More getaway pics

Ellie working on her blowfish impersonation















Panning for gold in Lake Blue Ridge















Ranen comtemplates what goes into his grouper sandwich
















This guy tries to make a deal with Clark to let him out.




















Ellie really wanted to touch some of the fish.




















We encountered a exotic species locally known as Sandraeus Bennagium. She is rumored to be nocturnal and is rarely photographed in her natural environment.

Retreating to the hills...

My three little geologists...















Clark was able to combine his two great loves in life: being outside and physically attached to his daddy.



















Ellie gets a lesson on skipping rocks from her Dad (who's got the mad skills)


Ellie created a family of rocks and played here with them for quite a while as the rest of us swam.


We were able to get away this summer, and it was rejuvenating . What made it especially nice was that we were able to do it with friends. We spent the week in a cabin just outside of Blue Ridge, GA. Day activities included hiking in the mountains, swimming and fishing in Lake Blue Ridge, visiting Ducktown (more on that later), playing in the creek behind the cabin, naps, computer games (well, for some of us), some serious Catan-playing and stopping at the Georgia Aquarium on our way back.

Some favorite highlights include:

* Ellie and Adah playing in their "cellar" or the basement/rec room which also was where their bedroom was. I think they liked having a floor all to themselves.
* Ranen trying make friends with Clark. He was often attempting interactions like hugging, petting and sitting beside him, all of which Clark interpreted as signs of agression and immediately began crying. Ranen was persistent though, and by the end of the week, the two were able to coexist more peacefully.
* Ducktown, which is a "environmental train-wreck of a town" where the copper-mining in the 1800's went awry. The result was sulfuric-acid rain that created a barren wasteland of 32,000 acres that took over 100 years to rehabilitate. Spencer loved it and the blackberry bushes nearby that we found had the most ENORMOUS blackberries we've ever seen. Gotta love environmentally-mutated fruit.
* Visiting High Falls State Park, a place I frequented as a student at Mercer. I have fond memories of frolicking on the rocks, wading in the river and having picnics right by the falls. Unfortunately, since then, they have put up fences and signs everywhere forbidding getting in the water or climbing on the rocks. It saddened me to think about all the adventures our children won't be able to participate in to ensure our "safe" world.
* Listening to conversations between Ellie and Adah in the car. They sound so grown-up when conversing on their own.
* Watching my husband and children examining rocks together. Although for Clark, there was a little examining and a lot of throwing :-)
* Discovering that both my children really enjoy rock-climbing. Their Uncle Jay will be proud.
* The Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta)--largest aquarium in the world and very cool. I highly recommend it, but you're better off visiting on a weekday, as the weekends are very crowded. Whale sharks, beluga whales, penguins, huge viewing walls, walk thru tunnels of water, touch pools for the kids.
* "Chillaxin'" with the Bennages'. They rock!

Mom, Is It Real?

What a great week. I was able to witness the sheer joy that Disney brings on a 5-year-old's face. Clark was intrigued by what he saw, but Ellie was in complete amazement. Many times throughout the day she asked "Mom, is it real?" This is tricky territory for me. I am a big believer in telling kids the truth and explaining things slightly beyond their level, always letting them believe I think they're smart enough to grapple
with it. At first, I would answer in an honest but vague way (not wanting to completely destroy the wonder), something like...." do you think it is? or "it sure looks real, doesn't it?" Ellie wasn't biting. She would corner me into the details until I finally had to admit it wasn't. Toward the middle/end of the day, I found myself answering "Oh yeah, I think it is real". Maybe it was the fatigue of the "feels like" temp of 107, or maybe it was magic of Disney, but I think deep down I just wanted her to believe.

After we left Tampa and our visit with Besta and Papa Chuck, we stopped in Ocala for a visit with the other Mitchells' where the crib is always rockin' . I'm telling you, its like a party every day there. The kids decided they wanted to 'camp-out' in the playroom overnight, and farbeit from a Mitchell to pass up a camp-out. It's amazing what you can do with a sheet, four chairs, some comforters and couple flashlights. Of course, this meant that there was not much sleeping going on, which was good for me the next day when I drove the sleepyheads home to Tally. You know you're tired when you can't even sit up, or finish your cereal bar.

Sugar and Spice...and Pink and Lace

We had a Tea Party for Ellie's 5th Birthday. I'm not sure who had more fun....Ellie and her friends or me scouring vintage shops, thrift stores and fabric shops. The girls were adorable in their hats, gloves and jewelry sipping their tea/pink lemonade in real china teacups. For me, this birthday signifies a turnover for Ellie. She is now a "big girl". Everything around me tells me so. From having to shop in the "big girl" section of stores, to watching her carefully sip from a china cup, to her asking to call Adah on the phone "just to talk". I am misty-eyed just thinking about it. I know, though, that I will always look back on these pictures and smile as I think about how she still wants her soft blanket and bear before going to bed and needs "hugs, smoochies and kisses" before I can leave her anywhere. Now the tears are flowing freely.

Hair, Hair, Long Beautiful Hair

Before and After of Clark's first haircut. He's growing up so fast. The past two weeks have been pretty big for him, developmentally speaking. He is now standing and taking a couple quick steps. Many times, he stands up then leaps forward. He is also saying a few words, including "Dada" "Mama" "Uh-Oh" "Psss" (please) and "YeahYeah". He also loves to shake his head "no" and laugh. By far, his best trick is throwing balls, hard and far. We're in early talks with the MLB, NFL and NBA scouts. He's still not sure which one he'll go pro in yet....he's still weighing his options.

Camera Fun

I'm having fun with our new camera. Ellie loves the movie-taking feature and is usually asking me to video her singing or making Clark laugh. Clark becomes intrigued whenever I bring it out and usually comes after it. He is in a throwing stage right now. Most things he finds he tries to throw....HARD. Plastic balls in his ball pit...good. Phones, glass cups, cameras.....bad.





Ellie's silly streak has come full force lately. She loves to talk in different silly voices (usually while making up stories with her dolls/animals).I wanted to capture some for posterity. We're having fun passing the summertime away.






We picked lots (8lbs) of blueberries at a farm in Havana. Its a family-run farm, and the "grandpa" was supervising, advising, and weighing the day we went. Spencer decided that when he retires, he wants to sit in a rocking chair watching people pick and eat his blueberries on his farm. Looks like we can scale back on 401k/IRA contributions...





Ellie decided after an hour of picking blueberries, that it was too hot, so she only went to large bushes where she could stand under them in the shade and pick the blueberries from the bottom up.

Tis the Season

This is the time of year when I am grateful for my husband's green thumb. He has cultivated a wonderful garden that includes corn, green beans, cucumbers and tomatoes. Our blueberry bushes are also starting to ripen. Blueberries are fascinating and a lesson in patience. We planted the bushes 3 years ago and this is the first season they have produced fruit (which is normal). I love this opportunity to teach Ellie about sowing/reaping, being patient, how rainfall affects the world, and eating vs. saving. She gets a kick out of watering our garden by the bucketful out of her kiddie pool (trying to ease my conscience about using the pool during a drought.) Here are some pics of the fruits (and vegetables) of Spencer's labor.

The blueberries look like the green shriveled ones for weeks and weeks, then turn blue and double in size in about 48 hours.


Oh, we have (finally) turned digital. I cannot believe I have held out this long. I am like a kid with the coolest toy. The first day, I took pictures ALL DAY. I am not technically inclined and there was a lot of referencing the enormous manual and playing/trying/memorizing, but it's worth all the work. I love it. Oh, and also, now Brian Johnston can't say "A camera that uses film?!?! Are you freakin' kidding me?!" :-)

It wasn't meant to be...

I'm a little sad today. A dream has ended. A little dream I like to call....Scooby.

It all started a week or so ago when I was perusing Amazon's Friday Sale. I do this most Fridays (for fun - but that's another blog) and I came across this thing called a Scooba. It's a kissin' cousin of the famous irobot "Roomba", the robotic vacuum that takes care of the floors while you sleep, work, watch Food Network...whatever. The geniuses at iRobot finally realized that vacuuming is not the bane of most women's existence....it's mopping. So, they invented the Scooba, which is a robot that WASHES and SCRUBS your floors for you! It is (hold on, I don't want to overstate this) THE BEST INVENTION EVER. I shared this exciting discovery with Spencer and we continued to read up on it(we had never heard of it) and at some point that evening, Spencer's brain was overtaken by an alien evidenced by the next phrase out of his mouth, "Let's get it."

After much anticipation and daydreaming about coming home from errands and finding freshly scrubbed floors, we received it. I about bowled over the poor UPS guy. We charged it and let it loose the next day. What happened next was heartwrenching. Poor Scooba. It wasn't made for our thick, Mexican tile with deep grout areas. It was continually getting stuck, although it makes such a cute "uh-oh" sound that it was hard to be too mad. I had to rescue it (by tapping it) about 10 times as it made its way around our dining room/kitchen. It tried. It spun its wheels, went over extra dirty areas, tried and tried again. But our floor would not relent.

It has taken me a 5 days to let go of the dream I didn't even know existed 2 weeks ago. The only comfort I take is that Scooby is going to a good home. I let the Bennages borrow it, since they seem to have the ideal flooring situation for it. They decided to take him in and give him a good home. Don't worry...I told Ellie he went to nice family with a big farm out in the country where he could wash and scrub free without getting stuck.

I'm going to write the iRobot people and tell them it's time for an AWD Scooba. (Sigh....)

A Whirlwind Tour

Last night, all four of us were under the roof of our house for the first time in almost 2 weeks. It started with Spencer going out of town for work, then a SLP conference in Birmingham for me, then us meeting in Live Oak for 2 days. We then split up again, me taking the kids to visit Jay, Jo & kids in Ocala, then Mom & Chuck in Tampa for Mom's birthday and Spencer finishing travel work, then going to help out with Hurricane Katrina relief/repair work in Mississippi with our church. We were both tired, travel-weary and happy to all be together again. Our time in Ocala and Tampa was much fun though, as it's always great to see our family.
Clark shows the water fountain he's not afraid at all. He repeatedly attacked it, got water shot up his face, and attacked again. Later on, he actually crawled over these small fountains heading for the bigger ones....very brave this little one is.

Rylee gives Dakoda a little help with the car. I guess she's seen Little Miss Sunshine.... you know what they say....Behind every great boy is a baby girl with a heart condition.

Papa Chuck and Clark compare tongues.....Ellie tries to catch some fish in the lake behind Besta & Papa Chuck's house. Unfortunately, the fish weren't jumping out of the lake to bite her stick (which was a good 2 ft out of the water). She didn't want to put it IN the water as she didn't want to get the stick "yucky".

Tolerating my photo shoot....they are good sports:-)

....Like it's 1999

A few weeks ago, Spencer and I were able to spend the weekend with some of our favorite people. Mary, Joanna and I decided that since our 30th birthdays were hurling toward us whether we wanted them to or not, we might as well look forward to it. We decided that we would all get together for a weekend for each 30th. Since Mary and I both had new babies at my 30th, mine was postponed.

For Joanna's (Jan 4th) she chose a fun weekend in Orlando where we went dancing at Pleasure Island, visited Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure and enjoyed a nice dinner --ALL WITHOUT CHILDREN. This itself is no small feat, as there are 8 kids between us (ages 6mo - 6 yrs). We dropped ours off with a nice lady at the Flying J truck stop at I-75/I-4(my mom), and headed to O-town. My abs hurt after this weekend from laughing so much. Some highlights:

*Locking ourselves in the master suite Fri night to get ready for a night out on the town. This involved approx. 2.5 hours of trying on every outfit each person brought, a few bottles of wine, make-up session with Joanna, eventually ordering dinner in because we were taking so long to get ready, laughing as every 30 min or so, one husband would be voted to approach our camp and asked the fated "Are ya'll almost ready yet?"

*The pastor's wife, the missions chairwoman and I losing track of how many glasses of wine we had.

*DANCING--we hit every single club including: 80's, hip-hop, top 40 and (Spencer's favorite) ...techno. At one point, all of stepped outside for a little break and after 5-10 minutes realized that Spencer staying inside and was on the dance floor by himself, busting a move. As Spencer put it...."It was a good song - I didn't want to waste it!"

*Spencer and Jay trying to defend the tower at this cool huge jungle/high rope/cave place. Spencer was disappointed with the design of the high and low water guns and intends to write a strongly worded letter to Universal to make them aware of this design flaw. It did not, however, keep him from attempting a markedly futile attempt to assault the shooters who were armed with stronger water cannons with longer range.

*Spencer always ordering very little food, then finishing Joanna's meal. We realized about halfway into the weekend that he observed how she never finished her meal, and since we couldn't really do take-home boxes, Spencer figured why should he pay for a full meal, when he can order a side salad, then finish Joanna's chicken/steak/panini dish. Much teasing ensued, but he was not deterred as he proudly calculated how much money he had saved.

As I write these, I am reminded how much I LOVE my husband. He always evokes both respect and laughter, often at the same time. I am also reminded of the blessing of friendships, especially as they weather the years with age, memories, tears, laughter and wisdom. I thank God for these women and many others who sharpen and love me.

Christmas fun

Whew. Our family is slowing emerging from the hubub of Christmas and, after getting our pictures back, can now reflect with some wistfulness on the wonders of the past month.

First Wonders: ICICLES
Spencer decided to protect our orange tree (during the only hard freeze so far) by letting the hose drip on it overnight. The result provided hours of fun for Ellie and amazement at the science of water and ice (which Spencer enjoyed explaining).





Second Wonder: SCHOOL PROGRAM COSTUMES
I wish I knew how to sew, but I don't...yet. I keep saying I will learn. Unfortunately for Ellie, these skills did not come soon enough. She was a "sheep with curly horn" and needed an appropriate costume. After researching on the web, I came upon an idea that was a)cheap b) easy and c)seemed that it would work well. Well, two out of three ain't bad. It consisted of poly fill pillow batting stuck to double-sided tape on white clothes. Suffice it to say that from the moment we got out of the car to the end of the program, more than 80% of the "wool" had fallen off, leaving a trail everywhere from the parking lot up to the church, through the sanctuary, up onto the stage (where other children were picking it up and trying to stick it back on her), back down the stage, and ALL over the pew where she sat with her class (who proceded to throw it at each other throughout the rest of the program). I vascilated between laughing so hard I cried and slinking down in the pew, hoping no one would know I was the slacker mom who couldn't get a decent costume on her child. Here's a picture for posterity (this is right when she arrived with her class, so most of it is still on.). Oh...and notice the high-class professional costumes she's surrounded by!

Third Wonder: PLASTIC ICE SKATING
Tallahassee debuted a new ice-skating rink this year in the downtown plaza. Unfotunately it is FAUX ice...uh....plastic, actually. Ellie has never been ice-skating and was super excited about the adventure. However, when she got there and discovered what it was, she started calling it plastic-skating. She had a great time with her cousins Dylan and Sarah, and caught on pretty quickly. I even laced up, to help Ellie out, but was disappointed. I love skating....on ice. Fun for kids, though. Oh yes, Ellie also sported a splint for the holidays. She had a tiny buckle fracture and had to wear a splint for 2 weeks. Luckily, it didn't slow her down a bit.

Questions and Anwers

Ahh....the holiday season. In the past week, our family has experienced: Clark being dedicated at church, Ellie's first dentist visit, Clark cutting two new teeth, 4 Christmas parties, baking 250 cookies and Ellie's first professional haircut. Not to mention that I have to figure out how to make Ellie a sheep costume for her school program. She is the "sheep with curly horns". One word - typecasting. Ha!

This year has been wonderful in that Ellie is old enough to understand why we celebrate Christmas. She asks questions daily and, as I answer them, it's a great reminder when I find myself getting bogged down in the details....

The Bug Song

My daughter likes to make up songs with me to sing at bedtime. This is one we made up that she now keeps requesting to sing all the time. It's not the best but Ellie likes it. /Being musically challanged I have no way of expressing the tune of the song we use.

"The Bug Song"
Do you want to snuggle with a bug in a rug or a bug in a jug (admittedly the weakest line in the song)
...Not me Not me
Do you want to snuggle with a bug in a rug or a bug in a jug
...Not me Not me
Do you want to snuggle with a prickly porkypine and all of his prickles (this is where I poke/tickle like prickles)
...Not me Not me
Do you want to snuggle with a prickly porkypine and all of his prickles
...Not me Not me
Do you want to snuggle with a big oh shark with his big sharp teeth (this is where I say "chomp chomp" and make a chomping motion with arms and fingers)
...Not me Not me
Do you want to snuggle with a big oh shark with his big sharp teeth
...Not me Not me
Do you want to snuggle with a bubble bee in a bubble bee tree (this is where I say "bzz bzz" and poke/tickle)
...Not me Not me
Do you want to snuggle with a bubble bee in a bubble bee tree
...Not me Not me
END

Fun at the Park

Ellie loves to climb on the this big web thing....she's our Spider Girl.


Clark was diggin' the swing....he was happy and smiling as long as it was moving.

Belated Costume Pics!!

This was their first Halloween (I mean 'Fall Festival') costume event --- party at the Alley's the night before Halloween. Ellie loved her "white & silver princess" costume, and Clark couldn't get out of his bumblebee bunting soon enough. Not before Mom shot some pictures though!

On Halloween, we went to a big shindig at Celebration Baptist--Clark was relieved to be out of the bunting - especially since it was pushing 80 degrees. Unfotunately for him...that meant he had to wear a sailor hat :-) I know I only have a few years of this.....but I love it!!

The Maze of Amendments

Local Referendum:
1/2 cent Sales Tax for indigent health care: (This will make Leon County the highest sales tax county in the state, children are not qualified, there is no provision for eliminating the tax if no one signs up, only about 8,000 will qualify, lasts for 15 years)
I vote "NO"
[If you want to give to indigent health care write a check to TMH for 0.5% of your income]

Amendments:
Most Amendments should not even be on the ballot. It should not be so easy to amend the Florida constitution. The State Legislature should handle most of these issues. Most amendments are on the ballot because they couldn't make it through congress. Voters for some odd reason almost always vote yes on amendments which is why we get "pregnant pig" and "bullet train" amendments passed.
For these reasons I vote "NO" on almost all amendments.

NO.1
Changes budget procedures to limit use of nonrecurring revenue. (I agree with the basics of this very complex amendment. If an average person with a Masters Degree can't understand it don't vote for it. This should definitely be in the legislature not an amendment)
I'm voting "NO"

NO. 3
Makes it more difficult to pass amendments [by 60% instead of 50%] (Since I think it is too easy to pass amendments ....)
I'm voting "Yes"

NO. 4
Dedicates $57 mill and more each year to anti-tobacco campaigns (I, like most people, am against kids [and adults] smoking but this should be legislated. That money will come from what now goes to the general budget, and in my opinion is much too much $)
I'm voting "NO"

NO. 6
Increased Homestead Exemption for low-income seniors. (everybody wants to help out low-income seniors [although even wealthy seniors tend to have low "incomes"] but this should be legislated not amended)
I'm voting "NO"

NO. 7
Gives homestead tax break for disabled veterans. (I am all for giving tax breaks to disabled veterans, however this should be legislated not amended)
I'm voting "NO"

NO. 8
Bars eminent domain [government forcibly buying property] for private purposes. i.e. Leon county can't force you to sell your house because they want a Walmart [which earns more taxes] built there instead. (Because this is private citizens rights issue not likely to ever be legislated since it takes power away from the state and local governments...)
I'm voting "Yes"

fin

Vote Judges in Leon County Florida

Don't forget to vote for or against the Judges. Ok so judges are hard to research because they don't "vote" on issues very often.

Florida Supreme Court Justices (I'm saying No to these because of a personal bias against them because in my opinion they are liberal and activist judges, I found it difficult to due the hard research on them)
Justice R. Fred Lewis (appointed by Lawton Chiles)
(Keep? NO)
Justice Barbara Joan Pariente (appointed by Lawton Chiles)
(Keep? NO)
Justice Peggy A. Quince (appointed by Lawton Chiles)
(Keep? NO)

District Court of Appeal (In contrast to the supreme court, which is very powerful, the appeals courts are less so and unless they make significant bad descisions [like letting convicted murders out in <5>
Judge Edwin B. Browning Jr. (Keep? Yes)
Judge Brad Thomas (Keep? Yes)
Judge Peter D. Webster (Keep? Yes)

County Judge Group 3
Ron Flury (Assistant State Attorney)

John Newton ( Senior Assistant Attorney General in Economic Crimes and Civil Rights)

....with a little help from our friends

Sometimes, in life, you need a little push from your friends.
Sometimes you need to borrow their power tools.
Sometimes you need a ear to listen to you.
Sometimes you need them to help with a hefty project.
Sometimes you need them to zip up your princess dress.
Sometimes you need them to bring you food or medicine.
Sometimes you need their pick-up truck.
Sometimes you need advice.
Sometimes you need their ESPN.

I guess that's how we get by...

November Elections (Vote in Leon county Florida)

Don't forget to Vote in the next elections.
Here is the new Sample Ballot
If you are real busy or tend to be out of town some days then go HERE to request a mail-in ballot. (scroll down and fill out the form).

I'm not including the random 3rd 4th and 5th party candidates unless I think they have a chance.

State Elections
US Senator
Katherine Harris (A little crazy, does not handle her staff very well, but I like her politics: anti-abortion, pro Bush tax cut)

Bill Nelson (liberal, pro-abortion, against Bush tax cut )


Governor
Charlie Crist (Better than Jim Davis)

Jim Davis (The second worst attendance record in the US Congress, the worst attendance record in Florida Congress, He got paid too much)
(I couldn't find an image for Zero stars which I rate him as)

Attorney General
Bill McCollum (Jeb Bush's and my pick)

Walter "Skip" Campbell (Carey's dad knew this guy when he was a practicing attorney, "Skip" is an ambulance chasing trial attorney)


Chief Financial Officer
Tom Lee (Florida Senator since 1996, president of senate in 2004, a strong supporter of tax cuts and state frugality)

Alex Sink (A woman with the name "Alex", the wife of governor candidate Bill McBride, seems competent, has a lot of business experience but no political experience making it difficult to predict her decisions.)


Commissioner of Agriculture (I don't like either one)
Charles Bronson (Concentrates on Agriculture, has done some for consumer advocacy, wastes tax dollars, soft on immigration, my reluctant pick)

Eric Copeland (Concentrates on Consumers, A Miami Lawyer and tax-professional, The "Miami-Herald" supports Charles)


Superintendent of Schools
Jackie Pons (Deerlake Middle School principle, awarded national Blue Ribbon School award 2005)

Rosemary N. Palmer (attorney, advocate for disabled children, little to no education experience)

Patricia Sunday (Was on school board)
not much info

County Commissioner District 4
Bryan Desloge (opposes this version of 0.5 cent sales tax, not opposed to other tax increases)

Will Messer (More conservative, against 0.5 cent sales tax, opposes other tax increases)


Ocklocknee River Soil & Water Conservation Dist. 2 Supervisor
Gabriel Johnson (not much info)
?
Scott Matteo (current ORSWC chairman, not much info)


Ocklocknee River Soil & Water Conservation Dist. 3 Supervisor
Thure Caire (scroll down link, current ORSWC supervisor, has a lot of environmental science experience)

Jeffrey Sly (scroll down link, little experience, not much info)


Ocklocknee River Soil & Water Conservation Dist. 4 Supervisor
Brian Acosta (could not find any info, my pick by default)

John Maloney(scoll down link, current law student at FSU, law students don't have time to be county officials)


more to come: