Pancakes and Boxing

Tuesday morning, the kids and I (David worked Monday night and was home after 2 a.m.) drove over to DeLeon Springs State Park to meet up with fellow letterboxers from Georgia, drgdlg, also known as Desi and Darren, with their little girl Raileigh.




The park has this FUN restaurant, The Old Spanish Sugar Mill, where you get to make your own pancakes on the table/griddle. We met there, had a fun breakfast and then decided to find three boxes out in the park.

BIG mistake, as the entire mosquito population was attacking us! We tried to find two of the three box clues I printed, but were 0 for 2, and gave up on # 3 because of the bugs.

Not many pictures were taken, as I thought I had lost my camera. After spending a day & a half searching everywhere, and I mean everywhere (In the fridge, the dryer and two pantries. I have a 5 year old, ya know.), I found the camera inside one of those folding lawn chairs that comes with its own carrying case. The chair had been folded up and put away, with the camera still hanging off the arm rest. But the camera was found after this trip to the park. The only pictures I have are the following, taken with Jake's cell phone (so he's not in either shot).

Roy G. Biv

I think it says a lot about me (*coughocdcough*) that I just realized.....I Roy G. Biv'd my casual shirt rack in my closet.

The Last Lecture

"The Last Lecture" was written by Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch. It's a memoir about his life and achieving your childhood dreams. At Carnegie Mellon, professors were asked to give "last lectures." If you were dying, what would be the last lecture you would want to give.

This "Last lecture" series was very apropos for Prof. Pausch, who had pancreatic cancer and lost his battle on July 25th, 2008. This book is a memoir, and a final love letter to his children.




I spent an hour one Saturday afternoon watching this video. My son popped in and out to listen every so often. Yes, it's long. But if you want to know what the book is about, this is pretty much it. Live your life to the fullest. Achieve your childhood dreams. Let the people you love KNOW you love them.

Sleepy Fairy Princess

Here are some old pictures of Isabel's room. These are over 1 & 1/2 years old, when we had *just* converted her crib into this toddler bed and she was still in diapers (changing table there).








She's been in the toddler bed for over a year. We took off the toddler side rail and she's been fine with it. A couple of weekend ago, we happened to walk into a mattress store that was having its grand opening and walked out with a new mattress/box spring set, to be delivered the following day.



Here are the kids on the newly put-together bed. This is the same furniture that was her crib and then her toddler bed.

That following weekend, Isabel and I went out on our own to buy her some bedding. I was not really interested in any character bedding, like Dora, Tinkerbell or Disney anything. I didn't want something that in 2 years, she'd grow out of. We went to a plaza that has a Kohl's, a Ross and a Bed, Bath & Beyond (my budget). After going to all 3 stores, we decided on a set at Kohl's.


Fairies, who are also Princesses.












Here's the rest of her room, just because.








Dora painting by my big sister, Brenda.

She LOVES her new room. So do I!

"L'Orage"

by Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmüller (December 4, 1806 - February 13, 1874).

I finally got my son to play something for me on video. He is forever playing but won't let me film him. He has taken piano keyboarding in 7th, 8th and 9th. No private lessons, yet. He has an uncanny talent for music and it boggles my mind that he can look at a composition and start playing it. Precariously, of course, but he can still do it.