians. It is like a cozy neighborhood with mad busy streets. A lot of “green” area where people let their pooches poop. Everyone has dogs! There are some beautiful people in this city and you can tell they are not tourists!
We arrived in our room at 2:00 pm CENTRAL time(for those of you confused…we are currently in central time! (o: ). I was starving and so was Jay. We walked 4 blocks down to Navy Pier and then headed back three blocks to Subway for lunch. The pier was packed food wise and Jay needed some nutrients immediately! We carried it a block to our hotel and feasted on some subs. I do not know what it is about them, but it was just absolutely out of this world.
I wish we were able to dine at some fancy wonderful place, but it is just not possible with Jay. I certainly do not feel like driving anywhere as parking is absurd in the surrounding area and traffic even crazier! Frankly, and embarrassingly, I could not have asked for a better sandwich today!
Shortly there after, we headed back to the pier where I snapped some pictures and we saw people of all sorts! Half naked hairy men running(everyone is running and exercising in the city!) but really did he have to take his shirt off and show us his portly belly and hairy neck, back, arms, legs only covered by a flimsy pair of running shorts???? I mean seriously???
Jay found some steps to climb…imagine?!? Moments later a 2 and a half year old French speaking child came over and was babbling away to Jay. His mother said. Did you tell the little boy your name? I said he babbled something at Jay but we could not understand it. She said, his first language is French. I said oh that explains it. I swear, Mike then says…Oui, Oui. I am crying writing about it now it has me laughing!
We were on a mission to find Garrett Popcorn, only to find it inside the food court. The food court was pretty cool but full of people. I felt like we were at Disney, there were so many people. Not as friendly a city as Chattanooga and Danville, but I suppose that is better for safety purposes. I finally laid eyes on the popcorn shop and headed straight in. There were two families ahead of me and I quickly jumped in line. The one gallon container of garrett popcorn was 29.00. I almost bought it. Then decided on the large bag they were selling and got cheese and caramel mixed. I know it sounds disgusting but if you ever mixed the two together, you’d understand!!! My dad sure understands. We had received a quart in a Christmas gift basket and he ate almost the whole container, and I let him because I had no idea!!! It has been three years since I have last had my Garrett’s popcorn and I officially fell off the wagon! We walked out only to have a line 20 people deep behind me. Got there at the perfect time and walked out only having spent 13 including a drink and popcorn for jay!
We headed back to the hotel for the happy hour MOB HOUSE and I had two glasses of really cheap really bad wine…but it was still fun. Jay and Michael toured the lobby and then we headed up to the room so I could drink cheap wine, eat Garrett popcorn, and lay in bed watching cartoons with Jay. Life is good. 7:18 pm and in Chicago, laying in bed, watching cartoons with our baby and blogging.
Does life get any better?
Um, yeah…I think it does…but this is where we are right now and I am choosing to love every minute of it.
But dang it, that sushi place out the hotel and literally around the corner taunts me and calls to me and heckles me about being a “mom” and a practical mom at that as I walk on by…head held high…looking forward to cheap wine and relaxing 17 stories over Chicago!
Tomorrow, Peoria IL.

Day 5: Danville, IL

2009-08-05T21:57:00.003-04:00

6:06 am large train traveling through blowing its whistle, honkers immediately after. It is all part of the wonderful life I have come to know here in Danville/Covington. It has been a superb experience exploring Michael's childhood home.
This morning we had breakfast in the hotel and then I took Jay for an hour walk around the hotel to give Mike a chance to check his email and do our laundry. Um, I am thinking I would have rather done the laundry. hhahahahaha
We actually had a very good time exploring.
It was Wednesday, so I wanted to check and see if there were any local farmer's markets going on. Lucky day Danville had one downtown. No lie, 5 booths. Two with baked goods, two with veggies, and one selling goat poop for garden manure. I ended up grabbing two baked good, a blurberry coffee cake and pecan bars. Then at one of the farmers tables I picked up three stems of gladiolas as Mike wanted to stop by the cemetary and put some flowers down. We got a fabulous photo op there of jay putting the flowers on the grave. I spoke to him about what the cemetery was and why we were there and how to put the flowers down...he went right over and did it perfect, it was a little eerie, but precious.
Grandpa was expecting us for a quick visit and Jay was thrilled to see those front steps again. However, he was completely devastated that he only got to walk up them and was forced inside. He screamed, cried, sobbed, and I removed him to the kitchen. We had to go to the kitchen three times. Each time I got him calmed down and walked back into the front room he began sobbing and wanted to go out. It wasn't long and he calmed and fell asleep in my arms.
Grandpa had a chance to visit with us and it was our best visit so far! I heard how grandpa at the age of 6 lost his father in 20's and his mother was due to delivery his brother Stan in three months. They moved into the city and he and his older brother went to his uncle's farm to work to earn his keep. He also had a paper route and on special occasions there were inserts to be sold for a nickle a piece. In 1927, he remembers selling a paper insert that was announcing Charles Lindbergh had just crossed the Atlantic ocean for the very first time! At 16, he went to work at the bakery from 3 am to 7 pm every day. Fridays he worked from 2 am to 7 pm. He didn't leave the bakery and only saw about 3-5 people a day. Packed a big lunch and worked hard all day! A couple years later the bread slicing machine was invented. 8 years in the bakery before he took the postal test. He studied hours with a book he checked out from the library. It was the coldest day in history that he ever recalls, below zero for three days, when he went to take the test in the huge study hall that ran over into another classrom too. He placed 6th place in scoring out of the whole bunch, and didn't hear a thing from the post office. He was talking to a friend of his that hung out with him. The postal job came up and Gpa told him what had happened. His friend said, well I can take care of that for you. Grandpa replied, "what the hell are you talking about!?" The boy explained that he picked up his father at the courthouse at 5 pm everyday. They then went over to post office and gave the head postmaster a ride home every day. It was a day or so later when Gpa got the call he had gotten the job at the post office. Two years later, he got his draft letter for World War 2. He joined and became 3rd class sergeant so he could live off base with his wife and one year old daughter, Peggy. It wasn't long and the first bomb was dropped in Japan and 5 days later the second. War was soon over and Gpa wa sback at the post office. He came to love this job so much, because it was "intersting ya know". But more importantly, he expressed how he loved working the window and seeing so many people. I have heard this story more times than probably anyone else in Michael's family. You know what....I LOVE THIS FACT!!! I can tell you anything you want to know about what he has chosen to share about his life. I have heard it so many times, I have begun to try and ask other questions to press deeper into that time period of his life or spin him out of the conversation. But it only confuses him or he answers my questions-which I love because I learn more-but he gets right back on track to finish the story. I love love love that he cares so much for me that he wants to share his life with me to make me part of his life too! It has been a trip well worth making for Michael, for Jay, and for me! Got some wonderful pictures at the house.
Then we headed over to the Covered Brigde Restaurant again. It was open and very busy. It is an adorable building and the inside is the typical small town restaurant. There was a table of sweet ladies behind Michael and another large party of old ladies beside us. They basically ignored us and were knee deep in town gossip which TOTALLY shed a light on Covington! Funny.
Jay had to sit on a booster seat because his legs and feet are so big, they do not fit in the chair. Panic immediately rushed over Mike and I. But it ended up working very well!!! Jay was being a little unruly and then we played a game where I hid sugar packets under my hand and he had to try and guess which one it was. He liked it. Somehow in between that game and the food coming, he grabbed the silver ware and threw it past Michael and onto the floor at the sweet ladies feet. Mike immediately turned around and said to the ladies, I am soo sorry, he is not even two yet. He just looks like he is older. In the meantime, I reprimanded the child in a way that No ONE would say, "could you believe she did not correct that child's poor behavior?"
Onto the food. We had Manhattan's for lunch. WHAT!?! I know I was all like what in the world is a manhattan??? It is an open face roast beef with tons of gravy and mashed potatoes. Mike had the turkey and i had the roast beef. It was a flashback to 4th grade and a delicious meal in the school cafeteria. They don't make cafeteria food like that any more. Then, we saw the pie menu!
apple
peach
rhubarb
strawberry rhubarb
sweet cream
cheesecake
raspberry
chocolate
peanut butter(sorry mother...I didn't think it would hold up for 7 days...)
lemon meringue

Mike had rhubarb which was very good and I had peach which was delicious and he and I scarfed them down in less than 30 seconds. Jay was DONE.
So out we went to explore the beautiful grounds and take some pictures and break a two year olds spirit! haha Is "NO" a spirit or a cheer or a mantra????

Loved this experience and followed it up by setting the GPS to home and totally going back a country road. You are riding through cornfields...and getting passed by impatient Indianians wondering how did two floridians get so lost?????????

Once back at the hotel, we changed clothes and headed down to the pool, it has been one of my favorite things about this hotel...although there are many pleasant things here! Jay is getting really confident and capapble in the water. He will jump off the second step with his head held high and float with his wings. We swam for over an hour and then came back up to get ready for dinner. We were heading over to Charlie and Kim's house and having dinner with Sarah and Chris too! Grandpa was there and he has improved since we even saw him two days ago. He is perky and with great coloring! Although, he didn't say to much during the dinner. Then again, we were all having such a wonderful time together that he probably couldn't get a word in if he tried!
I totally love Mike's people! They are all wonderful!
Kim and Charlie's home is incredible. Their home is so welcoming and stunning all at the same time. I love the back patio and yard. You would have thought Jay would have been a madman out there in the yard...exploring and playing. NOOOOO!!!! Jay wanted to go back in the house and climb the stairs. Yeah, I know.
The landscaping is so charming and the added flowers and pots are so well put together. Sarah has a great eye for landscape! I dream of a home and yard like this one day!
I have felt bad about interrupting Kim and Charlie's schedule this week. Especially since Kim has started back to teaching last week. She has to be so tired! You wouldn't know it from her warm and welcoming style. She seemed so rested and relaxed! We had some delicious pizza from Monacle's, a fresh salad, some wine, and fresh strawberries with ice cream and brownies! I forgot to tell her how sweet and delicious the strawberries were from a nearby garden. It was just so nice to have a chance to visit with them and I left feeling like we have been family for years and years. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family.

Oh, your thinking that this evening couldn't get any better. Oh, but wait it does! On the way home, we stopped at Custard Cup for a dessert after dessert. Hahaha. Mike had me run up and he sat in the car with Jay. There were people all around enjoying this icon. Unfortunately, the special was blue raspberry today. I opted to try a kiddie lemon cone for mike and chocolate for me. It was so yummy. We gave jay three tiny tastes and he whacked out and was itchy, his face got red, and he was hyper. It is getting interesting watching how he reacts after eating certain foods. I will keep a better eye on this and even start a journal to share with the pediatrician at our two year visit in 3 months. I don't know that I would call it hyperactive, as much as I would say irritated. A benedryl and sleep was just what was ordered. Michael is also asleep and at 10:11 pm CENTRAL time, I am also exhausted.
6:06 am comes quickly around here.
Next up, Chicago by way of Purdue University, and then off to get some Garrett popcorn, check out Navy Pier, and I do not know what we will have for dinner....
Til then.

Day 4: Danville IL

2009-08-04T12:12:00.004-04:00

Who set the alarm? I mean really...we are on vacation! At 6:06 am, the alarm went off. For those of you not familiar...we are in Central Time Zone, making it actually 5:06 am for my body's clock! I woke up and reached over in the dark banging on every button and it kept going off and going off....
Finally, I found the button.
Mike thinks we need to go ahead and set the clock for a 4 am alarm for the next folks staying here...I guess he thought it was funny and would make a nice practical joke.
It was three minutes later and honkers were flying over. Who needs roosters when you have geese???
Hmmm, this is panning out to be a very interesting day already!!!
Up and ready to go down for our continental breakfast, unsure of what this meal will be like. It was actually very pleasantly nice.
I had a cup of green tea and nothing else. Nothing looked too appealing. I decided on a granola bar in the room. But the tea was great!
We then got ready and headed over to Grandpa's house for a short visit this morning.
While we were there, storms began to blow in. I saw some hail on the porch and thought we should move up under the big oak tree to protect the car a bit. It rained some but never got worse. As we were leaving we were going to tour Danville a bit. Only to run smack dab into a torrential downpour with gusting winds in excess of 65 mph.
I am from Florida, we have Hurricanes. But this...this....this scared the pants off me! Limbs were falling, garbage cans were spewed across the streets and there were even garbage bags being blown(must be garbage day in Danville)out into the streets. I kept my panicky thoughts to myself...but I sure was glad to be back in the hotel!
Later, after the worst of it had passed we decided to ride down to Eugene, IN to have lunch at the Covered Bridge Restaurant. We followed the GPS on a back road that gave me that "off the beaten path" feel for sure. As a matter of fact, it made me wonder if perhaps we should have stayed ON the path! hahaha
Unfortunately, we arrived to see the cutest covered bridge and an adorable little restaurant with a sign that said...Sorry, closed no power.
Hmmm, bummer. Michael and I took a little tour of some back roads around the area looking for farms of his relatives now deceased. We found acres and acres and miles and miles of cornfields! But never the elusive farm.
Heading into Covington, IN, Michael's hometown. I could not have ever been any other place that reminded me of my hometown. Loved every bit of it. Felt so sorry for Mike as he looked down his street, which once boasted majestic trees up one end and down the other, with horror. The state has come in and cut them all down as part of a widening project on a road that does not need widened. The town is in an uproar over this!!!
Come to find out, Aunt Kim works at a school with a teacher who now lives in Michael's childhood home! Neat! I loved the tour of the town!
We debated having lunch in Covington at the Maple Street Diner or The BeefHouse. The beefhouse won out. Jay was a very good boy and ate sunflower seeds, raisins, red jello, and a famed beefhouse roll with some strawberry jam on it. He was not interested in the meal. Michael and I both got the special. Ribs, two sides, and a trip to the salad bar. It was some of the very best ribs I have ever had! Delicious!!!
It was raining the entire outing, and has since cleared up a bit to show the sun. However, as I type this at 5:49 Central Time, wink wink, it appears to be ready to rain again.
Jay fell asleep about a half hour ago after an afternoon of swimming with Michael. His body tells him it is almost 630 so that worked out fine and he should sleep through the night!
This works out fabulously as Michael is heading over to Gpa's to watch the cardinals play tonight. I opted out to stay back with the baby so Mike can have some good visit time with charlie and grandpa.
Watching the news a bit ago, I see where all the rain caused a flash flood in Louisville! Cars were floating away and people were maneuvering around in boats. They even shut down the Highway I-65. We were right there yesterday!!!!!!
I knew waking up this morning it was going to be an odd day and it has been interesting to say the least!
Tomorrow looks like another pass at the Covered Bridge as I want to get some pictures without the rain, taking a picture of Jay standing by the corn along the roadside that has to be at least 7-8 feet tall, then perhaps to play at the playground in Covington where Mike grew up.

Day 3: Danville IL

2009-08-03T22:37:00.005-04:00

We awoke at 730 am and hurried to breakfast and finish packing up for our travels today! Breakfast was a carbon copy of yesterday with the exception today our table was a little wobbly. Jay liked that...our glasses of orange juice...not so much!

I had a small bowl of grits(pastey and not as good as Lake Helen's, Mother) washed down with a vanilla latte I made myself with a very fancy machine! I have to say, the cranberry white chocolate macadamia nut scone pretty much pushed me right over into hog heaven!

Michael packed up the car and Jay took the flight of steps in the lobby 15 times...up and down...up and down...up and down....up and down...you get the idea.
He did master taking the steps one foot at a time like a normal human. I suppose he has been born, socialized, fed well, and cared for ~ which under Obama's new czar, John Holdren, constitutes him now being a human. Unfortunately, when the next temper tantrum takes place and I feel like killing him...I can't because he is officially now, at almost two...human.

The GPS got us back on the highway. And we were off. By this time, Michael and I had been spending a lot of time together in the car. We have little time to talk to one another though because I am so busy keeping Jay busy. Today was much more difficult. He realized he can reach into the food box and start helping himself to whatever takes his fancy. The big problem arrived when he grabbed the box of powdered baby oatmeal, opened it, and nearly dumped it. I grabbed it so fast but....UGH! My shoulders and neck were so sore from turning around. We play a simpler version of I spy and he does surprisingly well! I spy a cloud. I spy a truck. I spy a tree. He loves it! Me, not so much...but whatever it takes. During a particularly difficult bout with him he was miserable...and I gave up and started to sing Hush little baby.....and then he quieted... a few minutes later I heard ssshs baby ssshs baby in this tiny sweet voice. Makes him so very sweet and the miles and tears bearable.

Stopped somewhere for gas and Subway for lunch. Nothing spectacular...nothing fancy....nothing to write home about on the blog!

When Mike and I do have a moment to talk to one another, I somehow manage to say something stupid! But it cracks us both up!
Here was conversation one, we are listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio...and this is what he was talking about...He has recently lost a lot of weight and has been working closely with a weight loss clinic in S. Florida. The view and good morning america have been critiquing and criticizing his weight loss. He is eating 1500 calories a day and the naysayers were saying how this diet is so harmful. Well, unfortunately, as many know non rush listeners don't really get him and are negative about him. This negativity has carried over into his weight loss choice and the weight loss clinic is taking the hit in the media's attempt to criticize Rush.
Make Mike Laugh #1: Gees Mike, that's wrong. The clinic is suffering because of this and I suppose that is why he is talking about the diet and putting the facts out there. Can't the diet center sue them for what's that called??? defecation? He just busted out laughing. He says defamation. That's what I meant! Oh, don't laugh at me. He then says...your actually right....Sue them for defecation for talking shit about their diet clinic!!! Made him laugh even harder. Me too!
Oops I said SH*T!
Make mike laugh #2
Later in the evening before bed I was writing an email to my mother in law and I asked Michael are we on mountain time here??? He started laughing...I said, awe don't laugh at me again! He said I am not really laughing at you...it's more like I think about looking around, do you see any mountains???? Oh yeah, well oops again. It has been a long day!

Started at 9:15 and arrived in Danville at 4:15 pm CENTRAL time...not mountain...if you are wondering....hehehehe.

We got into the hotel and immediately took jay to the pool to swim. I was frazzled, Mike was frazzled, Jay was all over the place and happy as a clam!!!! We were in the room 5 minutes and he had gone into the bathroom-he is most interested and fascinated with all of these bathrooms- and pulled the toilet paper all over the floor and flicked the lights on and off on and off.
The pool was awesome and Jay loved it! Back and forth from the hot tub to the pool. It is secluded and away from other parts of the hotel so it was fabulous. The stress of the day just melted away. This next leg of our trip is a bit more laid back and peaceful. We are staying put for a few days!
We quickly cleaned up and headed out to visit Grandpa!
It is in a small town that reminds me of my home town, only all of the houses are small and kind of cottagey looking. It is a reminder of the past when we did not live in such excess with large houses.
I loved the house and Grandpa looked pretty good all things taken into account! His shoulder is still a bit painful and has some trouble sleeping.
Charlie and Kim are taking very good care of him!
It was so much fun meeting them today! I have not had the chance to meet them yet, and they had yet to see Jay in the flesh! Jay was extremely shy when we arrived and hung on my skirt and peeked around from behind my leg...smiling at them the whole time. He totally had them wrapped around his finger with his cute little smile he kept plastered on his face. He climbed behind the chair I was sitting on and I heard some familiar grunting. Then the smell wafted up around my legs and into my nostrils. Lordy Days...we brought a skunk with us and left our sweet child in Chattanooga! That explains the car ride today!

After that, Jay was Jay and he was off and exploring! Even found the bathroom and was just all staring at the toilet...I wanted to tell him, yeah, we all would have benefited had you chosen to use that seat as your pot instead of my seat!
Jay lasted a bout a half hour or more in the house and then I said we had to get him to the hotel and ready for bed.
Out we headed, and Jay discovered the steps. Please refer to yesterdays post should you have questions about stairs!
Up an down and up and down and up and down...you get the idea.
Grandpa came out and watched him a bit longer and at one point he was belly laughing out loud at Jay. I know they have a ROTFL, a LOL, but do the have BLOL??? Did I invent some cool new text message lingo? Am I now "cool"? No, I think not. Maybe even more un cool now...just my luck!
Regardless, watching Grandpa watch his great grandson was worth every last 1,000 and 52 miles it took to get here!
Jay found a clover flower picked it and went running ~YELLING~ "granpa, granpa, granpa, granpa" up the steps and gave it to him. Grandpa said, "such a gentleman!"

Back into the car.....BUT WAIT! I opened the car door and this awful smell wafted out of the car! I mean like horrid! Like something crawled in there and died....maybe a skunk???? We took everything out of the car when we arrived back at the hotel, the only thing we ate in the car was Mike and Jay had wendy's on the way to Grandpa's...no dirty diapers...WTH????? More to come tomorrow on that mystery!
WHY DOES MY NEW CAR SMELL LIKE...A SKUNK????

Sleep came easy this evening for Jay...Tomorrow is another day...
Tentative schedule. Early at Grandpas for a little short visit, and Mike watching the game with Charlie and Grandpa at Gpa's house in the evening. I am bowing out as I am not up for manhandling a little skunk...errr...human being!

Day 2: Chattanooga, TN

2009-08-02T13:54:00.009-04:00

Day two of our marathon roadtrip!
Can you believe it?

UN,UM...Jacob has a building named for his favorite saying...7th graders!

Well, let's just say I loved my vacation and enjoyed rising up every morning! The first morning I took the opportunity to use the silence in the room to give myself a pedicure and fix my hair...and shocker even put on make...that I forgot... but bought in the Walgreen's the night before. I know...I bought makeup at walgreens. I will be reporting back how Covergirl compares to Lancome. I even got this wet n' wild lip gloss! I haven't had wet n' wild lip gloss since 7th grade!!!
PS: The makeup was perfect....hmmm, time to rethink purchases.

Mike gets up and then Jay, all are happy!

We get dressed and head down to the restaurant for Breakfast. They have an amazing hot bar, cold fresh fruit and yogurt, bakeries, make your own belgium waffles, and cappuccinos like they serve in a Starbucks! FABULOUS! The best part was, you could order whatever you like fresh.
I had orange juice, half of one of Jay's scrambled egg and a little of the waffle mike made for him. Oh, yeah, I did have a caramel cappuccino..MMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
Back to the room. Oh did I mention it was pouring down rain all night and morning?
We had to rush through breakfast as Jay ate fruit, waffle, egg, bagel and was done...ready to go. Mike decides it is best to get out for a ride and explore the town while it is raining. Chattanooga is QUIET on Sundays! Very nice! We rode up to Lookout Mountain and saw nothing because it was shrouded in a cloud! But you could at least see the area and it is stunning! All the beautiful dark greens from grass to leaves to trees covered in rain. The homes are huge mansions with yards that all deserve to be on the cover of Southern Living. The road treacherous and curvy but so different than anything we have back home! We could have parked at lookout mountain, but there was nothing to see so we came back down and went to the Chattanooga Visitors center and got the address for the Farmers Market

that is held every day in Chattanooga.

WOW!!! Mother, the fruit and veggies we get...sick sick sick! The veggies and fruit here...OH MY GOSH!

Amazing! We bought Blackberry's the size of huge black olives and ate them in the room! Jay loves them!

I put one in my mouth and bit down. It was an immediate flashback to my childhood, as I would pick wild berries and pop them in my mouth. I do not think I ever collected any...I only ate them! Amazing! That's all I can say.
There were various artisans and interesting things to look at...nothing like what I see back home. Only thing missing were the booths of vintage doodads and garage saley things like back home.
They had a play area for the children with a train table, plastic figurines, a castle with characters, and magnets.

Jay loved the train table and mingled with the other children without even looking for us. I am going to go ahead and say Jay has no problem with his self esteem or courage. He was mixing it up with 5 year olds.
A wonderful banjo duo was playing and kettle korn was being popped. Everytime a batch finished, a huge sound like a back fire would sound. It always made everyone jump! Good advertising I bet! hahahaha
We passed on the kettle korn and settled for some Mayfield Ice Cream!
They were selling it 5 scoops for 5.00 for a charity. You received a ticket and when you got your scoops you got a box crossed off. Jay can not have ice cream so we passed! Then a family came up to us and said, we only got one scoop would you like this to get some ice cream? I wanted to try it so I said sure, and that we would pass it along to someone else to get a scoop. Pay it forward if you will! I sampled the black cherry chocolate chunk, half the fat. Hmmm, I think it was absolutely delicious and recommend it! Just right on every taste! I then passed it along to a grandpa who was playing with his granddaughter at the kids playing area. Told him I was passing on the fun to his sweet girl! We headed out to the car, set the GPS to our hotel and 2 miles later back in our room! Did I thank you yet for the GPS Mother and Dad???? Wow, that things is awesome!
I promptly cleaned the blackberries in the sink and Jay and I feasted while Mike was parking the car! He came up and had some too! Jay then went down for his nap.
After he woke up, we decided to walk down to the river about 5 short blocks.

Jay prefers to attach the clasps on his stroller rather than ride in it!

We pass a highly rated and chatted about restaurant on chowhound.com called the Blue Plate.

It was about 3 pm and we had not eaten since 8 am. It was too hot to play at the nearby playground,

so we decided to stop and eat outside.

What is this foot statue outside the restaurant??? The plaque was broken...
Trying to figure out why they thought putting this next to where you eat was....appetizing?

It was an absolutely perfect spot for lunch. It overlooks an open grass area where children were running and playing.
Just beyond is the Tennessee River followed with gorgeous tree covered mountains.

Lunch was mediocre at best. I had a meatloaf sandwich and some homemade chips,

Mike opted for a Sloppy Joe with chips,

Jay had a chicken tender with a side of fruit.

Over priced and not very tasty! (Add insult to injury, walking back to the hotel we see a cute restaurant with an outdoor eating area with Locally grown blackberry margaritas.) That would have been so nice to sip on this particularly warm afternoon!
We walked across the street from the Blue Plate to the Tennessee Aquarium and into the visitors center so Jay could ride the escalator up and then back down again. I felt a little guilty when I got to the down escalator and a sign was placed strategically right on the escalator: Do Not Play on the Escalator! Oooops! We were not playing, it was a teachable moment!

We thought twice about the Aquarium, but decided that Jay would not enjoy it to it's full potential due to the fact that his attention span is not quite there yet. So we walked on back towards the hotel. As we were walking, we saw that same carriage and horse I talked about yesterday!
Jay waved at the horse and said "Hi Jay" after I said to him, say hi Jay. Why would I tell him to say hi to a horse? What exactly was I teaching him? Actually, he had it right...As the horse pulled up to the curb he was YELLING "NAAAY, NAAY."
Yeah, he has learned in the last week that there are different volumes to his voice. He prefers the most high setting on voice volume.

Your token street person capitalizing on his...err...talents?

On the way back to the hotel at nearly 5:30, we decided to head back up to Lookout Mountain.

So we set that GPS for Lookout Mountain and off we went...back up the curvy, treacherous mountain!

But it was even more stunning than I could have imagined. I took alot of pictures!
Once we arrived at the top, we parked and set off to see the view. We decided to forgo parking on the street and paying at the meter and resorted to parking free at the fort and paying 3 dollars a piece for Mike and I to go in and look out from there!

What an awesome choice when it comes to view.
But unfortunately, I can not tell you one interesting story about the place. Nope not even one!

I took a few pics of the monuments around that told some stories...but that's all I got.

Seriously, I now understand why children are free. They could care less about the lookout or the fact that it drops off 2000 feet without a fence or guardrail around!
No, not a care at all. Now the steps.

That's a different story.

We paid 6 dollars

to help Jay walk up and down the same sets of stairs over and over and over again!

Seriously, every step was not left unstepped!!!!!
And I am serious. Can you tell?
We headed down a path down the mountain to a museum,

which was converted from the fort lookout.
We couldn't enjoy it because we had to have a constant hand on him or he was wandering.

Jay sat down on this bench and proceeded to call his dad over to him. This will be a resounding theme at every sop...stay tuned!

Mike kept trying to take pictures of us and kept trying to get Jay to look.

But every time you try and "make" Jay pose for a photo he turns green, flexes ever muscle, bends his head back and ~SCREAMS~! (The Hulk has nothing on him!) I said just snap it when I look good, and however Jay looks he looks...just don't take a picture of my butt when I turn around. You know, as I scanned through, sure enough...there it was my big butt! Ok, on my behalf, I swear I must have lost some weight already...I am hardly eating anything. What's that about??? I love eating on vacation!
I'll tell you what it is about, there is nothing more painful than trying to have a meal with a two year old.
It works out a little like this:
1. Find a seat and hopefully the waitress brings a high chair FAST! If it is not fast, the child gets the idea he might be able to sit in a both or chair like us and heads straight for it. If this happens, getting him into a high chair is a screaming nightmare!
2. Try and look over the menu and find something for yourself and for child before he can reach out and grab the menu out of your hands.
3. Entertain said child while waiting for the food to arrive. Sneak small toys in his shirt pockets when you distract him to look other direction and then act surprised when he finds it. Said child will put in and take out toy for several minutes. Play, I spy and see how smart said child is. Every correct answer gets a high five.
4. Once food arrives move everything as far out of his reach as possible, he will immediately put his hands in anyone's plate regardless of food temperature.
5. Make his food edible, attach bib he has taken off and thrown on the floor three times prior, hand him fork and let him at it!
6. Check out my own dish and then eat my cold food as quick as possible.
7. Pay bill, tip nice waitress extra and get out asap.
Now, after hearing all of these things you may be wondering what the H-E-double hockey stick is going on with Jay. Well, I will tell you what it is...the terrible twos. Left undisciplined, these kind of children turn into kindergarten nightmares. So, a good part of our days are spent reminding Jay we are the parents and he is the child.
All of that chit chat to simply tell you little children make it hard to enjoy eating!
Which brings me to the next thing I wanted to talk about...CHATTANOOGA!
Love this town, it is as close to a perfect town to visit as I have ever seen. Something for everyone, food is pretty good, people are very very nice, atmosphere is quaint and enjoyable, August is hot but with an incredible breeze off the river, kid friendly but also a very romantic vacation spot.
Romantic??????????? I've been reading your blog!!!!! You may be screaming this at the computer screen this very instant.
But it is, we could be having such an amazing time if Jay had a nanny and they were back home. That is not to say that we have not been having an amazing time with Jay. It is such fun watching him enjoy all of the new things! Besides, it is such fun to detail the moments he is belligerent and pushing his own agenda.
It makes me smile:
-When he hollered out to the horse nay nay!
-When he says mmmm delitshus(delicious) when he eats something new
-When he takes his daddy's hand and then looks over his shoulder with his hand out to me saying momma, momma, momma!
-When he hunkers down next to me and checks out the walnut that fell from a tree and helped me pick up a rock from lookout mountain for jayda.
-When he closes his eyes at the end of the day and he is so so quiet
Which tonight happened so easily! We walked him forever today! Wore him out!
Well, enough for now.
Next up Danville!

Road Trip!

2009-08-02T13:39:00.004-04:00

We found out Grandpa wasn't feeling so well. A few days later, I suggest that Michael fly up for a few days to visit Grandpa. Hmmm, he asks if he could take Jay along. Hmmm, I do not know if you can handle him alone and have any sort of visit with Grandpa. Then, I throw out the idea, why not drive up and see him. The children will be with their dad and we will not have to make sure they are around for his visitation days. They are going on a road trip to Texas. With no "pressing" matters at hand, other than the dentist appointment I postponed, we decide to go for it.
Thus, the snowball effect began...
Marc had offered us Hilton Honors points for hotel stays. Why not make a trip of it, see the USA???
What??? Mike has credit card points transferrable into gas cards!
Free Hilton's~Free Gas~Free Breakfasts...this will allow us to do some very fun things!
We decided to take a road trip to visit Michael's Grandpa "Red" and allow him to see Jay. Despite the fact that the terrible twos...which I thought started two months ago or so but was sooo wrong...are here! I am like all flabbergasted and confused. I had two children prior to Jay. I know what it is like raising children and the stages they go through. Alas, I have always bragged about my Jayda and Jacob being "not your normal children". They are so good and well behaved and THEN SOME! But this, THIS, TTHHIISSS is like the Incredible Hulk on steroids. So, to all our family members, friends, strangers, people stopping in their tracks and staring at us as if we are the worst parents on the planet...I apologize. He really is a sweet child. hehehe
I am breaking up our trip in days to keep abreast of each day. It is in depth and detailed~with facts no one else probably really cares about BUT...how else do I tell a story? :o)
Pictures to come later!

Day 1: Chattanooga, TN

2009-08-02T12:28:00.010-04:00

We left for our first leg at 9:18 am and arrived in Chattanooga at our hotel at 9:26 pm. 12 hours. That is long!!! But it was fabulous...until we hit atlanta and were in traffic there for an hour...crawled for 10 miles.

It was tax free holiday for the state and the outlets along 75 were slammed! Then just outside of Chattanooga, we went 2 miles in one hour! As soon as we could, we got off the highway and hit a side road counting on the GPS to reconfigure our route! She wanted to get us back on 24 so bad, but finally gave in and took us the remaining 3 miles to our hotel. So close, we could taste it...yet so far in that traffic! Thank you GPS and Mother and Dad for loaning us that!
Now, let me hit the highlights of the road!
As we took off, everyone was happy, packed in and Jay was just about due for a nap! He slept nearly the whole way to Silver Springs FL where we cut over to catch 75 N. When he woke up, I plugged in his new DVD player and he began watching Sprout shows that Michael had recorded on dvd's that he loves to watch. They kept his attention for a very long time!

As we entered into GA, it had begun to rain. Not for very long, and we were smooth sailing on into Macon with only road signs to entertain us!
Our first scheduled stop was Bass Pro

and "Pig in the Pit" BBQ joint.

We peeled our legs out and walked into Bass Pro. Jay headed straight for the little boy quad runner and sat there for like 15 minutes. Seriously, because MIke disappeared after he used the rest room to the fishing section until I called him. He peeled Jay out of the Quad Runner and off Jay went full of enthusiasm. Once outside the store, we stood for a long time watching the huge waterwheel move the water. Jay was talking all about it(which I had no idea what he was saying), and pointing, and hunkering down as if he was really studying it. He didn't fight too badly getting back into the car and heading to the plaza across the road from the Bass Pro to Pig in the Pit where we grabbed a light lunch. Jay was in rare form as usual. Mike goes to get the high chair, Jay jumps up into a booth and holds on for dear life~SCREAMING~ as I peel him out. Once set in his high chair I wipe his area so he can eat from the table, his hand reached out faster than lightning and poured salt out on the table as fast as he could. I quick grab the salt and right side it. His hands are off to scatter the salt as quick as a whip before I have a chance to react...on the wet table. Now, if you can imagine, we have been in the restaurant 3 minutes and I am sweating, frazzled, embarrassed! He grabs the spoon and digs into his beans as the chicken was too hot.

Beans on table, his face, and dripping off the spoon onto anything he swipes the spoon at around the table. By the time I have him ready to eat, my food is cold. The Pulled Pork Sandwich basket I got was so so.

Fries STUNK! This was a very very good thing. I didn't eat french fries...so I felt healthier. Although, Mike and I finished Jay's beans. It would have been worth it to go in, get beans and sweet tea and be done with it. Although, Jay's meal was awesome. The fried chicken tenders were seasoned to perfection!!!
Off we go, back on the road an hour later, perfect for a leg stretch for Jay and the both of us!
We made it four hours before this stop and Jay was awesome!

Atlanta was a mess due to the tax free holiday...but I still can not get over what a nice trip it was.
Our next stop would be Cartersville!

How neat was that???
Well, let me assure you that nothing exciting is going on there...unless you call, waiting in the car while Mike pumps gas and watching a man PICK HIS NOSE at the counter of the store exciting!

How gross is that??? Not as gross as me, I took pictures of it. I was able to tell Mike about it, get my camera out and still take 8 pictures of him doing it! He never went to wash his hands and I watched him wait on three people after the "big pick". I am sending Pictures to corporate, I want them to know they "picked" a great employee to "spread" the joy by passing his "joy" onto others!
Again, back on the road and laughing about how the best thing to do in Cartersville is pick your nose! It wasn't until we hit Chattanooga, and torrential downpour....and TRAFFIC.

But it ended up working out just fine. We arrived, happy, safe, and sound!

Can't understand why it was blurry...we were sitting still???!!!
Jay was amazing, until 3 miles to the hotel.

He was at his last wit...crying through laughter and cheers as we said...yay, we are almost there...yay! He would say yay and smile and then whimper. So he was great until the last three miles of the 575 mile trip! I would have to say a great traveler!!!
Once at the hotel, Mike went to check in and brought out 3 hot chocolate chip cookies, three tickets for free breakfast and the highly coveted room keys! It appears people were being turned away from the hotel~it was a full house!
I head up with Jay through the lobby and to the elevators. I had to coax him around the corner as he thought he would much rather go the stairs...10 floors! I told him I promised we would do it later.
Into the elevator, up to the 10th floor, and stops dead outside of the hotel room and refuses to go in. Just for reference it is 10 pm. Ok, let me define "refuses". He stands in the hall ~SCREAMS~ at the top of his lungs bloody murder and fear! Yes, that pretty much covers it. Roll three bags into the room, head back out to get him and pick him up, yes he is still screaming...oops ALMOST let the door slam leaving me locked out in the hall...ALMOST...grab the door, then him and in we went!
Phew...once inside he was fine and happy.

I know this looks like a boy who knows what to do with one of these...but alas, he just has to check out every toilet!
After taking some pictures of our room and out the window(where I happen to notice a horse drawn carriage with a driver and dalmatian)I can relax. NOT!!!
Jay wanted to go out the door. I locked it but it opens itself when you pull the handle and Jay was trying to escape. Then he would scream and try again. The poor boy needed some exercise...he sat for 4 hours straight and then 5 hours straight.
So, I am trying to put my shoes on, asking him to wait, and he heads out into the hall and SCREAMS again. Okay, will someone please have the folks on the tenth floor REMOVED from the hotel??? Hahahaha they thought that was bad.
So off we go for a walk for about a half hour. Then back to the room for a shower and bed.

BED???? Jay exclaimed...not really but that's what his actions said! He proceeded to SCREAM at the top of his lungs for about 15 minutes refusing to want to go to bed at 1130 pm. AHEM...Mike came unglued(imagine) and was all but ready to put the pillow over his head and well....I had to relax two frantic people. I mean seriously, imagine Mike freaking out classic adorable Mike style, pacing from the bathroom half dressed from his shower, trying to contain the sweet, precious, amazingly gorgeous child who has~I fear~been possessed by an alien! Okay, 15 minutes has seemed like a life time but finally we reached peacefulness. Let me define peacefulness. We found Jay's favorite show on TV and he forgot what he was hysterical about. Sleep came quickly and then we could breathe. Well, I could...but Mike~not so much. He is getting over a chest cold and still was having difficulty with some coughing.
I slept so hard...you know what I mean...like when you wake up in the morning in the exact same position you went to sleep in. My back was aching, despite the king sized bed and heavenly bed clothes!
6 am wide eyed and bushy tailed!

All dressed up with no here to go!

2009-07-28T14:54:00.005-04:00

Not much going on around here!!! Well, now wait...there is a ton going on around here. End of summer, beginning of school, planning a road trip...
But mostly playing with this little guy. He LOVES toys and is totally in his glory with all the things I am getting together for my classroom. He can play with anything and find some fun in the least expected objects!

I bet you think this next one was me using my camera in some funky mode...NOT...it was me moving quick after I just snapped the pic to try and catch him as he fell on his face!

I'm betting you want to see that live!

Kayak the Rainbow River!

2009-07-23T19:40:00.007-04:00

Jayne and I had a ball over the fourth of July weekend kayaking the Rainbow River.
It was totally amazing and a must do tour! I wanted to do it again right after the first run. It was about 2 hours and 4 miles +/-.
Jayne and I absolutely had a ball and were both sad to see it end!
We say three pairs of otters, one alligator, many birds and fish. The ride is absolutely amazing and if you are a kayaker...it is a must see trip!

Can't wait to go again!

Sorry it has been a while since posting! Kids have art camp, Jay has story times, Jayda has volleyball and girlscouts and Jacob just keeps us on our toes!

I am also in the midst of planning an upcoming roadtrip! More to come.

Happy Belated 4th of July!

2009-07-06T15:57:00.018-04:00

May we continue to remain an independent country and not become dependent!

The weekend began with us traveling north to spend the weekend with mom and dad. It was pouring cats and dogs with a few small rodents thrown in and amongst there
upon arrival.
Just as quickly as it began it subsided....but not without leaving Jay a new found toy!

I told Michael when the weather cleared he and his dad needed to go out in the boat and fish ... they didn't want to. Next, it turned into me encouraging him to go kayak fishing. Then, it turned into Mike and I going kayak fishing. I was refusing as Jay was a mini monster...he wanted desperately to climb the blocked off stairs...all to no avail. I was being prodded by my inlaws...and for that I am grateful! Quick check of the radar showed the storms had all passed. Off we went to Yankeetown to fish! We stopped for some bait and then hit the water paddling. I had a lot of bites and some stinker kept taking my bait. Then, as the sun was going down I threw up into an oyster bed and caught a beautiful sheepshead.

It's beautiful until it opens it's mouth! Weird stuff right there!

Now, that's just weird! Seriously...this is NOT photo shopped!

Neither of these are pics of my fish...but I wanted to show you what it looked like. It was about 14 inches and a definite keeper, but I gave it to some Mexicans who were fishing the banks as we only caught one keeper fish.

Then it was home again to a sleeping child and wonderful babysitters!

The next morning was 4th of July! Jayda pulled out all the stops with her jammies!

Then it was off to the pool for some fun! Jay stands on the porch and says "set,go!!!" and Jake and Jayda respond by jumping in and doing some sort of acrobat. Jacob did the nestea plunge...once...and I missed the shot, but caught him at the beginning. No amount of begging could get him to redo it again for photo shoot purposes!
I love this picture of Jayda...she really does not pose for me. So self-conscious. I love it when she let's go and becomes a little carefree in front of the camera.
Does this child remind you of Mogli from the story the Jungle Book? He has shot up and thinned out so much!
Just imagine, "set, go!"
Jay is a stinker about the TV. We had to move the table in front to keep him from doing it...but he knows how. Notice the pool noodles as safety precautions...we should have patented this idea...LOL. It is on every sharp corner in our house and the grandparents houses!

The goggles are a constant...he wears them all the time. Oh, and as for the clothes...he strips those down and BEGS to go "smimming"!

His new water wings!

By the end of the weekend, he could maneuver his body around and would keep his head up and mouth closed upon encouragement. A great feat in that he used to just drink the water and choke on it.

I had done some research on what to do in Ocala for the 4th. There is not much to do in Ocala on the day of the holiday...except for an activity called God and Country. It was "free"...except we had to pay a dollar to park. WTH? Now mind you, a dollar is not a big deal...but they advertised it for free. My guess is something sneaky was going on there...and someone was making money??? Could have been the guy who took our money and had a tatoo of the numbers 5150 across h
is forehead and eyebrow measuring about 3 inches by 6 inches....SCARY!!! What were we getting into?!?! hahaha
Well, we park and get out in ankle deep grass in an old pasture and head to the "festivities" a few food vendors, a few games, some kiddie things, a helicopter pad, and camels you can ride!?! Yes, I said Camels.
Jacob and Jayda have now officially lived...they have ridden a camel!

Then it was back through to a funnel cake stand...where they weren't so ready for customers yet, and a roach was running around the table, and the guy was making it with no gloves on and touching the batter...okay, I better stop here. I just hope oil at 300* kills everything!!!!
Then of course, you can't leave without a sno-cone!

Traipse back out across the field and pile back in the vehicle. Where we all agree, that we never need to go back to that place again. Although, who would have thought you would ride a camel in Ocala...horse country!?!

Back to the house for some more swimming...errrr...kayaking!!!

Does it get any more American than apple pie and corn on the cob???

We ended the evening by playing trivial pursuit and watching Jay. He can be so entertaining. Remember that flyswatter he is always playing with? Well, he took hold of it, walked over to the lamp shade and started whacking it with the swatter and dust was flying everywhere. Immediately Mom was mortified(for those of you who do not know....her home is gorgeous and very well kept!) yet somehow she never imagined she would need to dust the lamp shades weekly...after all, not too many folks do! Well, we laughed and laughed til we were all crying. It was funny, mortifying, and well downright naughty of him to be doing...we know this. But, it was just so funny! All laughed and still are talking about it today!
Out to set off some fireworks and do the holiday right!
The next post will be of the Kayak trip Jayne and I took down the Rainbow River!

Stopping just long enough....

2009-06-27T18:37:00.009-04:00

I am making this for dinner as I type!

I am starving and it should be awesome!
I am making broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots...I am going to beat them with a mixer and make it into mashed veggies...kind of like mashed potatoes.
UPDATE: Just finished dinner and it was soooo delcious and easy to make. Of course I had to add a few of my own spices to the recipie and even Jay ate one minus the butter. It was outstanding and a definitely do again recipie. Great if you are thinking of having company and you want to wow them!

So, as I wait a few more minutes, I thought I would let you know what has been going on around here!
Jacob had a friend overnight on Thursday night. Jayda was supposed to have her friend but she is on a cruise! This friend of Jacob is a nice boy, and the children enjoyed having him. Although, I do not think he knows how to use a fork and knife when he eats...if he eats at all. Let's say he has some eating issues. Picky at best! He would love pizza for every meal! Oh, listen to me...he is a very nice boy and if that is the worst thing we are doing great!
Middle school boys giggle as much if not more than girls do...if your wondering.

I played bunco last night with my mother at her community. There was something like 38 people or something. Usually 12 play. It was crazy at best and so funny watching everyone's personalities unfold. It reminded me a lot of how each class I teach has the same types of differing personalities!

Speaking of school...I have been gearing up for the year. I know it is early. But I am doing some preliminary work before the school year actually starts! I am collecting stuff to outfit my room!
I got a beautiful side table for my cds and cd player, doll houses, legos, books, games, baby dolls...KIDS NEED TO PLAY PEOPLE! Don't ever forget that! Kids need moments during the day when they can do what they do best...and that is play. After all, kids learn by doing and play is their work!
So, who is making out and yelling SCORE when I walk through the door??? That would be Jay, but it comes out something like this , "AAAAHHHHHHHH...WOW!"

Where am I getting all of these things. Have you ever heard of www.freecycle.org? It is this awesome place where you can give away free things and also ask for things. The crux of it is to keep things out of the landfills and to reuse. So, over the course of a couple of years, I have given away more things than I can remember. The latest being the jogging stroller that is in immaculate condition!

Here is Jay enjoying some of the things I have gotten for my classroom. Who knew he would enjoy them so much....er, I mean dislike them. Like for instance, his intense dislike for the baby doll. {SARCASM} Afterall, Michael thinks it is not appropriate for a boy to play with a doll. So he has forbade me to blog about it. I am in this instance overriding his decision as a professional in child development! It is completely appropriate and not only that, but it is healthy. He is so sweet and loving towards this doll...which is a direct reflection of our parenting towards him...as he is modeling what he sees! So rest assured Michael, we are doing a great job!

I received this doll house below from a freecycler. Her daughters had outgrown it and it would be perfect for my classroom! It was filthy complete with crayon and paint all over it from some overzealous artists! I cleaned that up quick as can be and it literally looks brand new!

Oh, yeah, Jay likes playing with this too!
Jay is becoming very good at feeding himself...you wouldn't know it from these pictures, but he is! He was cracking me up at lunchtime the other day!

You can watch for yourself here!

I got Jay a new sit down toilet because his big toilet one was not inspiring enough for him. hahahaha
I got this and a couple potty books. I can not even begin to put to words to what he was doing. Let me try.....
I cleaned it up and set it down in the kitchen, which has a gate so he can not get in the kitchen. He was so excited about it and curious all at the same time. He had no idea what it was....only that lately I have been bringing some really fun stuff into the house!!!
So, I get it all set up in the bath room and undress him. He is so excited. I say, I am going to leave you to have some privacy and I walked out. He is facing down the hall and I hear him hollering about something and he is pointing. Well, he was pointing down the hall at the bookshelf. He wanted a book. So I took him a potty book. He was so excited, and talking and talking(of which I understood nothing) but he was talking away and so excited! He then began running back and forth from the potty to the book shelf picking out books to read on the toilet. WTH??? Why is he obsessed with reading things on the pot??? hahahaha
So, it was back and forth and talking a hundred miles a minute and back and forth and talking, and pointing, and experimenting, and sitting there reading a book, and pointing.
...blurred out for privacy.

But alas, NOTHING in the potty. Only a little boy who now keeps taking off his diaper!

Well, I would do anything for a delicious dessert right about now. Wonder what I could do to curb the sweet craving? I guess I could make monster chocolate chip cookies. But that sounds too much like work right now!
heheheh

Right Now!

2009-06-23T13:59:00.010-04:00

TODAY:

Outside my window... The sun is blasting down with temps in the upper 90’s low 100’s. Michael is fixing the sprinklers that have gone kaplotz.

I am thinking... that our AC has run all day. I just knocked it up to 81* to give the poor thing a break. It still runs like mad set at 80* here…and who wants to pay a bill for that!

I am thankful for... air my family who are all healthy and alive!

From the kitchen... just finished lunch and the dishes are dirty in the sink, GASP!!! Michael shut the water off to work on the sprinklers.

I am wearing... a white shirt and aqua comfy capris!.

I am creating... my blog.

I am going...to keep the daily EARLY morning exercise routine to beat the heat. So far, have been walking hard and biking!

I am reading... Luanne Rice book.

I am hoping... for continued health and vitality in our home.

I am hearing... Star Wars Battlefront II as Jake and Jayda are busy playing~~~What else do you do when it is almost 100*?

Around the house... Jay is napping, after falling on his head from the bed. LOL Not as bad as it sounds, I think he was getting down from his nap and toppled over and it was an awful good excuse to get out of bed by acting hurt! Hahaha Mike is up to his eyeballs in PVC glue and sweat. I am running him out drinks every so often.

One of my favorite things... a good meal that I did not have to cook.

A few plans for the rest of the week... start some things on my TO DO list for the summer, celebrate Jayda’s 11th bday tomorrow, have their friends over, exercise, hit the flea/farmers market for fresh veggies and fruit, work on teacher blog and research things I am going to be teaching this year, digital scrapbook, and stay cool!

Definition of Uvula!

Seriously, he eats a banana every day if not more often!

Fishing lessons:

Golf Lessons: Except a nagging mother interrupts:

And don't forget we celebrated and honored the father's in our lives who are awesome!
Our family is truly blessed to have role models such as Michael, Harv and Jay! I made cards!

On the way to my parents to celebrate Jayda's birthday with the whole family, we stopped at the post office...Michael got out and I thought it was a perfect time for a photo of the three.... Jay started off screaming, and then i managed to capture some photos in between protests! The pics are in reverse order, oops!

Jayda was so cute about her big day!
All the family was there...Mom, Dad, Jayne, Mother, Dad, and us! Thanks Mother for having us all for the day!

Everything seemed to be going great when I went out to check on Michael as he was working on the sprinklers. Couldn't figure out when it was said and done why there was no pressure in the sprinklers...hmmm...better question, why were the spinkler thingies in the back (pictured below) so high? Mike cut them lower...ooops! Ends up there are some taller sprinkler heads and they needed to be lower. He is off to chop down some other sprinkler heads and lower them. I am giggling...even though I know I shouldn't be. Worse thing. I am blogging about it.
Hehehe, I know it will all work out in the end. After all, it is one of the reasons I married him. He is so capable and handy, better yet. So smart.
Wait, why'd he cut those down again???????

Off to take Jacob to his friends house!

Hurry...catch up!

2009-06-16T11:58:00.013-04:00

Well, I apologize for being so behind...I have begun working on a Kindergarten blog for my classroom in lieu of a weekly newsletter.
This has caused me to spend countless hours designing, adding cool features, and basically wasting too much time. Hahahaha
I will post it soon when I think it is ready to be revealed!

So, let me begin.

Jay loves musical instruments...like the drums and the guitar and the microphone. I am unsure if it is a true love for music or if it is the fact that the children have the WII Rock Band Game.

Hmmmm....so just make a note of it...he is wearing clothing in this picture that is not PJ's!

Friday night we headed to Ocala...the whole scraggly bunch of us! We spent Fri-Sunday evening with Mom and Dad in Ocala! We all had a wonderful time, and it got to a point where
It never fails, we have to remove Jay about 400 times from the computer chair.

And then of course he hustles over to the other chair!

Jay has found a new love of pool goggles. He wears them whenever he is out on the back porch! On this particular day he had his goggles and a fly swatter(another of his favorite toys at Grammy's house) They tell me they think it is clean. The key word "think". hahahahaha Well, Jay has not gotten sick from bug guts yet...so I think it is safe to say bug guts do not make children ill!

Truth be told...even if they did make you sick...how could you pass up footage like this?????

By the way....as I am writing this...it suddenly has just dawned on me. You know those people that send out Christmas Notes in the form of three page letters? I think I have just became one of those people. GASP...I have even been known to misspell words....GASP!!!
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Okay, deep breath, it will be ok Jessica!
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Alright, if this is how you actually view my blog, the christmas gift that keeps on giving, I am sorry and not sorry at the same time. Because, FRANKLY, it is a gift for my Mother in Law who doesn't get to see the children as often.
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So for those of you still with me. "Merry Christmas"!

I get my ADD from my mom. That's attention deficit disorder for those of you not closely associated with school children!

Now, back to my in-laws house! Speaking of...Jane send me some of those cute pics from your camera so I can post some pics of you and Jay together! ADD again! Thanks mother!
Alright,
Saturday it rained all all all all all all all day. The kids and I snuck out to see the movie UP! It is a Disney movie created by Pixar. Oh my gosh and goodness....I absolutely LOVED it and it is totally unexpected from the TV trailers. LOVE IT! Jay stayed home with daddy and Grammy and grampy in which I think he was napping a large portion of that. But I could be wrong, because I on the other hand was at the theater having a ball!

The following morning, Michael and I were up at 4:50 am. Yeah...that early and without reason such as a 19 month old waking and screaming with tooth pain. Jay was sleeping soundly while Micahel and I slipped out the back door and went out on the gulf of Mexico to fish. Things were pretty slow...and then out of no where a huge black fin has broken the surface and is heading straight for our boat! I yell to Michael, OH NO LOOK IT"S A HUGE SHARK!!!! But wait, it comes up right next to the boat and blows air out of his blowhole and I swear he smiled at us!!! It was a very dark, charcoal grey porpoise! DUH!!! We were fishing on Porpoise Point...now I get it! He swam past us at break neck speed, and then doubled back equally fast where he slowed just under us. He came up along side us and several times rolled to his side and eye balled us...almost smiling! We have been in the kayaks, in the ocean swimming, and on the boat: Not once has a porpoise ever come near us. They have always been frightful and kept their distance. I felt so connected and yet out of my element all at once. So beautiful was the creature who connected with us, if but only for a few minutes of time. The final pass, he was showing off, easily speeding through the water!

As usual, Michael catches a couple and I catch not much of anything...save for the black tip shark and two cat fish(one was a flying catfish whoopdie doo~that's sarcasm)
I look a mess here...but then again, I was up at 4:50 am! hahaha
These are redfish. You can tell by the black spot on the tail. Undersize for keeping. Shucks, they taste so good!

OH YEAH, and then there was that tree I caught with Mike's new Popping cork lure. Um, so we begin slowly trolling in to get the thing unstuck...it was after all a Cajun Thunder Popping Cork. I am seeing a nightmare being fashioned right before my eyes: We run aground on an oyster bed and gouge the heck out of the boat, a tree limb impales us from below and the "titanic" theme plays in my mind, we get stuck in the murky waters where who knows what lives! We are edged up so close: will a huge snake fall from the tree, will a spider sneak aboard and bite me later, or will something from below spring forth and get me? (I know I buy trouble...) Then we are just about there, everything is smooth Mike is handling it with precision and perfection....and then he drops his pliers, which were to cut it out of the tree, into the water! AAACCCKKK! He bends over we come even closer to the tree, I stretch as far as I can and grab it out of the tree all by myself. Oh, by the way...the pliers float thanks to a wonderful company that fashions the handles with buoyant material. Only the best for our boat! hahahahaha Disaster avoided, high heat of the day reached, nothing is biting...we are outta there!
When we arrived back in Ocala, we were met by everyone...Mom, Dad, Jake, Jayda, Jay, and Emmy. Everyone seemed happy to see us. The first words out of Mom's mouth was "Don't hate me." She kept repeating it over and over and over again. I saw Jay in her arms and he was safe and happy. Jacob and Jayda were right there. I was so confused...and then she said, We taught the kids how to mow the lawn with a riding lawn mower. I am all like, okay and....... Well I am unsure if it is against the law or anything like that, but Jake mows the lawn at our house no problem...just not on a riding lawn mower. So that was kind of exciting! hahahaha
I wasn't mad or worried. I was glad they learned a new skill. Now, I wonder if I have just sold out my in laws to the law. Here's to hoping it was not illegal! hahaha

Emmy deals with Jay so well. She occasionally barks but Jay likes her and she likes him. They give each other their space and Emmy knows when to steer clear of him when he is tottering around overhead.

Notice again he is in something other than Jammies....hahahaha!
We loved spending time together and left later Sunday evening after a delicious meal!
Once home, we went straight to bed, it had been a long weekend!
The next week is somewhat of a blur, hahaha!
Here you will find Jay playing with his toys for the very first time, thanks to Jacob.

Listen to him say Jacob's name! Cute.

I never tire of Jay playing Speed Racer around the house. Cracks me up!

Jay began feeding himself bananas this week. He actually eats so many of these. He loves bananas, almost too much! I said to Jay...Can I take a picture of you holding your banana? Mike says from the other room...Whoah, that's getting kinda dirty! hahahahaha Sick humor we know! hahaha

Then there was the evening Jacob made cookies for dessert. He is great in the kitchen!

It has only been a matter of time before Jay snuck away with a marker and found a book. I was warned of what had happened by a little boy saying over and over again, OH NO!

We have this up on EBAY...so if you know anyone who needs one...it is in excellent condition and is extremely clean, from a pet-free, smoke-free home!
Let us know!

Jayda spent some time with her friend from girl scouts and Jacob with his friend from school. Then it was the weekly farmers market/flea market. Friday brought a fun trip to the beach. We went to a beach in the Ponce Inlet area which is better known as "Mommom and Papa's Beach". This was Jay's very first trip to the beach. We arrived at 9 am and stayed until 11 am. He played in the surf, sand, and shower. He had a ball and so did the others. He was put in his car seat and before I could even get him latched in, he was asleep!
Loved the beach....and I don't have a single picture to prove it! I didn't think I would have time to deal with it. Bummer.
Saturday morning we took my mother to kayak blue springs. It was a pain getting into the water as they do not have a proper launch. But I wanted to do it so much! My mother was so excited to be included as she LOVES kayaking! Jay went along and sat between Mike's legs. He did wonderful, and then fell asleep. Michael sat in the shade and watched the day go by with the baby as Mother and I paddled up and back the river! Awesome time and I was so tired when it was all said and done. Poor Mike, he did all the work. Even had to fix a flat tire in the parking lot on the trailer....must have been from sitting in the garage since January.
Sunday we had a delicious Steak dinner at my parents and it was excellent! I loved not having to cook...but even better was spending time with my parents.
Monday we did a whole lot of nothing. I couldn't get the kids out of the house for anything! They kept complaining about how hot it was!!! I have to agree, there is nothing quite as hot as a Florida Summer!
Tuesday, we went over to the library as there was a fireman presentation going on. Jay loved the truck! Jacob and Jayda enjoyed it too under the guise of watching Jay enjoy it! They both checked out 4 books from the library. I wish I was a kid again...they have some awesome young adult stories! WOW! I loved helping them pick books. We head to the shelves and I pull out books and read the summary aloud to them. They love for me to do that. I can tell immediately if it is a book that will peak their interests...and sometimes they surprise me.
Right now, jay is feeding himself some pasta and the children have begged to play their video games! After they have both finished a book today, how can I say no!?!
Well, If you made it this far....
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!!!!
hahahahahah
Sorry about the long Christmas in June letter!
hahaha

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! Summer or BUST!

2009-06-05T07:25:00.017-04:00

I am not sure when it happened, but my mother has started a tradition of taking the children out for ice cream on the eve of their last day of school. Jayda and Jacob were so thrilled! She surprised them. It was pouring cats and dogs, maybe even small monkeys...and she still took them!

Not into photo shoots, my middle child poses for me on her last day of 4th grade! It has been an incredible year for her!

Of course, give her a few shots and she loosens up!

Then, there is my wise beyond his years Jacob. Growing Changing Moving Forward. So cute. He has done a magnificant job in middle school and starts the year off with honors classes in 7th grade.

It was painful trying to get these two to pose together...like seriously mom...pointing a finger at the other...it has cooties!!!

They did their best to make me happy by actually touching one another. My babies growing up!!!

Hrmph....deep sigh...I imagine if I didn't have a wee one growing up in the ranks under them I would be more sentimental. I loved seeing them off on their last day of school! I HAVE LOVED being here everyday for them. What a blessed gift to watch them this year as they ventured off into new schools and grades.
Jayda will begin her last year in Elementary school a few short months from now and Jacob will be venturing into 7th grade.
He was wearing a shirt to be signed by other kids today...he asked me and mike to sign....such a sweet kid!
I will hopefully get a pic of his shirt after school!

Last week...I know, a week ago!!!
I helped out in Jayda's class. The whole fourth grade was painting the organs in the body on t-shirts. I helped out from 8 am to 1 pm...and I didn't get paid!!! LOL Such is the life of a classroom volunteer...which I have a brand new affection for!!
Jayda is pretty much MORTIFIED when I break out the camera...the other children make the funniest faces!!!!

Then it was turn right back around and head back to school to pick up jayda...

it was the first official day she would be bringing home her NEW safety patrol badge....well, used, but new to her.

Friday night, Jacob had his first baseball playoff game, which went til 9:45 pm from 6:30 pm. YIKES!!!! Luckily, he was with his dad that weekend and we were on the way to Ocala. However, prior to leaving for Ocala, I had a memorial for a wonderful woman whom I taught with and Jacob had her as a first grade teacher. Unfortunately, cancer took her life quickly. Yet, she was always as majestic and gorgeous right up to the end. Oh, to be like her as a teacher. She has left a legacy for a lifetime. Our elementary school designated an outdoor reading area and also left many books in her honor in the library which is also dedicated to her!
It was sad, joyful, and a wonderful way to remember her.
Then it was off to be spoiled by Grammy and Grampy.
Here's Jay on the way...looking all like LINUS!

Michael and big Jay went fishing-
brought home a keeper trout, so Jay could pet it...and he did...slime and all. He says, "ewww" as he is petting it! hahaha
Here's a spanish mackerel Michael caught...but not a keeper.

How bad am I for not taking any other pictures this past weekend??? Oh well, how do you photograph sitting around relaxing, reading mags, and chasing Jay???
hahahaha

Jay has a big big wheel. It doesn't quite fit him but he rides like the wind! Oh, and I goof on Mike. hehehehe

Then this past Wednesday, I got him a little big wheel at the flea market...what fun!
He is not as good on this one!

I messed around and pulled up some photos of the early 80's. Here's me!

I was using these with the latest layouts I made for the new digital designer I create and advertise for...you can see all about it HERE!

Jay is busier than ever and you never know where you might find him...take for instance he got himself in the bathtub and was playing ball.

Then yesterday, it was haircut number three day. Click on this pic...in Photo Shop 7.0 I made his pic black and white with his blue eyes showing through. Neat little thing that Photo Shop!

Well, he had one haircut by me in between time. I did a pretty good job considering this past cut by the barber. It wasn't as good as the one he had with Tim the first time. Then again, the following pics may help you understand why....

He was not afraid of Tim, he just did not like the chair at all!!! Let's not even discuss the cape!!!
Three lollipops, a shirt COVERED IN HAIR, $10.00, and some tears later...

Today I have an appointment at school to discuss next years curriculum and room assignments. Then it is off to Ocala this weekend...where I WILL BE FISHING with my husband this weekend alone. LIKE A DATE!!!! WOOHOOOOO!!!!!! heheheeh I must be a man's dream come true...excited about a date...for fishing!
I'm a little pensive...last fishing trip together, I drove our boat into the pilings of the bridge in the keys. $250.00 later in repairs. Well, I didn't actually drive the boat into the pilings, but that i show Michael likes to tell the story. I swear I was taking his orders, and then a current caught the side of the boat and so basically the current and the trolling motor full throttle forced us into the situation.

So behind!

2009-05-27T14:34:00.014-04:00

Okay...if you ware wondering whats been going on...I will do my best to catch you up!
Going back a ways....
Jayda's field trip to St. Augustine...
This was her friend who she is good pals.
Jayda's teacher.
My group on the field trip.

Entrance to St. Augustine
At the indian museum

In a gift shop
a peacock at the fountain of youth
oldest living resident of st augustine

one of only several castles built in st augustine, it is now the ripley's believe it or not museum

I was so lucky to be able to go with Jayda on this trip! There are some fabulous things to see in St Augustine and a must see for every Florida traveler!

That night was the beginning of the girl scouting weekend which was so awesome...check out this post HERE!
While you are at here sight, you may have noticed she has completed several more badges! She is working on her bronze award...the highest honor of the junior girl scout!
Then some time along the way I helped Jacob create this squid for a science project...

Jay continues to do very very funny things! The latest is this affection with my shoes...the higher the heel the better in his opinion!
He is very secure in his manliness!

Speaking of shoes...like his new ones????

He loves helping his dad with his work. I do not know if this is a reciprocated feeling....

The bib on the head seemed like a lot of fun to him! You will see he is bending over in his chair trying to see around the camera. He is so fascinated at looking at himself on the screen! Makes it hard to photograph or video.

This past weekend we celebrated Memorial Day. Our country is free because of the men and women who put their lives on the line for ours. In honor and memory of those who have sacrificed their lives for ours, the girl scouts helped place flags at the cemetery. I also helped out. I was going along just fine...and then I saw a tombstone for an 18 month old little boy and I literally began sobbing. I do not know why for certain...and I was alone thank goodness...but it just tore my heart to think of the little baby who is gone and a mother whose heart was breaking. I suppose I cried for his mother. Any way, I do not know if it had any meaning to Jayda...she was a brat when we got home. LOL She is so MY daughter!

We spent memorial day at my parents pool where jay has really taken to swimming while in his froggy. He can kick his feet and make himself move around the pool! My mother surprised me with a cool relaxing drink of a frozen mixture of margarita mix with coconut rum....WOWSERS! So cool and refreshing! I had a picnic here at the house! My parents came over early and we had a chip party and other snacks...by the time dinner was served we were so full!!! Although, we all saved room for a hotdog and BIG GEORGES hot dog sauce! Yeah...I have that recipie...I need to perfect it though. I am thinking, along with mom and dad, that Martha did NOT drain the grease from it and used the cheapest ground beef available. Next time, I will not get the good ground beef and will forget about draining it! LOL!

I went to the flea market with my mom today. It has been over three weeks since I have been! I got some scrapbooking treats and then peaches, bananas(which I dropped on my mothers drive way DARN IT! I hate bruise!), apples, and onions. I am totally whacky for onions...I have no idea...it just started recently! I also bought 7 herb plants at the flea markey for a dollar a piece! I am thinking of starting a garden in my courtyard. First thing I am going to plant...onions. Well, after the herbs that is!

Okay, that's just a touch of the surface...but hope you enjoy!

Teenage Mortification Material!

2009-05-14T10:28:00.009-04:00

Just decided to blog...I am sure the little man child will awaken from his nap...cause that's my luck.
Well, rather than complaining, I should just shut up and type!

Okay, with that said, I am gearing up for a busy Friday! Field trip to St. Augustine with Jayda's class will have Michael as Mr. Mom + Day Care for Jay. He is going to have to juggle an appointment and watch Jay. He is not complaining as we are thrilled for the prospect of a sale!
My mother is filling in while he is away. However, her ever increasing busy life in her new community has her running from one event to the next...tomorrow is no exception.

I am thrilled how quickly they have moved into and become part of this community. It keeps her off my back and not nagging me. Hahahaha-just kidding! It actually keeps her from spending time with me! Although, I am thinking I might go along with her to some events...would up the anty on my social life, that is for sure!

Man child is up...will have to complete later!

Let's get this started right off...
Now, you may remember the Easter morning video...yeah, kind of obnoxious! Well, now you will understand that it is indeed genetic and obviously being passed right on down...

Yeah, he loves to perform.

Not only does he have a refined sense of music but also recognizes fine jewelery and is capable of calling it pretty...although it comes out "pritleeee".
You will notice he thinks his wearing of this is wonderful...
Even went so far as to say pretty...or pritleeeee.
Then, it is as if his man brain kicks in and his brain registers perhaps it may be pretty but not something he should be wearing.
With this look, he is sure I have gone over the deep end by thinking that photographing him with my necklace on is nothing if not just wrong! hahaha

Needless to say, I still think it is pritleee!

While I am going ahead and posting pics that will mortify him one day, I figure I might as well just push it as far as I can.
Saturday, Jayda had a luau birthday party to attend. I pulled out the luau gear I had in the closet and Jay found it worthy of his attention! As a matter of fact, he loved shaking it!
This face was him talking to me about the plasticy things on his neck.
You will see his delight and joy at being such a hula hula boy!

Now, isn't that fun? Who wouldn't love to put one of those on and dance around...go ahead and admit you would enjoy it too!

Let's see...what else can I do to mortify him?
Oh yeah...this past week, he had had a couple of positive interactions with the potty! He made it to the potty for a #1...and then a couple days later, he was going to hide and I suggested he go use the potty and he agreed. We headed back and hopped on the Thomas the Train toilet seat. He proceeded to sit and talk and avoid the impending bodily function. Michael hollered back to give him some reading material...and interestingly enough, Jayda brought a book about vehicles called, Baby's things that go...seriously...that's what it is called. I know, IRONIC! But it worked!!!! A minute later we were talking about a motorcycle and it happened. I even took a picture of it. I know...motherhood is a sick sick sick world to be in the middle of!

Other than that....not much more...
I need to get out more...after rereading this...I may be a bit off kilter. hahahaha

It's time!

2009-05-11T22:05:00.002-04:00

Time to talk about my mother! Better late than never! (it seems everything I do is blogged about days later anymore!)
Okay, now if you were to eaves drop on a conversation about my mother when I was a teen...you would have heard such comments as:
"I am not allowed to go because my mother feels like I will be guilty by association."
"My mother is a real, live, breathing Hitler."
"I am a slave in my own house."
"I can not go on a date with you, I have to watch the dogs for my mother this weekend."
Yes, I said that....hahahaha I was made fun of for months and months after that!
But you also would have heard me say, "Yeah, I know my mom is pretty cool." "Mrs. Rairie...yes that's my mom!"
It was a classic love hate relationship growing up! I remember distinctly, as I stomped upstairs yelling, I will NEVER treat my children as horribly as you treat me...in which I ended up in my bedroom slamming my door...but dang it, my door never slammed! My house was built in the early 1900's and the door always caught gently and never slammed. So I would open it again and slam really really really hard. But alas, to no avail! Somehow it felt better just to express myself. hahaha Except that time I breathed the word bitch in refering to her as I headed up the stairs. I do not know how in the H-E-double hockey stick her hand reached from the kitchen to the stairwell to slap me across the face but it did!
This is especially good to travel back down this lane and remember as my children make me insane today.
Take for instance Jayda....answers my phone. A woman asks to speak with me. Jayda says I am not home and I will call her back later. Never took a name, never got a number. Okay, you can imagine what I am thinking!!!
An hour later, the phone rings...it is the computerized school calling informing me, Jayda owes 1.75 to the cafeteria. This was to be taken care of two weeks ago.. She has the $$ she has a note....she has not turned it in. I went ape over it!!! She had lost the privilage to buy anymore for the rest of the year a week ago. Ahem...today she lost a week of TV(a fate worse than death), she had to do laundry(and it is Jacob's week), and she had to clean her room again (for good measure). I had Michael dole out the punishment...because if I did...well let's just say Michael would be kinder.
To remember that we were all like that at one time. They are still normal, they will grow out of it and become productive citizens one day.

FAST FORWARD:
I have been lucky enough to have my folks transplant to Florida, about 8 -10 minutes away. This has brought us so much closer as a family and as friends!
This past Saturday, I had my parents for dinner and celebrated mother's day early because we were going to go out on the boat Sunday. I cooked for them for a change...LOL.
My mother brought me a stunning "Mother Daughter Friend" Necklace! I loved it so much. Check it out HERE!
Now, when reading the comments above you may be wondering WTH???
Let me fill in some blanks.
My mother has become my best friend. Simple as that!
I look forward to our day trips and outings and lunches out at new and exciting places! Like Today HERE! Aunt Catfish's on the Water in Port Orange! Just after we hit the Beall's Outlet-it's Monday(for the 55+ set) then down to the bead store looking for mom's perfect red bead, and then off to lunch...after a few funny wrong turns down the residential area! Oops. Then it was finally a relaxing lunch overlooking the inter coastal and finally understanding what the pediatrician meant by winning the battles every time. Jay is becoming assertive these days. It was a brief irritation involving raisins and wanting to stand up in his high chair. Both of which provided him the opportunity to squeal, me to say NO, and my mother to say...just ignore him. hahaha
I would have to say, the funniest part of the ride was when Jay kept saying "OH BAYBEEE"! Oh yeah, and that side trip down that residential area...
Where did he learn "OH BAYBEEEE" anyways????
Did I mention how delicious my hush puppie was at lunch??? I oohed and ahhed and my mother gave me hers! See there....that's what I am talking about.
She leads me down the wrong way, I don't get mad, we laugh a lot at ourselves and she shares her hush puppie with me...now that's LOVE!
I suppose she is just buttering me up so when she's old and needs her depends cleaned...I will be the one. Heck, I think I am the most qualified out of anyone to do it. I have had plenty of practice and might add I am pretty good at it.
Mother, I love you!
On a side note...my mother's mother died 27 years ago on Mother's Day. So Mother's Day always kind of stinks for my mother. We still so fondly recall and talk about her as if she passed but only a year ago. I have promised my mom a trip during May just she and I. I want to take her to NYC but I would go anywhere with her!

PS: For those of you wondering about my other Mom...I hit the freaking JACKPOT with my Mother in Law, whom I fondly refer to as Mom. I only wish she lived closer. Michael's mom and dad went to a wedding in Illinois this past weekend, so i wasn't able to spend time with her. Here's a big hug Mom...catch it!

Sorry no pictures...not on Saturday, not on the boat...hmmmm. Slacker!

My new car!

2009-05-06T17:57:00.003-04:00

We got the Honda Accord LX-P. How much fun! Such a great deal! Courtesy Honda was FABULOUS to work with!
Here's a wonderful video from consumer reports to give you the lowdown!
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/video-hub/video.htm?bctid=13389080001

Jayda's Award!

2009-05-06T09:16:00.004-04:00

My Jayda, so unsure of herself...yet such a wonderful student...this is her second time being honored as student of the week.
Both she and Jacob have adjusted to schooling out here and away from my old school where I taught. Friends are the best and biggest change...and they have chosen some very nice ones! YAY
Well, we are waiting on Jay to get up from his nap to go car hunting. I wanted to wait until December, when no one was buying and you can get a great deal. But, alas, the car had other plans...the transmission went out. Well, only the reverse does not work. I thought it would be interesting to drive a car with out reverse. I bet it could be done. All in the name of being frugal. After all, the car only has 60,000 miles on it. (Oh that's right...it is nearly 10 years old though!) It is the car my parents sold me. It is a lemon and I want my money back. hehehehe The dealer warned me of this impending doom when I had it in to be checked why it clunked when I put it into reverse. He said, "if it is what I think it is...it will be very expensive to fix and I suggest you just drive it til it quits." Now, being a woman...I understand what he means about quits. LOL
My mother and I were not real happy about coming straight home from our quick trip to Ormond for shopping and LUNCH OUT! I thought I could just park so I didn't have to put it in reverse. Michael thought otherwise. He said I needed to come home. PARTY POOPER!

Oh well, here is what we are looking at:

Sonata
Accord
Camry
Will keep you posted!

Where to begin!?

2009-05-04T10:35:00.015-04:00

Let's begin April 23rd. We have been very busy...as usual! Maybe even more so!
Mother had found some new Stride Rite shoes at Beall's Outlet and got them for him. You may remember the story of how Jay's very first pair of shoes cost 56.00 or some silly thing like that. In the meantime, I began to see them at Beall's Outlet when I went with my mother. They were only 19.99 there. So, this has begun the treasure hunt of Jay's shoes. Besides, who doesn't like a treasure hunt...or an excuse to shop???
Jay is absolutely in love with the outdoors. Wakes up in the morning, first thing he wants to do after having his juice is go OUTSIDE! Grabs his shoes and first asks nicely, then ups the anty by beginning to raise his voice, proceeding into fits of mass hysteria(in which you can interrupt him and ask him to sing a song...stops dead whine and begins to sing a rendition of the Barney song, only to hurry back into his hysterics) On this particular morning, we put on his brand spanking new size 9 shoes. I wanted to get a picture of his shoes, you will notice in the first pic he thought we were simply going out doors. His excitement over this turned for the worse immediately when he realized I was holding up the OUTSIDE process.

This particular day, the 23rd, was officially my mother's birthday. She and I planned a fun day of shopping and sushi for lunch! We first stopped at the bead store

and then headed over to the home store, looking for the perfect picture for her bedroom. Then it was on to lunch!

We all enjoyed our lunches! A little too much, I was stuffed.

Later that day, you will find Jay OUTSIDE! Go figure. This time, after he had played and got overheated I turned on the sprinklers for some water fun...as usual my talking in the background is annoying...

Even later that evening, OUTSIDE once again. Michael was preparing the Kayaks for a trip out which will include Jay. So we had to rig a seat for him.

On the 28th, Jayda had a field trip to the Historic Courthouse Museum. Where we were treated to the most fascinating artist presented to us by phenomenal docent's (the corps of volunteer guides who staff museums and other educational institutions. Docent is derived from the present participle (docens, docentis) of the Latin word docēre, meaning "to teach".) You can see what we learned by clicking HERE!
If you click on the pictures you can learn more about the history of Florida through the artist Jackson Walker. I highly recommend you take the time and learn a little more about this artist and his artwork. The children were absolutely enthralled by the paintings and learned a little more about their Florida! Jayda loved having me on the field trip with her! She has a great class and I loved being part of this field trip. Next up...Jake's field trip to sea world! Then back again with Jayda's class to St. Augustine!
Friday May 1 was field trip day to Sea World. We left the school at 815 am and arrived back at 745 pm...what a long, fun, totally awesome day! I had four great children in my group!

You will notice a very typical theme for Jacob in this photo. He is my old soul in a little man's body! While the other boys are silly, Jacob just never quite seems to go there. Or rather, I should say...he knows when to be silly and when to be serious! He is my "forward thinking boy"...using his words. Defined, "I think about things before they happen and decide what I should do." Yes, he is my forward thinking child! (Crack me up!)
I MADE them ride the merry go round with me!!! hehehehe
It was fun and they were funny and I think they loved it!
At least I did!

Here are some shots of my favorite part of the day! I mean really...Shamu show is amazing! I can not imagine a single person, be it child or adult that does not leave that place inspired. The music, the story, the mammal, the trainers, the audience...amazing.

The place was jam packed, we were there 45 minutes early and the boys literally had front row seats in the soak zone! I sat up about 15 rows. Unfortunately, for the boys, Shamu refused to soak our section...did it feel my desperate pleas of not getting soaked with salt water?

Michael was the perfect Mr. Mom these past three days! Friday he watched Jay as I went to the field trip, then Saturday I left for a weekend getaway with my teacher friends. We were celebrating Mary's bachelorette party! Michael took jay and went to Ocala! Jacob and Jayda were with their dad this weekend. It was a great weekend for us all!
I arrived at the beach at around 10 am and we went out to the store to get some food and beverages! Hung out by the pool and at the beach, caught up on all the goings on, laughed, ate delicious food-I had wahoo shashimi and it just may be my favorite fish now!, went back to the beach house and danced, laughed and played games! What a great time for everyone!

Two other girls took TONS of pictures but I only got this one! It is blurry, but this is Mary!

We all wore matching shirts out to dinner...they had an iron on with her picture and the words Mary's Miracle! That's what she calls her upcoming marriage! She is 59 and had been single for 24 years when she met the man of her dreams on Match.com!

Sunday we hung out at the beach and RELAXED! Such a great time.

Then we had dinner at my mother's house Sunday evening! Steak on the grill and corn on the cob. I swear I had the best steak I have ever eaten! So yummy!!!! Jay ate an ear of corn. The funniest thing was out of the blue he used the corn cob and totally started singing like it was a microphone...complete with the facial expressions like he was rocking out!
So funny!

Jay turned 18 months on the 29th. I can't believe it!!!
He weighed 29.4 lbs. He was 36 inches tall! He is just at the 90th percentile for weight and off the charts for height. The doctor predicted he will be anywhere between 6'2"-6'4" as an adult should he continue on the growth chart as he has been. The doctor asked how many words he was saying. I said I was not sure but he wakes up talking and can say some simple sentences like I want that and I want down or I like that. The doctor said he is advanced on his verbal skills. I ended up counting how many words he says and we are up over 85 words...but who has time to keep track of every single one.
As I was putting him in the car the day I kept track, the sprinklers just turned on and was hitting the car. I said oh crap...only to have jay say right beck...oh crap! YIKES. I told him he was not allowed to use that word he had to say shucks. Of course he didn't say shucks and will come out with oh crap at the most inopportune moment-I am sure. hahaha

Fleas, a purse, a ticket, and some bad singing!

2009-04-22T15:16:00.009-04:00

Mommom celebrate's her birthday week...LOL. My mother's birthday is the 23rd. She has been having a ball this week! Monday was shopping with my dad. Tuesday was dinner at my house, baseball game and cake here after!
Oh it was a beaut of a party!

Jay loved singing and gave us a little song...

Wednesday started early for her by going out to the flea/farmers market where she traded in her old cart for a new one! He was asking 17 but would take a trade and charged 12 dollars. It was her mother in laws cart from ages ago...and rickety...and the end of the cart sharp...I always feared should she stop short and I ram the cart....I would surely need a tetanus shot from all the rust! Now she is the proud owner of a shiny new cart!
Tonight she is headed out to dinner with friends of theirs. Thursday...her true birthday, she is having dinner out with my dad.
I like how she celebrates...a full week!

This afternoon Jay scraped his face somehow and on something which I have no clue. He did not do the "OW OW OW OW OW OW" that he has come to know and love for ANY bump! So I can not tell from where this came from...as I write now, it is a very faint scratch and barely noticeable. Thanks to the aquaphor which immediately begins to heal your skin. Love that stuff!!!

Had a ball at the flea market and it was one of the most delightful days there so far! Full of garage saley vintagey things(rather than antique dealers asking an arm and a leg!) that was pure delight to the eyes!
I had to have a few things!
fringey stuff...

a new um OLD purse...

this was the most funnest, awesomest thing I dug out of a table of boxes...amongst the other things listed below!!! It is an old sewing box...now cleaned up purse!!!

a dictionary from 1930!

vintage scarves! I am thinking new short hair do with big round sunglasses...oh yeah baby!

OK, life is just way to busy and fun right now.
Well, you know...there are things that are definitely not so fun going on...
*like having to file paperwork with the courts in regards to modifying child support.
*like having to do some major spring cleaning and hating it.
*like having to be here or be there.
*like having to run out to the court house for the third day in a row.
*like having a dentist appointment.
*like missing out on having dinner with my teacher friends Monday night because I had to take Jacob to practice and Michael worked all day.
*like getting a speeding ticket.

Everyone has things like this they have to deal with....
But how lucky am I???
*I get to be with Jay and see him grow and change every day!
*I am able to help out with Jayda's class and be part of both her and Jacob's education!
* I get to celebrate a dear dear dear friend of mine's upcoming wedding at a bachelorette party in May! She is 59 I think and marrying a wonderful man! daddy's babysitting!
*I have an amazingly, wonderful, supportive husband who I expect to be perfect 100 % of the time...and well...he's near close!
*My dentist appointment went smoothly! She said Everything looks great! No cavities! That's always an exciting thing to hear for me! hahahaha See a post somewhere in the past when I ranted about how I dreaded the dentist as a child!!(Who happened to have an office just over the candy store!?! WTH???)
* I get to go on the St. Augustine field trip as a chaperone for my daughter and to Sea World as a chaperone for my son!!
*The weather is in the 80's and staying that way all week here!
*We are going out in the boat this weekend and taking a friend of Jayda's.
*Jacob is old enough to mow the lawn and Jayda is old enough to do the laundry!
*I have the sweetest in laws!
*I have the best parents!
*I love my family!
and on and on and on and on and on....
WHAT??????? You are wondering why I glazed over the part about a speeding ticket huh????
Yeah, you heard me. A speeding ticket. I haven't had a speeding ticket since 1993. I was coming back from beach and it went from 50 mph to a 35 mph and I wasn't familiar with that part of town. However, this time, I was driving 37 miles per hour and got a speeding ticket! It was a 30 mph zone...where up ahead they would be doing construction...oops! It could have been a 391.00 fine but he let me off the hook for only 151.00. Hmmmm, thanks??

Anyways, it feels good to let you all know I got a speeding ticket. I am not so mortified or embarrassed by it now...the truth really does set you free. haha