Dec 26, 2016 - The round of Double Twelve Dominoes where I scored 65 in a single play!
Dec 27, 2016 - Rey decided to "help" with the waffles this morning. I went to the refrigerator to get the eggs, and when I turned around, I saw her head down in the flour bowl. It wasn't until she lifted her head that I realized she had her front paws in there, too! I had to grab her before she ran off and got flour *everywhere.*
Dec 28, 2016 - First kitten casualty. The lid for this is now in my trashcan in hundreds of pieces.
Dec 29, 2016 - Why was the bowl moved 15 ft (4.5 m) from the laundry room into the kitchen?
Dec 30, 2016 - So much for stitching! Good thing she's so stinkin' cute.
Dec 31, 2016 - Happy New Year's Eve! Wishing you all a most wonderful 2017.
Nov 20, 2016 - Stunning shot of Luke and the city at night, taken by my husband at his office.
Nov 21, 2016 - Quiet please, science in progress! (Running experiments for science fair)
Nov 22, 2016 - To grandmother's house we go! First road trip in the new vehicle.
Nov 23, 2016 - Though he doesn't eat them, he really wanted to help with the deviled eggs.
Nov 24, 2016 - Happy Thanksgiving! Our first ever attempt at mashed potatoes from scratch.
Nov 25, 2016 - This beer bread turned out great! It uses the yeast and bubbles in the beer instead of regular yeast to help with the rise. It was excellent!
A quick recap of things I really need to actually blog about but haven't had the time, like this (how on earth did we get here?!):
Sixth Grade??!!!
And then we did this not long after (L-R: Kylo, Rey, and Finn, age approximately 10 weeks):
Yes, all siblings. Yes, we're insane.
Which very rapidly turned into this (T-B: Rey, Kylo, and Finn, now approximately 5 months):
From less than a week ago, covering me from hips to ankles.
And we really had no choice but to do this, due to a cracked radiator in our 1999 Camry that would have cost 3 times what the car was worth to repair it:
I can't believe we bought an SUV, even if it is a "crossover." We have been assimilated!
We decided to drop soccer and try this, which is working well so far:
He's slowly but surely getting better.
And then there was this, our last year of eating off the kids' menu:
12??!!!!!
Unfortunately, the party was largely interrupted by this (BIL and SIL did not come with our nieces due to weather , and both my parents and DH's sheltered here while it passed):
Hurricane Matthew aftermath at my parents' house; the house made it through unscathed!
And this (not sure how many more of these I will get):
I hope to blog each of those individually, but at least you're caught up on the last, uh, 3+ months (sorry!). If you're wondering where the stitching pictures are, there hasn't been any stitching since my birthday. A lap full of kittens will do that to you! LOL But I want to snuggle with them for as long as I can while they're little, since they may not be as interested when they get older.
First "real" blog post is coming up, and it's about something completely unimportant: movies! (What else, right?)
Part of our trip to spend my birthday weekend with my parents had included a promise to Luke that we would take him to the beach. With my grandfather likely to pass at any minute, my parents ended up spending all of July 24 in Waycross with him, which is completely understandable and appropriate.
However, I knew that sitting around a medical compound waiting around for his great-grandfather to die was not the best way for Luke to spend his time. So, with my parents' blessing and encouragement, we stayed and took him to the beach while they traveled to be with Pa-Paw. I hated for them to miss it, since Luke loves the beach so much (and they love watching him enjoy it), but it seemed the most logical answer since we were not guaranteed any time to get to the beach after this point, with funerals and family clearly coming up immediately. We needed to let him have a little fun while there was time.
Unfortunately, the tides were not being cooperative. Melanoma Girl here can't go to the beach except in the mornings or in the evenings. Unfortunately, that coincided with low or lay tide on both the 24th and the 25th. Tides wouldn't be decent until the 28th or so, and who knows if we would even still be there or have time to get to the beach. So we went, even knowing conditions were not ideal.
Look at how flat the water is! It was more like a lake; it was still enough that Luke could actually go out and swim in the ocean, something he had never really done before due to the currents.
He still managed to have some fun, but I know he was disappointed at the severe lack of wave action, and it broke my heart.
My grandfather actually did not pass away on my birthday but on the following day. That gave my parents time to come home and present me with an ice cream birthday cake they had picked up on their way back to the house. I was really touched, since I had expected nothing with all of the chaos of the day. The next few days were wrapped up in funeral arrangements and the actual burial, with lots of extended family in town. After everyone else had departed, we ended up with the evening of July 28th unexpectedly free.
And with high tide coming in and not due until 7, we packed a bunch of leftovers in a cooler and headed to the beach for waves and a picnic.
Rufus Emon Warren, 95-years of age, of St. Simons Island, Georgia, passed away Saturday July 25, 2015, at Baptist Village in Waycross, Georgia. Mr. Warren was a member of the First Baptist Church of St. Simons Island, where he was a life deacon. During his 33 years with Delta Air Lines, he served as Station Manager at the St. Simons Island and Brunswick airports before transferring to a supervisory position in Atlanta, from which he retired. He was born in El Dorado, AR in 1920 and graduated from Mount Holly School in 1941. His hobbies included golf and computers, and he relished learning.
Mr.. Warren is preceded in death by his wife, Mrs. Jacqueline C. Warren, his parents, Mr. Si Tom Warren and Mrs. Ruby Britt Warren, and his brother, Mr. John Henry Warren.
Mr. Warren is survived by his two sons: Wayne A. Warren (Judith Outler Warren) of McHenry, IL and Mark O. Warren (Rita Y. Warren) of Brunswick, GA; granddaughter Judith A. "JJ" Snyder (Michael A. Snyder) of Myrtle Beach, SC; granddaughter Erin Warren Gaston (Steven K. Gaston) of Atlanta, GA; grandson Wayne A. "Mac" Warren (Carrie F. Warren) of Springfield, IL; grandson Jacob C. Warren of Statesboro, GA; grandson Hunter C. Warren (Emily R. Warren) of Cedar Lake, IN; great grandchildren Blythe E. Justen, Blaire E. Justen, Zachary G. Roberts, Hannah R. Wible, Annelyse R. Warren, Leah E. Warren, Addelyn R. Warren, Amelya R. Warren, and Luke W. Gaston; sister-in-law Melba Warren of El Dorado, AR, nephew John H. Warren (Rhonda) of El Dorado, AR, and nephew Richard D. Warren (Jenene) of El Dorado, AR; and many great-nieces, great-nephews, and other loved ones.
June was a pretty busy month for us, and we were afraid the summer was going to slip away without any type of vacation. So, we decided on a long weekend in Savannah with my parents in conjunction with my birthday. Dad really wanted to take Luke to Fort Pulaski.
It reminded me a lot of Fort Warren in Boston, which I guess shouldn't be a surprise, even if this was a Confederate fort and Fort Warren (obviously) was not. Mr. Minecraft couldn't resist the anvil on display (we didn't let him actually strike it, just pose with the hammer).
Great shot of the arches by my father. That's Luke all the way down there by the cannon.
See! (This is cropped from the above picture. Yes, he does have an awesome camera!)
I think one of Luke's favorite things about forts like this is that you are allowed to climb on and touch just about anything! This was taken at the top of one of the far walls.
It was shaping up to be a hot and humid day, and we knew we would be racing the rain. We decided to do all of the outside stuff first and save the indoor museum for last. But first, it's time to eat! Although we did go to the Mighty 8th Museum back in 2009, we never ventured closer to the coast than I-95, so this was really Luke's first ever visit to Savannah. Obviously, there was only one place we could eat for lunch:
Fried shrimp for the men-folk, and broiled shrimp for the ladies. YUM! Then it was time to do something new for everyone, the "new since the last time I was there as a teenager" Georgia State Railroad Museum.
They have several locomotives and cars on display, and they have a short piece of track on which they run either a real steam or diesel engine. We were lucky enough to get steam on our day!
They also have a hand car that guests can pump (with a museum employee running the brake and the reverse lever). Luke absolutely had to try it!
Yes, there's video!
They finished just in time for the rain to start, so we packed up and headed inland to the Mighty 8th Museum. Luke was 5 the last time we went, and he doesn't remember anything at all about it. I did a terrible job taking pictures, but I did get the most important one.
I understand your confusion. It doesn't seem very important, does it? Oh, but it is! For this:
I think he's grown a little bit, what do you think? It's not a perfect match on the camera angles, but given that I had forgotten to look at the original photo before we went, I don't think I did too badly.
We ended the day with dinner at one of our favorite Savannah pizza joints, Lovezzola's in Pooler. We were all hot and tired and hungry, but it was a good day. Thank goodness, because things were about to take a dramatic downturn.
As we left Savannah, the heavens opened and started dumping oceans of water on us as we got on the interstate. I haven't been in rain like that in probably a decade or more. You literally could not see any further ahead than the car in front of you, which in this case was my parents with my son in their vehicle. We just took it slow, but it took nearly 90 minutes to make what should have been only a 60 minute trip, at most.
And in the midst of all of this, the day before my birthday, we got the call we have been expecting for over a year: the care home where my grandfather stays called to say he had taken a turn for the worse and they did not expect him to make it through the night. It was not unexpected, but the timing was still pretty crummy He did make it though the night, and through my birthday as well, but he died late on the morning of July 25. How appropriate that the last thing we did before he passed was visit the museum honoring the airmen of WWII, who he supported during the war, at the last place we all visited with him as a family.
From the 2011 Year of Memories Brag Book by Dani Mogstad
Read, Listened, Watched
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I finally started Hound of the Baskervilles, which I don't think I've read since high school. I'm rereading the entire canon (probably reading some of them for the first time, actually), and I didn't want to watch the Sherlock episode based on it until I had reread the novel, so we've been stuck half way through season 2 for months now. Soon, though!
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New Movies:
The Avengers: Age of Ultron - Very good, enjoyed it a lot, on the whole; did have a few issues here and there, but any film with this much going on is bound to have some
Invitation to the Dance - Gene Kelly's personal labor of love; 3 segments of dancing only (no narration or singing), think Fantasia of dance (instead of animation); Ring Around the Rosy segment was my favorite (I love intertwining stories), and ironically featured the least Gene Kelly
Tomorrowland - It's hard to figure out exactly what to say about this movie, other than it did not live up to its potential. One review said it was "less than the sum of its parts," and I tend to agree. It had all the right pieces, and it had its heart in the right place, but it just didn't really work, for reasons I can't fully articulate.
Red 2 - We saw the original way back when, and found it a bit disappointing. This one seemed to have tighter writing and more fun throughout.
Godzilla (2014) - Eh, it was okay. Felt like it was just sort of there, which is the ultimate sin for an action movie, in my opinion. Was also a bit distracting seeing Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen playing husband and wife after just seeing them play brother and sister in Avengers 2.
Old Favorites: Monsters University, Sky High, Dick Tracy, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, X-Men, X2: X-Men United, Gattaca, The LEGO Movie, Edge of Tomorrow, Robin Hood, The Neverending Story, Peter Pan (2003)
Fun with Family and Friends
The beach was fun, as always, until stupid me didn't put sunscreen on the tops of my feet and got burned. Normally, it's not a problem, but we were there at least an hour later than normal, so the sun was more intense. I just feel like an idiot, since I know better!
And it's summer movie season, woohoo! Here was my Avengers-inspired manicure.
Milestones, Holidays, Special Events
We had a lovely Mother's Day with my mom and grandmother on Saturday. Here's our picture of 4 generations.
We visited my parents and my mother-in-law over Memorial Day (see beach pictures above). Luke went fishing for the first time; my parents took him to a party at their friends' house while we went on a date, and they have a small fish pond. Apparently, he loved it. I have NO idea where he gets that from (DH and I both *hate* fishing!).
The Everyday and Routine
"The Everyday and Routine" is over for now! School's out, and none too soon. (And he even grew this year!) We are all quite burned out, especially after such an intense April preparing for a new standardized test. Ugh! Looking forward to some relaxing. (Remind me I said all of this in 3-4 weeks when I'm ready to send him back to school! LOL)
The Good, The Bad, The Unusual
He made A and B honor roll, and we weren't sure if he would given that he had a C for two consecutive progress reports.
He was also named as a 5th Grade Patrol for next year, though he won't serve until the second 9 weeks. He has literally wanted to be a patrol since he was in Kindergarten, so he is very excited!
I had my eye exam and I've changed almost a full diopter in my right eye. I'm trying not to be concerned about it, but that is a pretty serious change. I still need to get new glasses, though (it was a busy last 2-3 weeks of the month!). I had a physical with my regular doctor the following week and everything looked good, including my labs (both cholesterol and triglycerides were down!).
In other news, I now own my first pair of open-toed shoes since before Luke was born, not because I didn't like them but because I couldn't find any that fit! I even painted my toes for the first time in many months just for their public debut.
Progress on Goals
I put a couple of strands in one of the dessert mandalas the last day or two of the month, not really enough to post a picture. I didn't stitch any at all on my Mirabilia fairies. For eating at home, um, er, but, but!!! I have made a meal plan to try to get back on track with cooking, but most of that will take place in June, so I'll report on that next month. I have started tracking my food again, but only for a couple of weeks, so not much progress to report yet. I do have a get-together scheduled with my local friends for June as well! Very excited to see them. I think it has been 3 years since I've seen these ladies.
those crossed legs sure do look familiar
having a beachy birthday
up in the air
ready to relax this summer