Christmas 2008

A Very Root Christmas 2008

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the town; People were shocked “Have the Roots settled down?”
Nathan and Jen were sitting at home; Mulling about how they used to roam.

Happy to be in their own house and yard; So tired of moving – it’s been very hard!

Jen has been on the job merry-go-round; She jumped off two times and then stayed on the ground. She tried on job one and it gave her a fright; she tried on job two, but it wasn’t quite right; she then got an offer from MFSA; she’s quite happy now and thinks she will stay.

Nate has the same job and has been quite steady; It was four months in Montana for which we weren’t ready. The commute wasn’t fun, but he earned lots of miles; “I finally reached Platinum!’ he said with a smile.

We joined St. James church, to give us a base; We’re working on finding that faith and that grace.

The kids are both cute and growing so fast; We’re now taking bets on who gets the first cast. They like to play rough, they chase and they scream; Manners and clean? Well, we can all dream. They’re loud and obnoxious and all of that stuff; But we love them to bits when they hug us enough.

Girl scouts, ballet and a bit of gymnastics; Veronica has really become quite fantastic. Alex is speaking a bit more each day; And when he’s not talking, with cars does he play. He’s got lots of energy and loves being outside; He loves choo-choo trains and bicycle rides.

Miley the dog, our latest family addition; Comes with us now on our expeditions.

We’ve made some really incredible friends; The kind that we hope we will have till the end. They like us despite all of our quirks; and our kids like their kids – just one of the perks!

Our house is quite dirty and our kids are quite loud; But we love it all and we are very proud. We hope you’ll come visit and see for yourself; We have put the nomadic life on a shelf.

We are very thankful for all we receive; We’ll win the lottery yet - we believe! To all of our friends on the left and the right - Love and kisses to all, and to all a good night!

'Tis the Season

Christmas

Today is the 6th anniversary of my mom's death. Although I still think of her nearly every day, the pain of losing her comes a little closer to the surface each Christmas. I wish that she had the opportunity to know her Grandchildren. More so than that - I wish they could know her. I miss you mom.

And it seems that almost every Christmas comes tinged with sadness since then . . . this year I have a niece going through a really tough breakup right now and I can't be near her to help hold her up. And I have a nephew going through some really tough times too. And my sister feels all of the pain they do, knowing there is very little she can do. I'm sending out all the love I can to my family far away. I miss you guys.

Jen

Where did November go?

Yikes we've been busy! I can't tell you where November went. We drove out to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. I think we are at a point that we can't make that drive any more until the kids are old enough to entertain themselves in the car. Two days with seven hour drives is just too much for them.

We're getting ready for Christmas at home this year. Our house is still in various stages of putting together - painting, unfurnished rooms, etc., but we're in no hurry - we plan to be here a LONG time. We'll be having an open house on December 24, so if you happen to be in the neighborhood . . . consider yourself invited!

I (Jen) have a new boss and I finally met him last week. Very nice guy, level headed, definitely expecting great things from the staff. I think he's taking the business in a good direction, but he sure is starting out at a tough time. (Sounds like another leader!)

We're feeling the pinch of the economy - but we're muddling through. We've been through tougher times.

Here are a few pics for your enjoyment.

LaSalle Family

These are my friends. I could hardly watch this. Click the image above.

Find a cure.

Buy the book.

Veteran's Day

To all the Vets in my life - thank you.

My Dad
My Uncles
My Nephew
My Father-in-Law
The brother-in-laws and the uncle-in-laws

My good friend Michael, still serving in the Air Force.
My mom's first husband, who gave his life in World War II

I just finished helping my daughter's class make red poppies and taught them the importance of Veteran's Day. I never paid much attention to Veteran's Day as a child, but as an adult I see the sacrifice and the honor.

Give a Vet a hug today.

Always and Everywhere

For a very good cause . . . and a friend.

Always and Everywhere

Buy the book, make a donation or even bid on the artwork.

Busy, busy! Worky, worky!

So it's been quite a while - been pretty busy. Alexander had his second birthday which was fun. Veronica didn't quite understand why she shouldn't open his presents and such, but then neither did he. They both got a big kick out of his first "choo choo rain" - Thomas!

Aside from the occasional birthday, we've been pretty busy with improvements around the house. As of this writing, we are pretty much tapped out on big home improvement projects. We had the privacy fence completed just before Joe and Dianne came to town. We had a really good time (and we ate really well, thanks Joe!).

Daddy's birthday was pretty good, too - he got a privacy fence, a shed, and landscaping! Sorry - landscaping pictures will have to come later...only some much that can be crammed into an overdue update! If you look closely, you can even see his Compost Corral.

Last weekend, we trekked on up to Ellijay for the 37th annual Apple Festival. It was a pretty good thought, and they had a lot of stuff there, but we really didn't see many apples. I think we were both hoping for something a little closer to apple orchard-esque, but it was cute. The kids were both pretty good and enjoyed themselves. Veronica got to re-do her bungie jumping, and Alex got to ride a horse. Oh yeah, and daddy got to ride a train -- choo choo!

The bottom line is that we are all doing great, despite (or perhaps "to spite") the freaky markets and overall economic outlook. Jen is still doing great back with MFSA, and Nathan is doing great with BearingPoint--the company itself is still doing all the right things, just bad timing with the upheaval at Wall Street. Veronica is doing good with Kindergarten, and Alex is enjoying his school, too.

Last but not least, a video to leave you with. Nothing deep and contemplative, but it may remind you of how kids can sometimes eat ice cream...hopefully when they are 2 years old, not 21!

Blue Man and Brown Bear

It's been a hectic few weeks. Most recently, Nathan left Jen and the kids to fend for themselves while he did his conference thing in Orlando, FL. Let's see, Jen and the kids survived on yet more reruns of saved TiVo episodes of Scooby, Backyardigans, Blues Clues, and Krypto the Super Dog while Nathan helped play host to state reps and vendors in Orlando (including a company-sponsored VIP outing to the Blue Man Group). Who do you think had the better time? Well, the tables are turned, as Jennifer is running a conference for her new/old employer in Charlotte, NC. The difference is Nathan and the kids now have live TV and Jennifer has been miserable with a Labor Day cold. At last report, one of her eyes was gummed shut with a likely case of conjunctivits...aka "pink eye." Life is a barrel of monkeys, eh? In between Nathan's and Jennifer's trips, the family had a great time at a friends house with a whole mess of kids for Labor Day. We are just sorry that we didn't get any pictures of Veronica running around a dock with a handful of squirmy worms, her introduction to baiting a hook! Veronica also had loads of fun at Taylor's birthday party (swim party at an indoor pool).

We are thankful, though, that other than the relatively minor ailments, each member of the family is healthy. We are looking forward to getting our backyard fenced in over the next few weeks, and making a number of other property improvements as we round the bend toward Autumn.

Update 8-26

Lest anyone think that I'm not really working from home, this is the first (and currently only) room completely set up at our house: My office.

Yes, I finally have the corner office with a view. I do miss having co-workers nearby to pester though. It's not as much fun long-distance.

This past weekend was a busy one. Nathan left for a conference at 6:00 am on Saturday leaving me in a partially unpacked house with two energetic kids. But we had a full day to keep us busy. Now you get a long story to get to what we did.

When Veronica was at Primrose in Pre-Kindergarten, she made lots of good friends and we got to know quite a few parents well too. What a great group of people. There are a few parents that we embraced right away as friends and they happen to have some really great kids too: Susan Hochman, her kids Jonathan and Christian (ok, I'm really embarrassed that I don't know her husbands name!); Chris and Margie LaSalle and their kids Claire and John Mark. Margie is battling breast cancer that has mestacized into her bones, making it difficult to get around. They live in a three-level townhouse and need to be somewhere that Margie can navigate easier. So . . .

I dropped the kids at Susan's house on Saturday morning where a bunch of volunteers watched the kids while the rest of the parents descended on Chris and Margie's to paint. What an event! There were at least 15 - 20 people helping paint the house. I had to leave early - but it was heartwarming to see so many people pitch in to help a great family. And the reason I had to leave was to get Veronica to a Birthday party for a neighbor. She had lots of fun, ate cake, and crashed. I have the proof:


This is the after effects of a very full day on a five-year old. Here is our painted butterfly asleep on the couch.

And lastly, we've had rain. Granted we need lots of rain. But Fay is sitting right on top of us today and I'm soggy. Here is our neighbors waterfall. Oops, I mean backyard . . . it's not supposed to have a waterfall feature.


Just this morning dropping off Alexander, I found out that another Primrose parent from his class (with a 19-month old little girl), lost her battle with breast cancer last week. Her funeral is today. She was only 36.

So to wrap up my update for today I have a few favors:
Pray for my friend Margie LaSalle to kick the cancer out of her body.
Pray for them to sell their townhome fast in today's market.
Pray to find a cure for breast cancer.

Vacation, New School, Moving, New Job - OH MY!!

Most of you already know we've been MIA and most of you know why - but we'll give a quick snapshot of the insanity that has been our lives for the past three weeks:

July 31 | Jen's last official day at PIAG
Aug. 1 | Jen flew to Virginia to officially start back with MFSA, back to GA that night.

Aug. 2 | Veronica's Wet & Wild Birthday Party. Word of advice to parents: Don't ever invite 30 wet and muddy kids into your house.

Aug. 3 | Veronica's actual Birthday. More cake and sugar anyone?
Aug. 4 - 9 | Beach! Vacation! Relaxation! We ended up near Destin, FL at a really nice condo. Eduard foiled our plans to spend much time in the ocean . . . double red flags our first day there. (Yes, Eduard was a hurricane that thankfully didn't do much damage, but still created rough water.) It was really the jellyfish really kept us out of the water after that. But the place we stayed had a great pool - so we still had plenty of water time.
Aug. 10 | Back home . . . the move is looming. Packing? Do we have to start now? Getting final supplies for . . .
Aug. 11 | First day of Cobb County School. Which means the first day of Kindergarten for Veronica. No tears for any of us, but it was still a landmark day. She's such a big girl now.
Aug. 12 | Back up to Virginia for Jen for an all-day meeting, back to Georgia before the kids were in bed.
Aug. 13 | Ok, we really, really need to start packing.
Aug. 14 | What do you mean the movers are here already??
Aug. 15 | Despite 3 broken beds and 2 really exhausted parents, we're in our house. Since Alexander's bed was broken in the move, we decided that now was a good time to upgrade him to a toddler bed. He's doing really well and stays in it all night. Well, except once. And naptime is a joke. We'll be setting up his crib again for naps, once it is fixed.

To celebrate our move we did one big splurge. Something that we've been putting off for over 8 years: We finally got real, grown up bedroom furniture. We've been using a mish-mash of furniture we collected over the years - none of which matched, or was really functional. So we decided that this would be our one big furniture splurge. We got a king bed and real matching furniture! The bed is enormous. . . we didn't expect it to be so high. The dog, the kids and Jennifer can no longer get up on the bed without assistance. Nathan loves his new bed.

We're now just trying to unpack, keep the kids out of the boxes and trying to re-establish a routine. But life is exceptionally good. We are truly blessed.

Love to all.

Happy 5th Birthday Veronica!

It was loads of fun, I think for all. More pictures to come later. :)

Update - July!

I can't call this a "weekly" update - being that we haven't updated it for over a month now. Oh gee - where to begin??

Tiffany had to go back home - something about a college orientation. She's going to JMU next year. I tried to make her miss her flight by getting stuck in horrible Atlanta traffic. But her flight was late, so she made it anyway. We really enjoyed her visit and miss having her around! Of course we haven't heard from her to know how badly we scared her. Except that her mom (my sister Vicky) called us for our "Taco Pie" recipe. So I guess she got one good thing out of the visit! ;-)

We had an uneventful 4th of July. Parade, pool, cookout. No fireworks other than some sparklers and fountains we set off - the kids were just too tired. Oh yes, and Alex got "hand, foot, mouth" again. Hideous childhood funk.

Veronica had some swim lessons this summer and is doing great. She needs her goggles to swim comfortably, but has abandoned her water wings and swim vest. And she really tries to hold her breath under water longer and longer now. She's not comfortable being more than an arms reach from the side or stairs, and prefers to stay in the shallow end where she can still touch - but we're getting there!

Veronica's Big 5th Birthday is coming up. We have a huge "wet and wild" party planned - complete with an inflatable water slide, water balloons, and a visit from Ariel. I have no idea what to expect. I am so unprepared for 25 kids in our house. Oh yes - segue to next item:

Our renters are moving out August 1! FINALLY.
(Did I mention that Veronica's party is August 2? So that is 25 kids in an empty house, which makes it a bit more manageable!)

The timing isn't the greatest - we have Veronica's Birthday, then we'll be on vacation for a week (at Ariel Dunes - of course) and then it's the first day of school. We plan to do some work at the house and officially move back in on Aug. 15. (Work like: paint, change the locks, etc.) We should be minimally ready for visitors by the end of August!

Yes, we have recent pictures, no we haven't posted them yet. Will soon.

Oh yes: I'll be changing jobs AGAIN. Yes - this is starting to be as funny as how often Nathan and I move. How many jobs can Jen hold in ONE year??? But I get a bye on this one - I'm actually going back to an old job. But I can't say any more until after Aug. 1.

Imagine It!

June 28 - Atlanta Children's Museum - "Imagine It!"

We finally trekked into the city with Tiffany - with Veronica & Alexander in tow. We took something of a scenic drive around town, and settled upon a first time visit to the Atlanta Children's Museum...aka Imagine It! A pretty neat place.

I think we (the adults) were skeptical at first as it seemed to lack more than a passing semblance of structure, but it really was pretty neat. It was like a "thinking version" of the relatively recent phenomenon of "jumping places" where you can get your kids sugared up and set them loose on a number of inflatable environments and slides. One of the differences being that at the Children's Museum, I didn't lose square inches of skin on my arms form chasing Alexander up and down an inflatable mountain and obstacle course.

The video you see is Tiffany and Mommy working with Veronica and Alexander on a mural. I think Tiffany will appreciate that I'm not sending the other two videos in my phone of her dancing with Veronica in front of a greenscreen with different dress-up outfits on. Cute stuff.

Anyway - we hope you are having fun, Tiffany! :)

Veronica Jumping

The Jumper - June 23

Sorry for the grainy quality, but it's still precious. Believe it or not, this is from the Cobb County Rodeo. After the broncos, Veronica got bored pretty quick with the rope tricks and dragged daddy off to look at the other things about the rodeo. She rode the ponies for a long while, and eventually climbed off (for a second and final time) and wandered over to the bungie jumping setup they had rigged. She wanted so bad to do what the bigger kids were doing - going a-boing-boing and doing flips. Most of her jumps were done "a la Superman" as she tried flipping forward or backward - she didn't have enough weight to manage anything but outstretched arms, looking more like the Wiley Coyote in a repetitive freefall. Precious. ;)

Weekly Update 6-20-08

What a great week.

My niece Tiffany arrived on Tuesday evening to spend a few weeks with us. I was hoping to line up a neat internship for her doing something with graphic arts, but all my leads fizzled out. So she's doing some general administrative work for my office and will be babysitting. It's been neat having her here and it's nice to get to know her all over again. I haven't spent any appreciable time with her since she was about 7 years old. I'll get the link for her artwork she has posted on DeviantArt - she's really talented.

I gave a presentation to our Board of Directors on Thursday and got approval to add some much-needed technology to our office. Yay!

The kids are doing well - but the summer seems like it's zipping by so fast! We plan to do some fun things over the next few weeks while Tiffany is in town, so it should make for some good photo ops.

Weekly Update 6-12-08

Funny how these updates have gone from being on Monday to be whatever day of the week I get around to it!

It's been a busy week . . .I haven't had the help of Megan (the Marvelous Kid-Keeper) in the evenings, so I've been scrambling to get home, make dinner, and barely keep the house in order. Ok, so I admit there is NO order right now. Our house is a disaster . . . don't come visit ok? ;-)

I got confirmed at St. Phillips on Sunday by the Atlanta Diocese Bishop. It's official - I am now an Episcopalian. It was a neat ceremony and a beautiful church. Nate had to stay with the kids (2 hour ceremony) so it was just me and God. (Well maybe there were several HUNDRED others being confirmed as this was a big deal in the diocese.) Being confirmed officially makes me a member of St. James - where we've been attending church.

We just booked our vacation plans - we're spending the week right before school starts in Destin at Ariel Dunes. (We didn't have a choice in this - our daughter has changed her name to "Ariel" and wants to be a butterfly mermaid when she grows up. Seriously - she has changed her name. She signs everything Ariel now.) It's only a 2-bedroom, 2-bath place w/a pull out sofa . . . but if anyone is interested in joining us, I'm sure we can make arrangements! [Like trading babysitting for a free place to sleep!]

Nate added the last slideshow - but we still have tons of photos to upload. Yes, I'll get around to it.

Life is good and it's Summertime!

Weekly Update 6-3-08

Yeah, yeah. I KNOW I missed a week!

Ok, I have a BUNCH of photos to post - but no time. Will get around to it. I promise.



My sister Melody came to visit over Memorial Day weekend and we all really enjoyed having her. We picked her up at the airport and went straight to: Waffle House! You guys up North are missing a culinary marvel. After that we visited the Marietta Farmers Market on the square and we finally toured the Root House Museum. We haven't figured out if we are related to the William Root clan. After that visit, the kids had run out of patience so we had to terminate the touring for the day.

Sunday we just didn't have the energy to do much - so we ended up at the pool for a while. For anyone out there that doesn't already know this . . . kids sleep GREAT after an afternoon at the pool.

Monday we packed up and headed down to the Georgia Aquarium. It would have been a nice leisurely visit, if it wasn't for Veronica the speed viewer. She insisted on running from one display to the next and didn't really care to spend any time looking at the fish. We'll rent her out for anyone who wants to tour someplace REALLY FAST. After the aquarium, we had packed a picnic lunch so we headed across the street to Centennial Olympic Park, where they had just dedicated a new playground designed for toddlers! We found a table in the shade and had a great lunch watching the kids wear down their batteries. Both of them sacked out in the car on the way home. We really need to explore more of the park - it really is a neat place.

Nathan left for Montana bright and early Tuesday. Melody explored a bit on her own. (Ask her how to operate the air conditioning in the Jeep. Hee.) At 4:30 am on Wednesday, I could tell that Mel had her fill of us and was ready to go home. She was ready to leave for the airport then - for a 9 am flight. (Atlanta traffic is bad - but it's not THAT bad!)

Veronica's ballet rehearsal was Wednesday afternoon - THANK YOU to Janet Vining and Joe/Sandi Sassenburger for helping me out with some kid scheduling challenges that night. What would I do without you guys??

Veronica had her second ballet recital on Saturday. We really see the huge differences between the AWESOME studio we went to in Virginia (Strictly Rhythm) to the so-so place here. The recital was a mess. First a dancer threw up on stage. And then there was one young lady who obviously didn't give a rats patoo about her training - she did her own thing on stage, running into other dancers and arguing with them! We did get some cutie pictures of our little dancer though.

Nate is back - you guessed it - in Montana. Veronica starts camp this week at Camp Cheatham Hill - where she will go to school next year. She LOVES it so far. Even despite the fact that they don't allow for rest time so she was asleep by 6 pm yesterday! (Ok, so she had a fever of 103 on top of it . . . but she's all better now. Just a 24-hour bug a boo. Alex had it too, but he's all better.) Even her best bud in the whole world - Taylor - is going to the same camp. She announced this morning that she never wants to go back to Primrose. But we still miss Ms. Blackerby . . . she was a great teacher and influence on Veronica this past year.

Ok, I have work to do!

Oh yes: Congratulations Leo Raymond!! It was just announced that he is going to be the interim Executive Director at MFSA. He's going to do a great job!

Weekly Update 5-19-08

I don't understand how I am so much more tired after a weekend, than at the end of the work week!

Last week was more of the same - nothing really exciting happening. Nate in Montana and me keeping everything in check here in GA. The weekend was busy though - lots and lots of errands. We started it off with a fund raiser pancake breakfast at Cheatham Hill Elementary School (CHES) - where Veronica will be going to Kindergarten next year. We ran into some neighbors from Lakefield Manor and even saw one of Veronica's current classmates who has siblings at CHES. I don't think she will have any trouble adapting to the new school.

We also had Ballet recital photos taken on Saturday. I didn't get nearly as misty-eyed this year. There is just something about the first time you see your little girl in a tu-tu.

Nathan & I have learned that our renters plan to stay in the house until the end of the lease - much to our dismay and frustration - and even after we made them a very attractive offer to move early. So we won't be moving into our house until the end of August/beginning of September.

Next week we should have a more exciting update - as Melody will be coming to visit. And yes, we'll get some photos up soon.

Weekly Update 5-12-08

What a weekend. I'll have to get a picture of what the kids gave me for Mother's Day. But until then, you'll just have to use your imagination:

~ Matching 16" Flamingo metal sculptures, one in blue and one in orange. ~

Update 5.13.08: As promised, here is the photo:


Nathan's mom tells me that they (the kids) get the love of flamingos honestly. Nathan apparently has a thing for flamingos. How is it that we've been married for 8 years and I didn't know about this? He's a closet Flamingo fan. I'm sure there is something very Freudian about this I'll need to figure out.

Once again, Nathan was in Montana last week - but he came home a day early as I had a big work event on Friday and had to be out of the house before 7am and didn't get back until after midnight.

Upcoming special events that we'd love to have visitors for:
Veronica's Pre-K graduation: Thursday, May 22, 2008
Veronica's Dance Recital: Saturday, May 31, 2008
Jennifer Confirmation: Sunday, June 8, 2008
Nathan, Alexander & Veronica Baptism: Sunday, July 27

We also are trying to figure out where we want to do a beach vacation this year and we have to schedule it before the school year begins (August 11 here . . . which is INSANE.) Anyone out there want to join us for a vacation? It's a toss-up between Myrtle Beach or a Florida Gulf beach. It just won't be a complete summer until we have sand between our toes. (And in our hair, in the car, in our clothes . . . )

Nate is back in Montana, and wonder mom is at it again this week. Ok, I really have work to do. It's lonely at the top . . . I had to run the staff meeting today!

Good Eats

I figured it was about time I contributed something to the blog. I have taken to storing little snips on my cell phone to keep my family with me when I travel. This is a relatively recent one. I figured this would be kinder to his posterity than putting up the other one that shows him running around the house with one of his sister's head bands on his head, shaking his head back and forth like a dog stuck in a milk carton. He's lots of fun. :)

I don't know if you really need it, but here's some of the standard verbiage that apparently came with the transmission from my phone to the blog post: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade your existing QuickTime� Player. Note: During the download process when asked to choose an installation type (Minimum, Recommended or Custom), select Minimum for faster download.

Of course...what I am really curious about is how much this will add to my bill. Had to try it out of curiousity.

Weekly Update 5-2

We're a bit late in posting this update so I hope I can remember all we've done in the past two weeks!

Last weekend started with Nathan catching an earlier flight home than expected, so he arrived just as I was picking up the kids from school . . . which was good because the school was holding a "Spring Fling" festival in the parking lot and I couldn't budge the kids. So we had an impromptu night out.

Saturday we found a cute little water park that was having a "pre-opening" music festival. They had vendors and food and for only $3 parking - free live music. But there were soooo many other activities in the area, that there were hardly 50 people there. It was great because of no crowds - but very sad since there was no one there!!

Our landlord officially put her house on the market last week. So far she's only had one showing, but it is a real challenge to keep the house "show ready." We're doing our best.

Then we had the usual run-around all week. Nate was off to Montana and I juggled the kids, the dog, the cats, the cooking, the cleaning, work, school, etc. We even found time to have dinner with Amy and her kids, since crazy Mike was out of town. Amy is expecting her 3rd any day now and she is amazing - her kids are so polite and her house is so clean! I just don't know how others do it - I missed out on that gene or something. Veronica and Ian had a great time together, and Alex and Julian are SO much alike - I can see them being fast friends as they get older. Two trouble-makers!

Veronica had a field trip on Friday to the Shriners Circus. She said she had lots of fun and wants the rest of the family to go this weekend too. We'll see. I still have a thing about clowns. They creep me out. Veronica is also going to a Birthday party for one of her best friends here, Miss Mary. We're sad that Mary won't be going to the same school with Veronica next year - but hope that they'll stay friends.

Mel made plans to come visit us at the end of May! Yay! Our first visitor since we moved back.

Ok, I promise we'll get some photos this weekend and post some soon. Have a great week everyone!

Weekly Update 4-21-08

Last week was a wee bit busy. I have tons of projects going on at my new job to get up to speed - lots and lots of meetings. I'm definitely being challenged here - not with anything I can't accomplish, but it's just a LOT to accomplish. But it's really wonderful being somewhere that my skills and abilities are recognized and appreciated.

I attended my first Cobb County Town Hall meeting to encourage the development of a sidewalk on Irwin Road between the sections of the Lakefield Manor subdivision. This is the road that runs by our subdivision and ends at Cheatham Hill Elementary School. Hopefully our presence and persistence will get this project done.

Nate & I finally met with our renters to ask them to consider moving early (end of June) so we can get back in our house. They are thinking about it. At the very least we're still on target for August.

We also had a parent-teacher conference to learn all about how Veronica is at school and see what she has learned. Mrs. Blackerby, her teacher says that she is 100% ready for Kindergarten and is moments away from learning to read. She did also mention that she has some issues with knowing left from right, which I am certain she gets from me - but overall Veronica is a pretty darn good kid. She also mentioned that she is starting to not take naps - which explains so much about her behavior late in the day. (GRUMPY.) We're doing a pretty good job of wearing her out though, she had a Birthday party this weekend at another jumping place (Monkey Joes) and she skipped a nap because we were so busy with errands leading up to the party. She voluntarily skipped having cake - some of our sugar lectures are really sinking in. But when we got home - she fell asleep on the sofa by 6:30 and didn't even wake up for dinner. We had to carry her to bed and wiggle her into her pajamas while she was sleeping - and she slept the WHOLE night.

Alex has a nasty cough - but no other symptoms, we think it might be allergies like us.

Miley the dog is still terrific company for the kids and is still chasing the cats. The cats like that she is crated during the day so they have free-range in the house. No kitty emergencies lately. (No cats stuck in trees or closets.)

Nathan is once again back in Montana this week, but he'll be in North Carolina for meetings on Friday. I'm home flying solo with the kids again. It will be nice when Nate is done with the long-term assignments so I have time to make something more than fish sticks for dinner.

Have a great week everyone!

Oh yes, that wine mentioned last week is literally Willamette Valley Vineyards, Whole Cluster Pinot Noir, 2006 Vintage. We bought it at Harry's/Whole Foods.

Weekly Update 4-14-08

I'm not sure how possible this will be - but I'm going to try and do a weekly update of our activities to keep everyone up-to-date with us. I doubt we'll post pictures every week, but this should help keep everyone notified of what we are up to . . . especially since we stink at keeping in touch!

This week Nathan is back in Montana, he left at 5 am this morning. Not the greatest Anniversary we'll have - but we know we've got plenty more to come and we celebrate our marriage every day - so we don't need one special day to remember how lucky we are to have each other.

(Happy Anniversary Sweetie! 8 Years . . . yes, hard to believe!)

Last week Nathan was in Missouri for part of the week. Did you know that you can't fly into Jefferson City? (The capital of Missouri for all you geographically challenged.) We find it odd that a capital city wouldn't have better access . . .

The kids are doing well. Alexander had another mystery fever over the weekend. Got as high as 103 degrees - but no other symptoms and was a crazy happy boy the rest of the time. Nate took the kids to Gorga Monkey's to jump around while I cleaned the house. It was the first time that as Veronica ate lunch, she announced that she was tired and went ON HER OWN to take a nap!! Worth every penny. Our landlord plans to put the house up for sale this week - so I want to have the house as clean as possible for people to walk through.

We had a date night Saturday to have a mini-celebration of our anniversary and we hired babysitter extraordinaire Megan. How did we get so lucky? The kids love her, she loves the dog and SHE CLEANS while she babysits. We discovered a great Thai & Sushi place here.

We got Veronica registered for Kindergarten a few weeks ago and her school year officially ends May 22 with a Pre-Kindergarten graduation ceremony. We'll feed and house anyone who want to come watch me get all teary-eyed.

Wine recommendation of the week: Discovered a GREAT Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (Oregon). YUM. Of course I can't remember the name, will look when I get home and amend this post later.

Job going well - very busy, want to be organized faster so I can do more - but have to reel myself in and remember that I am only human.

Have a great week!

Happy Easter 2008

It was a good Easter this year - not nearly the snow we had last year, though it did turn a bit chilly (flurries were saved for a couple days later if I recall . . . just wrong for Georgia). Really disappointed in ourselves - can you believe we ran out of time to color eggs with the kids? First year without colored eggs, let alone an egg hunt!

It's been a pretty busy period since the last post - pretty much as soon we finished the Easter festivities, we packed up and drove to Virginia to see Melody's play, visit the cousins (Hosanna, Natalia, and Nicholas) and old neighbors (Jordan and Aaron) - very good visit. And the kids were actually pretty super! We are still trying to get them back on schedule. We only wish we had more time to spend with everyone. It felt like a very rushed visit, but we really enjoyed getting to see everyone that we could squeeze in!

March Madness in Marietta

We have survived the storms that wracked Atlanta in good spirits and good health. Nathan finally got the lawn mowed, thanks to Unca Dave (after much trouble shooting, they determined Nathan was drowning the sucker in oil - problem easily solved). Jennifer started her new job earlier this week, and even at its worst, she gets home at a very decent hour - usually well before the kids go mad from hunger...well, the boy anyway.


Both mommy and daddy finally got to see the Primrose Pre-K arrangement of "Rock Candy Mountain" (you know, "where you can go to lunch in your underwear?" V will have to sing for you...).



One of our biggest bits of news is a new addition to the family - a temporary to permanent kind of thing. We visited a dog rescue center up in Floyd County - they had just rescued a border terrier mix and her litter of puppies a day before destruction. Jen sponsored her and the family has adopted her as a "foster dog" - we don't officially have her until she is fixed and other things are squared with the rescue outfit (http://www.dogpackrescue.com/ I think). We visited the rescue center the day before the first batch of storms rolled through and met her at a Petsmart in Acworth where we picked her up, along with a bunch of other stuff little dogs need (thus the cage if you roll through the trailing video slide show). Barring the possibility of Jen sneaking off to get one of her pups, this family is officially complete - mom & dad, son & daughter, the cats, and introducing: Miley. (Nathan argued for Mango, but unfortunately, Miley was mentioned first...Veronica is a budding Hannah Montana fan...).

Twisters, Driving Snow, and Tranquility

Friday about a week ago, we decided to hit the road to visit the grandparents on the farm in Oklahoma. We left the next day, driving to Olive Branch, MS, where the kids could unwind and play in an indoor pool before hitting the road again. Weather for the drive was beautiful - 60s and clear or partly sunny the whole way. We reached Oklahoma just ahead of some tornadic storms. Within minutes of unloading the van, the drenching rains started to fall. No tornados at the house, but the lightning was fantastic. We were just happy that Veronica and Alexander were worn out enough from the drive to sleep through the thunder. Of course, any chance of tornados was dampened by the follow-on cold front, that dropped our 60s to 20s and 30s. We woke up the next morning to driving snow flurries! It all worked out - gave us time to get grandma and grandpa reaquainted with their grandkids. Though to be sure, we should have been more worried about Grandpa's nap schedule than the kids' schedules. ;)

All in all, it was a long overdue and enjoyable visit. It reaffirmed that the kids REALLY need a dog, and not just to clean up after them. We are looking forward to a snuggle surrogate to give mommy and daddy an occasional break. Besides, Mommy and Daddy are a bit big to snuggle under tables.

I think we stayed just long enough that everyone wished we could have stayed just a few hours longer, but not so long that we won't be welcomed back with enthusiasm. Nathan insisted that next time he'd get pictures of ribs from Robb's Smokehouse - he still swears they're the best he's ever had. (Jennifer wouldn't let him get some to go on the way home, for shame!) Next time, we'll also get pictures of the new buffalo neighbors ... it was too cold this visit.

The drive back was just as pleasant as the drive to OK - stopping at Southaven, MS for another splash in a pool before rolling on back to Marietta. Very happy to be back. It's been interesting doing a roadtrip just before Daylight Savings Time...not sure if I'd recommend it for kids, but maybe so.

Moth to a Camera

Alexander tends to run for the camera just like his daddy seemed to in most of his old home movies. This is in the midst of some fun with balloons, Alex was kept home this day from a bit of fever. Turned out it was just teething, same as for the past few weeks (and counting, a few weeks later!).

Ms. Curly

Veronica wants curly hair. She's moderately obsessed with it. She is always asking for braids in her hair so it will be curly when I take them out. So I broke out the hot rollers to treat her to some special curls.

And here is Ms. Curly modeling her new locks.



Yes, she is gorgeous. But on the other hand, she inherited Dad's sense of style. Here's an outfit she hand-picked.

No other news. School is good, the weather is good, health is good and we're keeping busy. We're getting ready for the influx of sugar on Valentine's Day. (You know - padding the walls, removing all furniture with sharp corners, hiding anything that can be used as a weapon.) If we don't answer the phone on February 15, we're all in sugar crash comas. Oy.

Life is Good

The kids are happy and healthy. Alex just had his 15-month checkup and the Doc said "He's perfect!"

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Was planning to post pictures of the kids eating corn-on-the-cobb, but can't find the cord to connect the camera to the computer.

I'll get around to it. I'll also get around to catching up on correspondence, cleaning the house, sewing, running errands, doing laundry, clearning the car, exercise, making dinner, taking a shower . . .