Church Picnic

Madie and Chase had a great time at the church picnic in Persimmon. You know that Tallulah River water is chilly!

Fried chicken, mac-n-cheese, cakes and pies, yum!

Cabin Fun!

Summer fun in Clayton!

Georgia Aquarium Fun

We had a great time visiting the Georgia Aquarium downtown. The whale sharks were truly amazing :: Huge!

Florida or Bust!

After 10 hours (it's an 8-hour trip) we made it to Grammie and Grandpa's for fun in the sun! Kids loved having a pool right outside the door...and I did too! I sat in my jammies having tea and coffee with Mom and Dad while the kids turned into pruney-fish! Low maintenance -- especially since Mom keeps the cupboard's full and Grandpa keeps the pool clean and the cars full of gas -- a B&B I recommend highly! For 2 1/2 weeks we ate, soaked up the sun and had some great days with friends and family.

Had to go to The Pier in downtown St. Pete -- all about tourists, love it! Expensive candy, cheap seashell jewelry for the kids and yummy lunch (thanks Dad!) at Cha Cha Coconuts! Love the Pier! (http://www.stpete-pier.com/)

It was rainy and cloudy at St. Pete beach but we made the best of it -- spending too much money (ahem) at Caddy's and the kids loved the 'big' waves with Uncle Jack and Danielle, Nicole and friend Leeanna (sp?) Danielle and Nicole in pic.

I got to bowl with my sexy friends and we had great boat rides with Uncle Ed and Uncle Jack; we always love sandbar trips -- it's really the highlight of our vacation.

A little shopping at Beall's and Publix with Mom -- fun as always; we laugh too much. The "kids" look great, all in HS now. Amazing! And we cannot forget the great 4th of July concert! Jack and Ed rocked the house with the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and other great tunes from the 1900's -- next year they're going to try and learn the words before the show. Opening for JackEd was The Plumber (I made that up -- Mike Plumb...Plumbago?) Well anyway...

Kids craft day was fun -- we cut holes and sewed stars -- turned out good, huh?

Okay, what else...we repaired drainage problems at our Fla. house and swam in the canal and posed for pictures and swam with Hayden from across the street and went to visit Claudia (and Mikey and Chase) to see their new house and had dinner with Hugo and Ava and did crafts with Grammie and Grandpa! I'm gonna try and get some more pics up but right now I have to run!

Blog Updates -- Finally!

Well finally I've added new stuff to Keener Days... the new entries go back to March so check it out when you get a minute or two! As always, I hope to keep up better but I make not promises. If you want me to remove you from these update e-mails, let me know. Some of you "opted in" but I added a few of you 'cause I thought you'd want to know!



Our summer is off to a great start -- the pool's open and it's HOT in Atlanta. :o) TBC

Lillies!

I was thrilled to see my lillies pop open this summer -- they were cast-aways from church...Easter Sunday 2008! A little over a year later and they're beautiful! back by the woods behind "the boulders." (Click to enlarge)

Crocodile Dock Rocks!

We had a great week in VBS -- over 700 kids for five days; The kids and I helped the decorating team paint and hang moss the week prior and then it was nothin' but singing our praises and dancing in His name. I was a crew leader for a 2nd grade class and 'bumped' into Madie and Chase all week during our 'rotations.'

We met a lot of new friends and learned that God is Always With Us...Fear Not!

T-ball Champs

After finishing first in their division, Chase's Tball "Reds" go on to win the whole enchilada! Four (or was it five) post season wins and the Red's take home the Championship! We had a great time at the post season party -- water slide and bbq!

Rainforest Flower!

Quite the thespian! :o) Madie makes a fine Rainforest Flower if I do say so myself.

1st Place Tar Heels!

Woohoo! Madie's Softball team came in first place for the entire division! They ended the season with a fun party at Skate Country (way to go Team Mom! ahem...)

5K Run (Walk!)

We had a great walk for Anna's Angel Fund from our church, Hamilton Mill UMC through the park and back around! All for children's cancer -- Anna is a member of the church and a survivor -- she was there to greet the hundred's who crossed the finish line! Learn more http://annasangels.org/index.html

Mother's Day

Game Ball!

Game Ball for our Madie. Madison here with her coach and the coach's daughter Madie.

Spring Fling!

Go Braves -- we had a blast at the Spring Fling carnival. We (we?) jumped on jumpy things and won tickets to trade for "treasures" (a'la Chuck E Cheese!) and got our hair painted too!

Fast!

Madie and Chase did great at Field Day this year -- they brought home 2-3 blue ribbons each -- both winning the 50 yard dash among other events. And both of their classes won 2nd in the tug-o-war -- a very competitive (mostly for the teachers and parents!) event! (Click on an image to see full size -- check out Madie's stride in the first picture )

Azaleas!

We got our first bloom of azaleas out front this year -- last year they didn't produce but are everywhere. Not sure if it's the rain or maybe b/c they were still new in '08.

Crazy Hat Day!

I said no all year -- until the last crazy hat day. You pay a $1 and wear a hat in school -- it's for charity but a dollar here, a dollar there....

Taste of Trilogy!

We had a great time at the first (annual?) Taste of Trilogy -- I made a fancy dip (some of you know "Dip for the Stars") but couldn't pull off the most votes. The best part was buying 10 tastes for a buck or two and getting filled up on yummy food! Beer, wine, good friends, good food...need I say more!

Brownie Camp!

Overnight?! Madie had a great time at Camp Tiber Ridge, earning several patches cookie on an open fire and canoeing in the lake! How do you spell canoeing?! :o) Chase really wanted to go along but in the end settled for a hug.

Lookin' Good on Easter

Dungeon of Fun!

The kids love to get together and play dress up in the basement! It's usually half a broadway show and half a horror movie being created...guess who the director is? Madie of course -- but everyone usually chips in with their own take and I only break it up when I can't hear my soaps or to toss snacks down to them! :o)

Snowy Mountain Fun!

We spent a few days in just before Easter Clayton and had a great time in the snow!

I DO like money!

Chase wasn't sure what he wanted for his birthday from Aunt Wendy..."Do you want me to send you money?" Chase replied "No, I don't really like money." hmmmm

Here we are at Toys R Us -- "I DO like money!" A basketball and Bakugans and a book and...

What a blast!

Magnolia Jane

Magnolia Jane bloomed in a big way this spring -- she sits just off our front porch. One foggy morning her colors just seem to stand out from all the grays. Beautiful!

Blog Updates

Hey ya'll! Check out the blog -- I've added lots of new pics since our snow day.

Birthday Boy!

Chase turns 6!

Chase is a smart kindergartener, handsome, rambunctious (did I spell that right?), energetic, athletic...a dare-devil with a penchant for running and jumping and tossing something up just to catch it! A straight "E" student in academia, Chase enjoys a good laugh with his classmates...even when he should be concentrating on 'the calendar.' "All boy" belongs to Chase! He is a verb.