Day 1: Chronicles of Spring Break

Today is the first day of Spring Break.  We have nine glorious days.  Jonathan and his friend Kaitlyn are acting like this is the one and only day they have together.

First they played together in the front yard.  Then we grabbed leashes and took the girls on a walk to the pond.  Jonathan and Kaitlyn each had different methods of feeding the ducks and geese.  Kaitlyn practically hand fed those big noisy geese.  Here's a little secret... Jonathan and I are somewhat afraid of the geese.  We only feed the ducks.

Jonathan wore his goggles from Home Depot.  I haven't the slightest idea why he thought he needed eye protection.

We enjoyed seeing all of the trees blooming.  Sadly, our Bradford Pear Tree is no more.  However, tree or no tree, Jonathan and I refuse to break our tradition.  As we were walking and spotted the trees blooming, we broke out into our favorite song.  Jonathan and I enjoyed teaching Kaitlyn, Popcorn Popping.

This is by far the coolest thing we saw on our walk.  I'm not sure if this is a goose egg or a duck egg.  Nevertheless, it is HUGE. 

After our walk, I took the kids to eat lunch and then to run errands.  Jess went to lunch with us, and then she opted to go over to a friend's house.  Her friend, Andee, got a new puppy.  As you can imagine, Jonathan and I were left in a cloud of dust.

While we were out running around, we managed to find and buy several cans of silly string.  There is nothing more fun than a silly string war!

Oh my!  What a mess!  I wonder who is going to clean it up?  Silly string wars take only a few minutes, but the clean up takes a little bit longer.

My hero!  Such a good son helping his mom.  Actually, I was shocked, and had to take a picture to record his hard work.

After the very brief silly string war, the kids still needed something to do.  After all, we must take advantage of every second of our first day of break.  They decided to try their hand at tree climbing.

I was fighting the sun, so the pictures didn't turn out very well.  That's what happens when you climb trees at 5:45 p.m.

Earlier today, Jonathan had scraped his arm while climbing.  I guess Jonathan learned his lesson.  He put on quite a few wristbands to help protect them from the rough bark.

Fred is fishing, so I thought Day One was supposed to be quiet and uneventful.  We had to tear the kids away from each other at 6:00.  They acted as if they might not see each other again for the rest of the week.

On the Way Home

On the Way Home... blatant reference to my beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder.  A couple of weeks ago, while Fred was off fishing, Jonathan, Jess, Andee (Jessie's BFF), and I went home to visit my parents.  When I say home, I don't mean home like my parent's house in Lavon.  No, I mean home like Home of the Braves... Community School.

My mom works very hard and hosts a luncheon for a group of senior citizens.  We got to hang out at the luncheon.  I saw my first grade teacher, Mrs. NeSmith.  Love her!  After the luncheon, we went down to this special room that mom's quilters have at the school.  They make blankets for a group called Project Linus.  We utilized the room to start working on Jessie's Trek clothes. 

Mom

Grady/Dad

Silly Girls - Jessie and Andee

Jonathan

The kids got hungry, so I took them to Copeville to the most wonderful pizza place on earth.  As a youngster, our family enjoyed an occasional trip to Pizza Getti.  The Pizza Getti that I knew, burned down several years ago.  They have rebuilt in its place a nice new swanky Pizza Getti.  Thankfully, the secret pizza recipe didn't burn with the building.  The pizza tastes just the way it did in the '80s. 

See - I wasn't lying about it being new and swanky.

Just before 6:00 p.m. we were leaving Pizza Getti, and we spotted this beautiful moon.  I think you can see everything so much clearer in the country.  I guess because there aren't as many houses and buildings to block your view. 

Just had to take this picture of my alma mater's marquis.  Donkey Basketball... is that a Community thing?  I remember Donkey Basketball games when I was in high school.  However, I haven't encountered them since.

Last, but not least, I took a picture of the band hall.  I wonder what Mrs. Hannon would think about her band hall having a missing r in conservatory?  For some reason, I had forgotten that they had named the band hall after Mrs. Hannon.  It is certainly a fitting name for a band hall.  Of course, I loved Mrs. Hannon as a band director, Girl Scout Leader, and as my 4th grade teacher. 

It was interesting being back in the building where I spent kindergarten through 9th grade (my sophomore year, they opened a high school across the street).  I kept trying to show the kids around.  At first they politely listened, and then they just looked really bored.  I don't blame them!

Who's that Girl?

The head of this young lady has been cropped off to protect her identity.  However, the cell phone just might give it away!

A certain someone is going on our church's pioneer trek next week.  She will be gone from the 18th through the 20th.  During her adventure, she will be wearing pioneer type clothing.  We just received a box filled with $144 worth of pioneer-wear.  The  unnamed person noted that the pattern on her skirt resembled the print on a table cloth.  There were some complaints about the blouse, but I don't remember what they were.  The bonnet was cute, but not on her head.  Huh?  Turns out she is wishing that she would have waited a couple of weeks to cut her hair.  Short hair doesn't stay tucked under the bonnet very well.

Personally, I wish that I could go on the trek, too!  I could totally look like Laura Ingalls Wilder!

A Birthday Celebration

Our sweet friend, Katy Miller, celebrated her 13th birthday on Saturday.  She was kind enough to invite our family. 

We gathered at the movie theater to see Alice in Wonderland. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was thankful that the 3-D effects didn't make me sick. Everyone seemed to have a really good time, and enjoyed the movie

Here is the birthday girl's sister, Laura rockin' a bandanna.

Madison - I guess no one would put bunny ears on her, so she did them herself!  Madison's sister, Ally, had to leave early for a soccer game.  I didn't get a single picture of her before she left.

Jonathan finds himself surrounded by girls... again!

Jessie - sporting a new do, and a cheesy grin.

Katy with her gift from the Fortenberry Four.  What every girl needs - a Mad Hatter blanket.

We had lots of fun, and we are so thankful to have good friends that treat us like family!

Hello Sunshine

Jonathan and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful sunshine on Saturday.  We finally got to take his brand new bike out for a spin.  We planned our little trip the night before.  I told Jonathan that we would have to go early, because we had to leave for a birthday party at 10:15 a.m.  I didn't need to worry about that, because Jonathan woke me up at 6:09 a.m.  I was greeted with "Remember, you told me to wake you up for the bike ride."  Thankfully, I was able to hold him off until 7:00 a.m.  So, off we went for an early morning ride.

Mommy and Jonathan - I call this shot "Rough Riders."  Mostly, because I'm looking really rough without any make up on. 

The coolest rider on the block.

Lovin' that new bike he got for his birthday!

Missing: 1 Pair of Glasses

Jonathan's glasses went missing this morning.   We had an All Points Bulliten out for them.  Fred, Jonathan and I spent a good 15 minutes looking for them this morning.  You will never guess where I found them!

One blue pair of Avatar glasses found in the lego bin. Yes, that is right... the LEGO bin!  For crying out loud, how does a pair of glasses end up with the legos?  And, how on earth was I lucky enough to find them?  Geez Louise, I would say that this child is going to be the death of me, but that would be a lie.  Because, I'm pretty sure that honor will go to his big sister.

An Important Message

From Jonathan and Mollie:

Good Night.

Sleep Tight.

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite.