Senior Prom

Sarah's had a great time at her senior prom!  She looked beautiful and Daniel cleaned up pretty good, too!

Happy Birthday, Bay!!

Baylee has been such a wonderful addition to our family. She turned 1 year old on April 22! She topped out at 55 pounds.  She is so sweet and energetic and loves to play soccer and fetch a tennis ball.  She has learned so much in the past year.  She knows the following commands and is still learning more every day:

Sit
Down
Come
Stay
Stand
Twirl
Kisses
Shake
Watch me (stare me in the eyes until released)
Off
No
Leave it
Take it
Go potty (on demand)
Bring it (she loves to fetch!)
Get the paper (she will get the newspaper from the end of the driveway and bring it to me)
Go to bed (lay on her bed until released)
Okay (her release word)
Back (if she is walking too far ahead of me on leash, she will slow down and get behind me)

Field Trip to Atlanta Botanical Gardens

Connor and I had a great time on a field trip with his class at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The gardens were beautiful and in full bloom.  Afterwards we had lunch at Piedmont park.  We were fortunate that Bo was able to sneak away from work for a short while and join us.

Connor with his friend, Joe.  There were animals like the unicorn in the background throughout the park.  In addition to the unicorn, we saw rabbits, dogs, bears and huge strawberries and apples with faces, arms and legs.  They were all made out of plants.

There were so many tulips and they were so beautiful!

Pinewood Derby

Tyler and Connor participated in yet another Pinewood Derby with their Boy Scout troop. A good time was had by all. Connor won a trophy for the most original car. Way to go, Connor!

Music Open House

Each year, Connor's music teacher holds an open house for parents to visit and watch what they have learned. This year, each child had a solo to sing. Poor Connor was so shy!

After the solo, they played the xylophone and showed off their mad skills:

Ty's fish tank

If you remember, Ty got a betta fish for his 10th birthday. It was housed in a 5 gallon aquarium. Well, it passed several months ago. Ty was very sad about it, so of course, we had to get him four more fish! A five gallon tank just isn't big enough for that many fish, so we got him a 29 gallon aquarium. He now has 3 Zebra Danios and an ivory Mystery Snail that he named Pearl. He is hoping to add more soon. The rule of thumb is to have one inch of fish per gallon, so he will be able to house about 12 fish.

Now to figure out how to stabilize the chemistry of the water. Who said fish were easy to care for?!?!

Last Cheer Banquet

On January 14th, Sarah's cheerleading squad celebrated their successful season with a banquet. For serving two years on Varsity, she earned her letterman jacket and each senior was recognized with a very nice plaque. It is going to be a very nice keepsake for Sarah to look back on one day and remember all the fun years that she was a part of.

Brrrrr....

It's another cold day in Panama, but at least it isn't raining. We walked down to the pier today. I think we were the only ones on the beach wearing jeans and sweatshirts! Everyone else is on the beach in swimsuits folding their arms around themselves shivering. WHY? The funny thing is that they are looking at us like we are the strange ones! I just don't understand. 😳

The boys want to go down to the hot tub tonight for our last night. Now, that is something I can handle!

Only Bo!

I just had to share the adventures of Kyle and Eric with you all. For Easter, the boys found an alien egg in their Easter baskets. When the eggs are soaked in water, an alien will hatch from it and grow. The aliens had not completed their growing cycle when we left for the beach, so the boys had to leave them in the water. Bo is home taking care of the fort while we are gone and I guess he got bored, so he texted us this skit.

Unsure of his new environment, the newly hatched alien peers cautiously into the unknown.

So tell me, how was the atmosphere outside the drinking glass?

Eric: Holy crap Kyle. I think I see a way out of here.

Kyle: What is it?
Eric:Holy A time machine.

Eric : I have selected the year 2020. Once I close the door, push start.

Kyle: uh okay. I hope this doesn't wake the leader.

Kyle: Eric!?

Eric: Kyle?!

Eric: Nevermind the time machine. Help me plug-in this transporter.

THE END

Spring Break 2013

For Sarah's last high school spring break, she wanted to go to Panama City Beach. What teenager doesn't, right? We arrived on Tuesday and will go home on Saturday. The weather was great the first day, but the past two days have been less than desirable. It has rained all day, so we have had a very lazy (but needed) day vegging out on tv. The most exciting thing that happened today was a boy asking a girl to prom by writing huge letters in the sand. It was kinda cute.

We are hoping that the remainder of the week will be warmer. The boys and I took a stroll on the beach looking for crabs last night, but found nothing.

We might venture out to the shops today.

Scouting for Food

The boys' Cub Scout Troop has been in a mission to collect canned goods to contribute to the Carroll County Soup Kitchen. The boys went door to door to every home in our subdivision and collected cans from our neighbors. They didn't collect as many as they had hoped to, but I think they did great!

Sarah is 18!!

I'm a week late, but I still want to give a shout out to Sarah. She turned 18 years old on March 26, 2013 and is now a legal adult! It's sad that she is no longer a child, but exciting for her to step into the world of adulthood. Even as an adult, she will always have a piece of our heart which is why Bo gave her a special keychain set for her birthday. She holds the heart on her keys and Bo keeps the key on his. Happy birthday, Princess!

Green Team

Connor's elementary school has formed a new club called The Green Team. He is excited to be a member of its first year. The team has been learning about growing your own food and they have chosen a place at the school to make a raised bed. Next week, they will decide what to plant. Connor enjoys planting things and watching them grow, so this should be neat for him.

Baseball

Practice has begun for Connor's second baseball season. Games should be underway in a few weeks. Baseball is his favorite sport by far. He is on the A's team this year. I love to watch him play!!

The Turn of the Century Museum

Tyler's Social Studies teacher reserves a day where her classroom turns into a "museum". It is titled The Turn of the Century Museum. Each child chooses a topic from history and writes a report on it and must create a 3D object related to the topic. Tyler chose to do his report on NAACP. Why? He thought that it was a topic related to electricity! If you know Ty, you know that he has an infatuation with electricity. Boy, did he have a lot to learn!

Parents are invited to visit the museum and take a tour. This is Ty with the NAACP symbol, his 3D object.

It's a done deal

Sarah made the decision to attend the University of North Georgia in the fall. The confirmation deposit and dorm application have been sent off. She discovered a website that connects freshman that are attending the same college. She met Cali, a young lady from Alpharetta, Ga. They have become friends and have chosen to room together. They are so much alike and are so excited for fall to come!!

18th Anniversary

January 14th marked our 18th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by having dinner at the Sundial, atop the Westin hotel, in Atlanta. It is the same restaurant that Bo took me to for my high school junior prom 20 years prior. It's such a nice place. The food is wonderful and the view is amazing, as you can see in the picture below. The elevator is glass and is attached to the side of the building, so the ride to the top was unique. The restaurant turns while you dine giving you a view of Atlanta from every angle. We watched the sun set over the horizon of colorful skyscrapers. In all my years, I have never taken the time to watch a sun set. It was my first and was so beautiful!!

We discovered that the reality tv show, The Voice, was having auditions that weekend and we met a blues singer that was trying out. We have become Facebook friends with her and it has been neat to watch her success. Last week she produced her very first album Nashville, TN.

Running Behind

Wow! I have 4 months worth of entries to catch up with. Our schedule has just been so stuffed in the past few months.

I brought the kids down to Panama City for spring break which has afforded me the time. So as I'm sitting on the balcony of our condo, overlooking the ocean and listening to the waves crash on the shore, I am hoping to get caught up.

Connor's 8th Birthday

Connor is another year older. He celebrated his birthday at Next Level Sports Center with several of his friends. They played a great game of kickball among other games before blowing out the candles and chowing down on cake!

Connor has been wanting a hermit crab for a long time. His grandmother and Gene got him TWO for his birthday (yes, they cleared it with the parents first!). He named them Henry and Herman. It's been interesting learning about them. I had no idea that they were so demanding. There is so much to keep up with.  The humidity in their crabitat must stay around 80%, the temperature has to remain around 76 degrees, they require things to hide under and things to climb on. They can actually get depressed. Yes, you read that right! That's why he got two of them. Despite being HERMIT crabs, they actually prefer the company of another. Let's just hope that we can keep up with all of their demands!

 Connor telling Grandma thank you for his new pets:

Herman is hiding in the white shell under the bark at the front of the tank and Henry is in the black shell at the right corner.