May 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome back readers! 

Summer is in full swing here in Atlanta Ga!  This month we wrapped up preschool, joy school, and baseball.

It’s nice not to rush out every morning (at least until the 6 summer camps start!)

 

News with Scott has been good.  He’s been on a hotel project for the last couple of months, and this last month, it’s been a breeze.  He’s worked from home just about every day and puts in a solid ~35 hours a week or so.  We even went to the lake last Thursday – figured he could “work” from the lake just as well as he “works” from home.  One thing he was working on was his flip on the wakeboard – HE FINALLY GOT IT!  He landed it twice.  Unfortunately the whole event is on our friend’s camera (convenient story, I know), but we’ll try to get it in for next month’s TFK.

And the kids had a great month wrapping up Preschool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Chamblee Methodist Preschool, the year culminates with the much anticipated “Spring Sing.” The kids sang their hearts out! And in addition to Grammy and Granddad, Scott even got to make it (since he continues to “work” at home).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each parent has to sign up to plan/prepare one of the parties throughout the year, and probably wanting to delay my volunteer time as long as possible, I signed up for both of the kids’ “end of the year party.”  They both turned out to be a lot of fun (but a lot of work!).

Tay actually had two graduations this year – pre-school and Joy school.  You can tell it was quite the graduating class – ready to go out into the world!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And let’s not forget the end of the Grasshopper season.  Jack had a great year and he was really hitting the ball well near the end of the season.  In the last inning of the very last game, Jack was on deck but his team had just reached the 4-run limit, which meant the game and season were over.  But, rather than wrap up the game, the coach made everyone stay out there so that Jack could have one last hit – he had a great season!

Jack at the plate

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also this month was Trey’s birthday party.  This was apparently a mult-week, multi-event affair, but we made it to one day of the fun at Stone Mountain.  They’ve actually done a lot to commercialize the park – the kids had a great time!

Other fun events this month included the father and son campout.  Highlight definitely being banana boats.  A trick we learned from Jay and Angie’s campout for Trey’s birthday party – take a banana, stuff it with marshmallows, peanut butter, chocolate chips and coconut, wrap it in foil and put it in the fire…it’s a beautiful thing.  Other favorites of the trip were the fire and the soccer game with all the kids the next morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In terms of other fun events, here’s a quick blurb and a picture of each:

Scott’s dad came into town, so we all met him for Hibachi grill – the kids loved it.  They weren’t sure whether to be thrilled or terrified at times!

Also, Scott’s cousin and our San Diego dinner compadre, Brent, got married back in April – to a great girl also named April.  They were in town for an Atlanta reception, so we got to see them and other bits and pieces of the Douglas crew.  Makes us miss the sunny days of San Diego and surfing at the beach!

 

Jack’s biggest news by far was going to the SEC Baseball Playoffs with Grammy and Granddad in the RV.  They drove down to Hoover, AL and spent all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday watching baseball games.  Jack of course was tireless in this endeavor and the hot Alabama heat did nothing to slow him down – they got to see 10 games in all.  While there, he for some reason found a strange connection with the Florida Gators while at the same time rooting consistently against Vanderbilt.  I was happy when Vandy made it into the final game.  Jack was happy when they lost :-)  Go figure.

Also fun was Jeff’s Birthday – second time we’ve been able to accompany him for an unexpected birthday
celebration at a Mexican restaurant.

 

 

Also got to see the wedding of one of my neighbor’s growing up, Matt Sears.  We were in the mood to celebrate apparently!

 

 

And that’s about it.  We’re looking forward to a fun summer and hoping to get lots of lake time in.  Hope you guys have a great one!

Love, TFK

April, 2012

 

Welcome back to the next edition and welcome to Spring!  After a non-existent winter, we’re enjoying afternoons in the mid-80’s – making us excited for wakeboarding season!

Month kicked off with a super fun event at the Hawks.  Lee was nice enough to hook us up with a box suite at the Hawks-Knicks game.  Interestingly enough, we reached out to Lee way before Lin-sanity was ever on the radar, so we thought getting tickets would be easy.  Once we got the verbal nod that we’d get tickets, Lin became the rage of the nation.  So since we didn’t actually have any tickets in our hands, we were a little worried that our verbally committed  tickets might not actually materialize.  In the end it worked out great.  Lin didn’t play that night, but everyone had a great time, Jack watched every play and the Hawks won.  Hard to beat that.

First piece of news this month was Spring Break 2012!  We originally planned to use Scotty’s Hilton points and get a place a San Destin, but given that it was Spring Break and when we called the week before, the rooms had been given away a long time ago.  All the better, because instead we stayed at a family friends house of the Ordners and went to St George island.  Biggest highlights were:

#1 Oysters – we shucked and ate ~ 250 oysters over the course of the week.  Even Jackson and Taylor had their first oyster.

#2 Dolphin Trip – went on a sunset cruise to find sea shells, do some minor fishing w/ the kids, eat oysters fresh out of the bay, watch the sunset, and see dolphins.  We saw plenty of dolphins.

#3 Playing on the beach w/ sharks – kids loved the water and during the week we were there, people right next door caught two sharks.  This was no dull pool we were swimming in!

#4 Family – Great to spend time with all the kids, Mom, Dad and Jeff.  Even Scott who we thought was going to have to fly out for the week and then fly back in to drive us home got to spend the entire week down there with us.

After a great week at the beach we got home right in time for Easter Sunday.  We did church then a neighborhood Easter dinner and egg hunt!  Becky even got to join us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best part of the month; however, was a spontaneous (at least on my part) trip to Chicago!  I (and Grant) accompanied Scott on business.  And to top it off it was a free trip!  We got 2 coach tickets (instead of 1 first class ticket), we shared his hotel room (obviously), and we both ate on his expense account (which is more than enough to cover both of us).  Not to mention free child care, by my generous parents—we are so blessed!  Our favorite part was of course seeing some of our favorite people:  David/Dianna (why oh why didn’t we get a pic??); Mark/Natalie; and Meg and Brian—3 all star couples!  While we were away, Jackson and Taylor celebrated their beloved Grammy’s 57th birthday!  Happy Birthday Mom! 

 

 

 

Lastly, we got a few professional pictures of the kids:  we figured it was about time for poor Grant (who is 3 months now, sleeping through the night and can’t stop smiling—such a fun kid!).  He had his 2nd hair cut recently…This time by a professional!

 

 

 

 

 

Jackson is having a great baseball season—complete with 3 double plays!  He and the rest of the Grasshoppers are tearing it up.  I have to admit though, like basketball, it can be painful to watch. 

He also got a glowing report from this teacher at Pre-K:  “He is a leader who loves to lead.”  I’m wondering if that is a nice way of saying “He loves being the boss.”  He brings his chess board everyday and challenges the janitor, his teacher, and the principle to games…He is currently tying to teach everyone in his class how to play also…

Finally, we received more good  news that his follow up stool sample was free of inflammation markers.  We have one more follow up in 3 months, and then we should be in the clear.

Check out the garden!  This year we ditched the seeds (way too impatient for that), and went straight for the mature strawberry and tomato plants…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Sis has a good report too!  Her teachers were equally complimentary, quite the 180 from my fall reports.  “Taylor is one of the only ones who always cleans up, she has great manners, and she can read everyone’s name in the class.”  Taylor deserves all the credit for this, as I have had little time to work one on one with her lately. 

And we got her hair chopped—SOOO much easier.  Lastly she is almost potty trained.  She has put us through the ringer with this situation…

Scotty is on a funny case at the moment.  He is working with a travel and leisure client, and what’s odd is that by Sunday evening every week, he still doesn’t know what part of the country he will be in the following day! Usually he’ll get a call Monday morning, book a flight, and head out Monday afternoon.  Everyone is happy with his work, which is good, but he is working with a Dallas team so he is not getting exposure to the Atlanta partners/principles/project leaders etc…Oh well, he is enjoying the project, but it will be nice to get him with an Atlanta team ASAP.

And things for me are going really well at the moment.  At General Conference this month we were reminded that rather than spiritually coasting during good/easy times, we should really be growing closer to the Lord through scripture study/prayer/attending church.  Then, when trials come (and they do/will for everyone), we will have the faith to endure.  So that is the current plan!

Love to you all!  Can’t believe it is May!  Last month in my 20s!!!

TFK