Prepping for the future

Sydney has found her calling in life. Donnie and I were talking about careers we should encourage our children to pursue ( I know, they haven't even started kindergarten yet...). As we began shouting out what we thought would be winners, Sydney interrupted us and informed us of her choice - "Mom, how about I be a veterinarian."

Donnie, curious, asked Sydney what veterinarians do. Her reply?

"I will help animals feel better, fix their owies, give them shots, feed them, and put them in cages," she said.

Donnie asked, "Why will you put them in cages?"

"Dad, that's where animals belong," she replied matter-of-factly.

Do you think we spend too much time at the zoo?

Regardless, we feel pretty comfortable with Sydney becoming a veterinarian. We need to work with Jaxy still. He spends his days walking around the house carrying a football and wearing Sydney's princess necklace.

I'm not really sure what career that prepares him for.

Game Give-away

Cat over at 4 Nuts in a Nutshell is sponsoring a really great contest with the help from Thinkfun. Don't miss your chance to enter and win a game! You can also check out Thinkfun's site and preplay a few of their games. They have really great products.

Of course the best reason to check out the contest is to check out 4 Nuts in a Nutshell!

The Little White House

My cousin Holly has spent the summer filling an internship at The Little White House in Warm Springs, GA. Saturday, we went to visit her there. This was Donnie's first time, and my first time in 18 years. We had a great time and learned a little too.

We went down there with Jaxon, Sydney, my grandmother, and niece Katelyn, and we met up with Holly, my aunt Kay, and her new daughter-in-law Amber. Holly gave us the grand tour and answered all of our crazy questions.

You enter the property through a museum of sorts. They have a timeline of FDR's life and then quite an extensive collection of things he used/had/what ever at the Little White House. There is a lot of information available about the president and his life - before and during office.

We watched a video about FDR and his affinity for the home in Warm Springs. When he was 39 he contracted polio after attending a boy scout camp, and remained paralyzed until his death. He had a car designed with hand controls so that he could drive around in GA, and they had the car on display. It was pretty neat.

FDR helped turn the resort town of Warm Springs into a rehabilitation center for children with disabilities. The natural springs ( and not so natural pools) helped the children and president move around and enjoy a little bit of freedom.

After seeing the activities he enjoyed in GA, and seeing him drive around town, a lot of people thought FDR could walk and would send him canes. The museum had quite the display of ornate, hand-carved canes intended for FDR.

They also had a display on FDR's fifth cousin - Teddy Roosevelt. His big stick was a little intimidating with all of the spikes.

When you leave the museum, you walk on the grounds, passing a "hall" of flags, and a fountain. The kids loved throwing pennies into the fountain. After they cleaned out aunt Kay, they hit grandma up for her loose change too.

Finally you make it to the Secret Service and Military Guard posts (unmanned now because their is not a president to protect). Passing through the gate you see the servants' house and guest house, and then the white house behind them. The white house isn't very big:

There is a small kitchen with a pantry (mostly filled with dishes now).

The dining room and den/study are attached. They still have all of the furniture in there

from the day FDR died.

FDR's secretary had a room with a private bathroom attached.

FDr's bedroom is just off the dining room. His bathroom links his room to Eleanor's - only she

didn't stay there very often.

There is a lot more to say, but it is late, I am tired, and I am already rambling, so...

After catching up on the history lesson we headed over to Kay's house for food and fishing (must be nice to live on a lake :-)).

What a stud!

The pictures say it all...

4th of July

We are very thankful to live in this country, and for all of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. We are very grateful for all of the men and women who serve in the military - past, present, and future - and for the sacrifices they have made so that we can live in a place where democracy prevails.

To celebrate the 4th, we headed up to the north Georgia mountains with family to relax and spend time together. This was such a great trip, and I must give credit to my sister-in-law Kat for pulling it all together. She found the place and invited the rest of us to join in the fun.

The house we stayed in was perfect! It had absolutely everything you could need and then some: 6 bedrooms, pool table, ping pong table, air hockey, foosball, giant projector screen, Wii, movies, plaground, lots of outdoor living space, grill, swimming pool, and a hot tub. We had such a great time!

AND...if all of that wasn't enough, the house is just down the road from Babyland General - the place where Cabbage Patch Kids are "born" and "raised" until they are "adopted" by a loving family. It is pretty neat and all of the kids loved checking out the hospital/museum.

Plus, we saw the "birth" of a Cabbage Patch Kid while there. A CPD (Cabbage Patch doctor) enters the cabbage patch when the magical crystals begin to glow. He hooks the mamma cabbage up to an IV of imagicillin, and the bunny bees (pretty self explanatory) sprinkle magic over the patch.

The CPD tells the story of Xavier Roberts and how the cabbage patch came about. As he finishes the story, the CPD presents the new baby and asks for name suggestions. People shout out their ideas and that's the name the new kid takes. It is pretty entertaining.

Jaxon's birthday

We recently had a party for Jaxy's first birthday. I can't believe how fast the last year has flown by!

Jaxon is such a great kid. He is funny, sweet, and the best cuddler (is that a word?) EVER. He is very laid back, and has the best smile. We feel so blessed to have him in our family. We love him very much.

Jaxy is adventurous, curious, fearless, and bites like a rabbid dog in a Stephen King book/film. That last trait we could probably live without... Like Sydney, Jaxy loves animals and likes to bark like a dog and growl like a lion/bear/dinosaur/monster (they all sound the same).

For his big celebration we had sandwiches, fruit, chips, cheesesticks, and cake and ice cream - the ice cream was Jaxon's favorite. We had bubbles, water balloons, and a kiddie pool set up to entertain the kiddos. It was a nice relaxing day - if you don't count all of my crazy "Donnie we have to cut the grass, clean the ceiling fans, and rearrange the furniture before any one gets here" nonsense!

We're getting closer

Only one week until his birthday. Do you think he can do it?

Family Reunion

Last week we had a family reunion with Donnie's family. His parents came out and his two sisters and their families came as well (one sister lives here in GA).

It was nice to visit with family we haven't seen in a while. In fact, this was Jaxon's first meeting with his paternal grandparents. It didn't take him long to warm up to Grandma Y.

Donnie was in charge this year, and he wanted everyone to get a feel for Atlanta. The first day, we went to Zoo Atlanta. I think all of the kids really enjoyed the parakeet house the most. There are more than 500 birds, and if you hold out a seed stick (you purchase it there) they will come and eat out of your hand. It is pretty cool.

We checked out most of the animals (we skipped a few because of time and hunger constraints), and then headed to the kid's zone. The kids rode the carousel, we all rode the train, and then the girls jumped in a bouncy castle while the boys climbed a rock wall.

I was impressed at how quickly the boys were able to scale the wall!

The next day was Sunday, so we all went to church and then took the rest of the day easy.

On Monday, we went to breakfast at Waffle House, and then headed downtown to check out the Aquarium. I really like the Aquarium, but more importantly, Sydney and Jaxon love it! Jaxy really likes the giant viewing room.

After the Aquarium we walked over to the CNN center to eat, and then let the kids play in one of the playgrounds at Centennial Olympic Park.

Tuesday Donnie had to go to school and his brothers-in law were working, so we took a day off. It was also my dad's birthday, so we spent that evening with my side of the fam eating Mexican food and birthday cake.

Wednesday we all met up at Stone Mountain Park for a day of fun. We rode the tram to the top of the mountain and back - the men and boys walked the 1.3 miles back to the bottom. Then we played a round of mini golf and rode the Stone Mountain Express.

We had a picnic lunch and the went back out for more action. We watched a

4-D movie, listened to story time (twice), played at the barn, toured the plantation, and the kids, Donnie, Deidra, Deanna, and Lorin took their chances on the Sky Hike.

Around 8 p.m. we headed back to the lawn for a picnic dinner and to settle in for the laser show. I love thelaser show! Like a lot of things, I am not sure if it is because it is a great show, or because I have so many happy memories associated with it, but a trip to Stone Mountain isn't complete without

watching it.

Thursday we headed back dowtown to watch a Braves game. Not everyone was thrilled to see the team in action, so we split up this day. Donnie, Sydney, Jaxon, and I went. Donnie's two brothers-in-law came, and their sons came too. Basically, it was a boys plus Sydney and Amy activity.

It was fun, and we had good seats. When the game started it was really sunny and hot, but by the top of the 8th the clouds started to roll in. Finally, just as the final batter struck out in the bottom of the 9th, the thunderstorm pounded down. The rain came so quickly and so heavily that everyone was caught off guard.

There is nothing like a GA summer storm!

The girls used Thursday as a mani/pedi day. They all came home with fabulous nails!

Friday we went to the Dekalb International Farmer's Market. Each family bought items to take back to Donnie's sister's house and make for our Farmer's Market Pot Luck.

We had carne asada with fresh salsa; chicken curry with potatoes, sugar snap peas, and broccoli; pork curry; strawberry spinach salad with a variety of toppings; rice; lime water; and peppers with a cheese stuffing wrapped in proscuitto. It was all very yummy!

Saturday we spent the day at the temple. It was our last day together, as everyone started leaving Sunday.

It was a nice visit, it just ended too soon!