Sore Muscles

Last weekend was a busy one and expect this weekend will be no different. Lance is preparing to put in his garden and tending to his chickens and I’m trying to get some yard projects done too. Spring sort-of lends itself to outdoor projects and we’ve enjoyed the great temperatures and blue skies.

Saturday morning both boys had back to back baseball games. Riley’s was first and although his team lost, it was a good game. It’s always fun to watch Owen’s team play and Saturday was no different. A kid on the opposing team had a player that tried to run the bases in reverse. You have to give the kid credit, doesn’t it accomplish the same thing? After we got home and everyone had lunch, we all went outside. First we moved the chickens from their 75 gallon aquarium home with a heat lamp, to the outside coop Lance had built for them. The boys helped us carry them 2-by-2 from the basement out to the coop. Ten in total and after seeing them in their new spacious home, it was easy to see they’d long outgrown the aquarium.

After the chicken-move, Lance and I used a 2-man auger he’d borrowed from his Dad to dig fence-post holes around his soon-to-be garden and the chicken coop. We also dug a couple of additional post holes for an entry-way to the garden that Lance plans to build a trellis over and some built-in benches. It was fun talking through that design and making plans with the eventual design to include a walkway leading from stairs down the side of our driveway. There is so much we’d love to do outside but we’ll just do a little bit each year until we get there. We’ve learned that landscaping isn’t cheap but we do both enjoy it so it’s fun to make plans and brainstorm ideas. Here’s a picture of the garden and the fence posts. Hopefully after this coming weekend the fence will be up and possibly the garden will be tilled too assuming the weather cooperates for us again.

Sunday after church and lunch we were all outside again. This time we were burying chicken-wire around the perimeter of the chicken coop to prevent any predators (namely our dog) from digging their way in to the chickens. I’m pretty sure this activity is largely responsible for my aching muscles on Monday. We dug a 2’ wide area, about 6” deep around the 60’ perimeter of the coop using a shovel, hoe and rake. Whew! And since I didn’t get to use my legs and glut muscles much in that project, I decided to take the boys bike riding later that afternoon. I didn’t want any of the other muscles to feel left out. By Monday morning I was sore but have since recovered and am looking forward to doing it all again this weekend.

Both Saturday and Sunday the boys were mostly outside with us, riding bikes, playing ‘army’, jumping on the trampoline and sometimes helping by digging random holes, handing Daddy tools and checking on the chickens. There were frequent breaks for a snacks and drinks because they were, “so tired and hungry!” And they both came running any time Lance or I uncovered a worm so they could promptly feed it to the chickens. Riley also caught a frog at some point over the weekend but we talked him into letting him go back to his ‘home’ in the tree.

This weekend Lance plans to wrap the fence around both the coop and the garden and I hope to get my 10 new azaleas in the ground down the side of our dam. If we’re feeling ambitious and have time to spare, maybe the garden will get tilled and Lance will have time to build more bird feeders and houses. Something he’s been doing during the week using scrap lumber of which he seems to have abundance. We also have to squeeze in two baseball games on Saturday and a birthday party on Sunday afternoon. On second thought, we might not get around to those ‘extra’ projects.

In other news, Mom and Dad are traveling around Kentucky this week. Her email this morning said they were at Mammoth Cave National Park. They did a 2 mile tour/hike yesterday and were planning on doing the longer 4 hour one today. Lance and I saw the cave on one of our visits to see his brother who was in seminary in Louisville at the time. It’s really amazing how massive the underground world is of Mammoth.

Before I sign-off, here is a good picture of our snaggle-tooth Riley. That other top tooth is loose too; I suspect he’ll have an even wider gap in a couple more weeks.

It's been a while

It’s been a while since my last post. No particular reason for the delay, I guess we’ve just been busy with everyday things.

Spring break was nice last week. I took off Monday and Tuesday. The boys and I went go to Kangaroo Kids one afternoon and met Mom, Alice, Jacob and Ethan. They had fun and were exhausted when we left. That is always a good thing. Another afternoon we met Alice and her boys at a park and they played for a couple hours – another energy-expending activity for crazy little boys. It was fun and to top it off we ran into Jennifer and Craig who I hadn’t seen in a long time with their new little one, Gabriel, or as Alice called him, ‘Little Hugh’ (Jennifer’s Dad’s name is Hugh).

Riley had a few baseball practices throughout the week, but no games because of Spring Break. Owen had none. We took the kids to play putt-putt one night, not realizing they stop letting people begin new games at 7:30pm and close at 8pm. We arrived at 7:35pm. Fortunately the lady at the counter was really nice and let us play until 8pm and assuming we wouldn’t be able to finish a game, she let us play for free. Riley and Owen were running through the course with excitement and managed to finish all 18 holes before 8pm. All that rushing was pure excitement since they were completely unaware of the time crunch. We finished our free, quick game of putt-putt and then went to eat dinner at our favorite Mexican spot.

Riley lost another tooth last week. I need to get a picture to post of that, it’s one of the top middle teeth. It really changed his appearance with that big gap there now.

Other than that, Lance finished up the chicken coop. The chicken’s will probably get moved into it this weekend. We had a cold front move through this week, so we were waiting for warmer weather. I think it should be safe now.Nothing big planned for this weekend. Two games tomorrow morning although the forecast is showing rain, we will see.

Lance borrowed an auger so I think he intends to begin digging post-holes for a fence around his garden. Somehow I think I’m going to get sucked into some of that work too.Riley wants to have his birthday at a county park that has a BMX bike track. We have been before, but I think we will make a visit to see how party-friendly the park would be and to let the boys ride their bikes on the track. Not sure if Owen will try the track or not, I’m guessing he’ll stick to the level path near the track.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Granny Irene

I’m not sure how old Granny would be today. I’ve never been good about remembering birth-years. Would she be 90? Mom, am I right? I know she has been gone now for 5 years and is missed very, very much. It’s so hard to believe it’s been 5 years. I had fun ‘remembering’ Granny Lois and wanted to do the same thing for Granny Irene. Here are some things I remember, please chime in on the comments section with your own remembrances…

I remember she always had Juicy Fruit chewing gum in her purse and would only give you a half a piece at a time.

I remember she always kept peppermint in her purse too. Mom, I think you do this now too.

I remember staying with her for a week every summer. I have so many memories from those weeks with her in Dawson. That week always included shopping and a trip to Calloway Gardens.

I remember her taking me to Calloway Gardens every summer. She always let us invite one of our ‘Dawson’ friends to go with us too. She and one of her friends would sit in the rocking chairs under the pavilion while me and Alice and our friends would play in the lake and on the beach.

I remember having sleep-overs in Dawson at her house with one of our ‘Dawson’ friends either at her house or at Mrs. Mervin’s.

I remember she loved to take her 3 grandkids shopping and was always very generous. I think she was largely responsible for our new school wardrobe each year.

I remember me and Alice always slept in her King size bed with her when we visited her in Dawson. We would get so tickled lying in bed at night and laughing at different things. She would laugh at us and then Alice and I would laugh at her uncontrollable laughter, it was an endless cycle. I think we sounded more like 3 teenagers having a sleep over more so than 2 granddaughters with their grandmother.

I remember her stirring up my ice-cream to soften it and make it like fresh homemade ice cream days after it had been churned. The expression on her face, well I guess you just had to be there.

I remember walking to and from First Baptist of Dawson on weekend visits to her house.

I remember Sunday afternoons on her front porch. All the adults sitting and talking and the kids playing in the front yard and picking up pecans from the lawn.

I remember watching T.V. on Saturday nights in her den while eating homeade ice cream.

On those same Saturday nights, I remember Alice and I scheming a plan to 'sneak' up on the adults while they watched T.V. We drew a schematic of the den complete with our route planned carefully. No way they would see us crawling behind the couch and under the coffee table.

I remember she always gave me and Alice a Madame Alexander doll for Christmas. That collection is still in Mom’s attic.

I remember she is largely responsible for my jewelry collection, generously giving me birthstone jewelry and many other rings and necklaces. I treasure each piece and although I don’t wear it daily, I try to wear one piece a week and always think of her when I do.

I remember going out with her and all of her ‘buddies’ in Dawson to play cards or eat at The Varsity. She was always so busy!

I remember eggs, over-easy with fried cornbread for breakfast. I’m hungry just thinking of it. The cornbread is something no one else has been able to duplicate since she died. I think it was the fresh cornmeal that made it so difficult to duplicate.

I remember throwing table-scraps across the fence to her neighbors’ chickens after each meal at her house.

I remember pulling under her carport on Friday nights after dark and her opening the carport door in her gown and robe giving us each a hug and kiss as we walked into her home. “Hey Deezy, Hey Doodlebug, Hey T-Ron.” We each had a nick-name.

Most of all I remember how much she loved us. We were her only 3 grandkids and as an adult I can vividly remember how proud she was of us as kids and how much she loved us all. Our comfort rests in the knowledge that she is with Granddaddy experiencing the splendor of Heaven and we will one day be reunited with her again. What an awesome day that will be!

Opening Day

Unfortunately my brother-in-law, Scotty, was admitted to Emory Thursday night with heart complications. I ended up working from home on Friday so Lance could be at the hospital with his family while Scotty underwent a heart-cath procedure to diagnose the problem. The procedure brought great news – they were able to fix he problem by eliminating some scar tissue on his heart left from surgery at 5 years old. There would be no further treatment needed for now and everyone was beyond excited and thankful. Unfortunately after being discharged on Saturday, he was re-admitted on Sunday for a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in his lung) as a result of the heart-cath procedure. He will be in-patient for a few days as they resolve the clot with blood thinners. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Not completely understanding the circumstances, my boys are excited since it means their 3 cousins spent the night with us last night. A sleep over on a school night is otherwise unheard of!

Although overshadowed by my brother-in-law’s stay in the hospital, opening day 2008 was largely a success. It was a long day but we couldn’t have asked for better weather and plenty of fun. The parade was at 9am, which is what both Owen and Riley were looking forward to more than their games. Lance went with Owen and his team and I went with Riley. It’s a short parade route, maybe 1 mile if that, but they love throwing handfuls of candy at the scattered bystanders on the roadside. Owen’s game was immediately following the parade/opening day announcements at 11am. Have you ever seen 3 and 4 year olds play baseball? It is so funny! Owen is quite proud that this year he is one of the 4 year old veterans who can occasionally hit the ball without the assistance of a T. He did that during the game and made his turn around the bases. Another boy on his team had a great hit and then proceeded to run to centerfield to fetch his ball. Too funny! Even funnier was the jabs Lance made at this kid’s Dad, a former Atlanta Brave.We had a few hours after that before Riley’s 2:45 game. All the teams have fundraising booths and the local high school ROTC runs inflatable slides and bounce houses so there was plenty to do before Riley’s game. Nacho’s, Dippin’ Dots, Cokes, Cotton Candy, Hot Dogs, it was all there.

Riley’s game went well too. They lost, but still a good game. This is the first year with real strike-out’s. No T to use if you miss the pitches from the coach. It’s still coach pitch, but no T. It tried to rain on us before it was over, but nothing more than a drizzle until we got in the car after the game was over and then it rained pretty good. Owen kept complaining that it was “dripping on him.”

OB’s BBQ for dinner. I got to pick since it was my birthday. A busy, hectic day for a birthday but I got to watch my 2 guys do some of their favorite things – play, eat, play baseball – you can’t ask for much better.

This update wouldn’t be complete without confessing my ‘uh-oh’ on Friday. Lance was at the hospital with his brother (40+ miles from home) and I was taking the boys to the ball field, they both had a 6:30 practice. We headed out and as soon as the garage door closed behind me, I knew what I’d done. My keys (car and house) were on the kitchen counter behind the now locked, garage door. Oops. Lance has the only other house key. Even worse, my cell phone was also on the kitchen counter charging. Needless to say we had an opportunity to meet our nice neighbors who called their locksmith friend who was at our house in about 30 minutes. So after nearly 45 minutes and $90 later, I again had possession of my keys and off to the ball park we went. At least we made it in time to get everyone’s uniform for the Saturday morning festivities.