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!