Facebook Finds

I joined Facebook to keep up with my teenager, but really never paid too much attention to "socially networking" on it until I learned to play Uno, Farm Town and Farm Ville. (BTW - I need more neighbors so I can hire plowers :))

When my mother was pregnant with me, she agreed to be followed by a student from Case Western University in Cleveland, OH. That young doctor ended up delivering me. I believe I was her first delivery and my mother kept in touch with her and she with my mother after my birth. In fact, she gave me a little stuffed animal that I still have. When I was 10 years old, my family moved from Ohio and while I had several phone calls with that doctor, we eventually lost touch with each other.

I celebrated my 44th birthday last week and this morning when I got on Facebook to check my farms (LOL), I saw a friend request from the doctor that delivered me. What a trip!

HOME!!!

...and while we miss the beach and warm weather and especially the ocean (which was exceptionally warm this year) it is good to be home.

Until the Ride Comes To a Complete Stop...

Our time is almost up here and I must say it has been the 2nd best vacation I have had. The kids had a great time and while we did not have as much school as I had planned, they learned so much and met so many new people. We met new families from New York, California and Michigan. This years newest geography lesson was meeting a large family from Dawson Creek, British Columbia. They were a Christian family that has homeschooled in the past and have 6 daughters, some of which love to sing. We have learned about their climate (up to 10 months of winter and snowy weather, Yikes!) and other demographics.

We also rekindled with friends from Scotland, Sheffield, England, Boston, Michigan, and various Providences of Canada.

I have loads of pictures that I will post for documentation sake.

Blessed!

Too True Tuesday

One of my blog buddies, Essie, has a blog segment called Too True Tuesday and the subject of this weeks TTT is, your least favorite holiday and why. And just for fun and balance, your favorite holiday and why.

My least favorite holiday is Halloween. It's not so much the holiday that I dislike as much as the social pressure I get because my kids do not usually get to go trick or treating. Our annual family vacation starts the Saturday after Halloween and so I am usually just too overwhelmed to do the whole costume and parade around the neighborhood thing.

My favorite is Thanksgiving because of this, (Originally posted last November here)

My immediate family is pretty small... Mom, Dad, 1 younger brother and myself. All of my extended family live out of state and we just don't get together like we used to. About 6 years ago, I asked my then 10 year old what he wanted for thanksgiving dinner and he jokingly said, "grilled cheese sandwiches and french fries" our then favorite meal. We kinda looked at each other and thought, hmmmm. And so our family tradition began. Believe me, I have heard much criticism about it, but it's what we like and it is fun and the kids love it and so do I. To see pictures, click on the "here" link.

This year, Thanksgiving will be celebrated here in Nassau, so mom cooks like crazy. And Essie...we are having ham!

Today Is My Birthday!

With the Ocean Singing Back-Up

6th grade met new friends this week from British Columbia. As it turns out, they all like to sing and decided to put on a concert for us parents tonight. It was so cool because as the girls sang songs, some written by the girls earlier this evening, the ocean sounds were in the background. It was amazing!

Jordan has a recital for voice class when we return to the states and I had told her teacher that I would try to get her to give at least 2 practice recitals while on vacation. Mission accomplished as she gave 1 last week to a group of sisters from California and then tonight's concert. I love that she gets to meet people from all around the world. I am actually tempted to break my rule and post the video of her singing tonight. If i can get it to load with this very slow Internet I just may.

Signed,

Proud Mama!!!

Friends and Sunsets

One of the things I love most about time sharing is the meeting up with friends year after year. It is truly like a family reunion. Jordan and her friend had a great time swimming, giggling, playing tennis and Boggle, giggling and eating out at a great Italian Restaurant.

Here they are with a beautiful sunset. I blocked her friend out as I did not get permission from her mom to share it.

Tennis Serving Lobster

This is going to be a pictureless post as this laptop does not have a memory card slot and the one that does have the slots, cannot seem to pick up the wireless signal here....

Jordan played tennis today with her friend from Massachusetts and said she had a great time. She went swimming and enjoyed lunch on the beach. Even tho' she was wearing an SPF of 50, she still got a little crispy.

The little boys enjoyed going to happy hour at the club house and trying to catch geckos and snails. They are both the kind of kids that could play for hours with a cup, spoon and pile of sand and be the happiest little kids around. I love that about them.

Tonight, we had the sweetest, tastiest lobster for dinner. For dessert, we had peanut butter cookies using this recipe. Very sweet, very good. Thx K.

Television Mesmerized....

One of the perks on vacation is that the children get to watch a whole lot more television. They watch it so hard! It's like they are mesmerized. LOL! As you can see, James is a bit crispy. It's hard to get him out of the water often enough to re-apply.

My Morning Buddy

I have been waking up every morning at about 5:30 am and I go out on the patio for quiet time. Every morning so far, this has been my buddy. It just sits on the patio quietly too. I wonder if he/she is taking quiet time before his/her kids wake up too. Ha Ha!

First Day

We made it and had a really smooth trip. In fact, it was the easiest ever. My legs and feet are a little sore...the Dallas/Ft.Worth airport is HUGE!!!! Of course, we arrived in Concourse A and had to get to Concourse D which seemed to be 2 cities over. LOL! Luckily, Tx time zone is an hour behind ours so we had plenty of time to make our flight. The weather is calm, 88 degrees, partly cloudy.

Birthday

Today is my oldest son's birthday. He is 17 years old.




17.....



~sigh~ Happy Birthday kid.