Delray Beach

August 9, 2007--Just wanted to post a link to my puppy page. The puppies get cuter by the day. I have been putting photos and videos periodically. Of course they're cute! Puppies!

July 24, 2007--Lots has happened since I posted last. Mainly, Arielle had 9 healthy babies. I've been so busy with puppies, and trying to get my classroom ready, etc! However, I haven't forgotten all of the photos I need to post, I just haven't done it! So, for your enjoyment until then, I give you--PUPPIES! Just click on the arrow.

July 10, 2007--OK, I promised pictures. I have hundreds from the trip, but I'll start with themost important....WEDDING pictures! It was a beautiful wedding, Shane and Rebecca did a fabulous job of putting things together (and I expect Rebecca's mother Holly and sisters Krispin and Fran should also get kudus as well, since I know they were right in the thick of things making sure it came off without a hitch. It was a nice and intimate affair at Rebecca's folk's lakehouse, with the actual ceremony taking place on the pier at sunset. They were concerned about the weather, but it could not have been more perfect, right down to the mayflies which launched into the air in unison as the bride and groom walked away at the end of the ceremony. Very nice touch!

Rebecca's family is really nice and we enjoyed meeting them. In addition, we had a pretty good showing of Scribners and a few Fannins there as well. I will post pictures of the families in due time, but for now, here is one of Shane and Rebecca at the rehearsal dinner.

Here they are being toasted by Best Man, Brad Rollins. Aren't they cute?

July 8, 2007--Gosh, it's already July, but I have a great excuse for not posting in a month. We went to TX for Shane's wedding and then on to NM (Santa Fe and Taos) and then Jeff left me for a couple of weeks with my Dad in Roswell and then picked me up the end of June for a long ride back to FL. It was a great trip, and I have a ton of photos to post, everything from wedding pix to aliens in Roswell. However, that is going to take days and days, and so I will probably be posting a few at a time over the next week or so. But, for now, I wanted to post a shot I didn't take, but is really cool.

Jordan and Angela came for a visit this weekend, and we had a great time. They were flying out this afternoon and wanted one last beach day beforehand (the weather was rainy every day so we didn't get as much time on the beach as we would have liked). Anyway, we went out and while sitting and soaking up the sun, Angela and I spotted a short protrusion from the bottom of some clouds off shore. It grew and we realized it was a waterspout! I went to mention it to the lifeguard, as it seemed like something they might want to keep an eye on. However, I was surprised when the lifeguard on duty just looked at me and said, "I don't have my contacts in, so I can't see that far." Yikes, I hope he can see someone drowning in the water!

Anyway, I didn't have my camera with me (can you believe that? I never leave home without it!!!) But, Angela was able to snap one pretty good shot, which I'll share here. Oh, and those little dots on the water underneath the funnel are boats. It probably only lasted about 5 minutes, and I never saw it reach the water, but it was WAY COOL!

June 3, 2007--May has somehow slipped away and here it is June already. Shane and Rebecca's wedding is next weekend, the school year is over, and I will be teaching 4th grade next year. All of that means, of course, I've been busy!

However, Memorial Day weekend, I had very special company. Way back in 1969, on the first day of 7th grade, I met someone who became my best friend. We spent lots of days in the New Mexico sun, baking ourselves brown as nuts (I'm paying for it now!)and having more fun than most kids get to have nowadays. Anna was an artist and could play the piano, and had a quirky sense of humor that I really admired. I think I spent more time at her house than I did at mine. Her Mom was a great cook and made the BEST sweet tea. Her parents treated me like one of their own, and I always felt right at home. We have kept up with each other through the years, although the last time I saw her was when I was pregnant with Shane. Almost 27 years ago! So, in honor of both of our 50th birthdays this year, she flew in from North Carolina, and we spent 3 days talking and having fun, as if we had seen each other last week. Amazingly, she looks almost exactly the same! I think we were both afraid we would run out of things to talk about, but we were still going when we dropped her off at the airport on Tuesday morning! It was a GREAT visit, and I hope we do it again really soon. Anyway, a few photos, of course.....

Anna and I at the beach in Delray. It wasn't the best weather we've had, and the shelling was lousy, but it was a photo op.

Jeff and Anna at Athena's a Greek Restraunt we like to eat at in Ft. Lauderdale, because they have this really great fried cheese!

Just a cool artsy picture I took at the Gumbo Limbo...because it was there!

May 15, 2007--It's already the middle of May and as usual, I have had things to put on the blog, and just haven't gotten around to it. I'll try to catch up a little tonight. School is winding down and I have been offered and accepted a position teaching 4th grade for next year. I'm really excited, and looking forward to it. Shane's wedding is fast approaching (yes, for those who don't know, my BABY is getting married!) More on that as things progress, and of course, after the fact I promise pictures.

I've also been busy learning to do fused glass. Like most things, it's more difficult to do well than it at first appears, but I'm coming along. I'll post some of my pieces tonight, since I finally got around to taking shots of them and making them web ready. I'll start with my first effort and end with my latest, which is the first thing I'm really pleased with. The first is a frog, made in a mold with various colors of frit (small bits of glass).

Next, a bowl I made, which is not too bad, but really a very simple piece.

Next a koi that I did from a mosaic pattern. I don't care for it at all, and I also had trouble with the glass, either I didn't get it clean enough before firing, or it devitrified.

Next is a somewhat better koi, I figured out that it was better to use fewer, larger pieces. I'm still not thrilled, and still had issues with the glass.

Lastly, my latest 2 pieces, and I like them. They are saltwater butterfly fish.

And that's what I've been up to. More soon!

April 29, 2007--We had a busy week, but a fairly relaxing weekend. This week our church is hosting a Global Outreach Conference, which means feeding alot of people. Jeff and I worked Friday evening serving food to lots of people from all over. It was fun, as we work with a really nice group of folks. Saturday we spent recooperating, and Sunday pretty much the same.

However, we got some cool photos of Jordan and Angela in China, and also one of Flat Stanley at the Great Wall. In case you aren't familiar with Flat Stanley, click here to check out the story. Jordan took Flat Stanley along for one of our third grade classes. Here they are at the Great Wall:

And Angela and Jordan, I think in Beijing, altho I'm not sure.

April 23, 2007--Jeff and I saw a great movie last weekend, called The Illusionist. It was one of the best movies we've seen, great plot, great acting, beautifully shot, and the surprise ending was superb! Really REALLY worth renting!

We also had fun down on Atlantic this weekend with friends I know through the golden club. Heidi and Nancy and Jeff and I all went and had dinner at Dada's. It was a little chilly, and it rained for a little bit, but not too bad. The funny thing is we had so much fun, we went to Starbucks for coffee afterwards and didn't realize how late it was until they closed up and we had to leave. It was 1 AM! I don't think I've stayed out that late since...well, I don't know how long ago!

I've also been working on some glass pieces. I need to get some photos up. They don't look great, but I'm having fun. Also, the wedding is getting closer. For those who don't know it, Shane and Rebecca are getting married this summer, and plans are in high gear! I'm so glad I'm the mother of the groom and not the mother of the bride!

April 7, 2007--It's not every day that one turns 50. Like only once. Which is probably a good thing! I had a good day, we got up and went to the Original Pancake House for breakfast, which is not something we do alot, mostly because it's really popular and I refuse to wait for 30 minutes to get seated for breakfast. However, the wait wasn't very long, and the food was great, so it was a good start. Then we washed my car and did a few errands and came home, and I opened presents, which is the one good thing about birthdays, no matter which one you happen to be having. I got some cool stuff, pretty flowers, a picture, some cool notecards and a book, a couple of nice cards and good wishes. The cool thing is I still have 2 days of vacation before back to work! Anyway, here is a photo of us we took this morning with my gifts!

April 4, 2007--I am getting complaints that I'm not updating often enough. I am getting a backlog of pix to put up, and it just seems that whenever I think about updating I'm either at work or in bed or driving. However, I'm off for Easter break this week, so hopefully I will get a little bit updated. Thigns are fine here, the weather has been nice (they say we're having a drought, but anyone who ever lived in West Texas is not likely to call this a drought!). Work is great, I really like 4th graders. I wish Aunt Avon was around to ask questions, since she was an expert on the age, but I'm learning about them. I have also been learning to do fused glass. It's fun. I have made a few pieces, and I promise to get some pix up of those as well. In the meantime, here are two photos I took the other day. I had the two goldens in the back yard to do their business after work, and happened to catch a glimpse of something in the garden. At first, it looked like a pile of rubber bike tires, but on closer inspection, this is what it was:

I am not positive about the type of snake, maybe a racer, but it seemed a little fat to me for that. If anyone knows, I'd love to know too. Whatever he was, he wasn't too thrilled with me, and beat a hasty retreat when I tried to get a close up!
I also saw this pretty skink on the tree that same afternoon. Very vibrant red chin on this one. He also didn't like having his pic taken and zoomed down into the foliage. I think he must have met the snake, however, because he quickly zipped right back up the tree! I guess I was the lesser of the evils!

February 23, 2007--Today is a special day. 30 years ago Jeff and I welcomed Kyle into the world, and we went from being a young married couple to being parents. Little did we know how profoundly it would change our lives, or what a blessing it would be. Thank you Kyle for gracing our lives and happy birthday!

I also want to think Kyle for a special surprise I got today at work. I walked into the office after lunch and there was a beautiful floral arrangement on the reception desk. I commented on how pretty they were and Sally said, "They're yours!" I didn't believe her, but she insisted, and I could see my name on the card. Several other people were there and they were all wondering aloud who might have sent me flowers, and why. I said I was sure it was Jeff, but I didn't know why as it wasn't any special day (for me) that I could think of. So, I looked at the card, and the simple message brought tears to my eyes. It said, "Thanks--Love Kyle". Wow, everyone was simply blown away! What a kid! Thank you for making my day!

Now, on to pictures. Here is one of Kyle and his Dad taken when he was up last week for a visit.

And, of course, a photo of the flowers. See? They're gorgeous!

January 14, 2007--As usual time is really speeding by! Jeff has already gone on a business trip this year, and I've been back in school for a week! I was glad to get back to a normal schedule, although I enjoyed the holiday! We have spent a pretty lazy weekend here at the house, and I'm off in a minute to watch the season premier of 24! But, I wanted to show ya'll something. See what you notice in this photo of Jeff and I taken today!

January 1, 2007--Wow, that's the first time I've typed that out, 2007. Hard to believe we are 7 years into the new millinium! And of course, I'm starting off the new year playing catch-up. We were so busy with Jordan here over the holidays that I never got a moment to update my blog. It always seems that the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas is shorter than a month, and this year was especially busy for me with the school Christmas play, which was lots of fun, but also very busy. I will eventually try to post a few photos. But, for now, let's focus on Jordan's visit for Christmas! Shane and Kyle spent Christmas elsewhere, but I do have photos from Shane that I'll post. Kyle hasn't sent me anything yet, but I'm sure he will.

We had a great Christmas, Jordan got here a few days before, and helped me do some last minute shopping, and then we kept him busy hooking up every electronic device we could think of. I didn't feel like dragging out the big Christmas tree so Jeff and I found a cute little rosemary bush, trimmed in a Christmas tree shape and decorated that. In addition to being really pretty, and not taking up much space, it also smelled great!

We opened presents Christmas morning.......

and then the menfolk got to work on a spectacular Christmas dinner!
I'm lucky to have 2 really great culinary artists in the family!

YUM!

Jordan didn't get much beach time, as the weather was rainy and cold (for Florida) most of the time. However, we got one good beach day that we took advantage of. We thought this was a pretty artistic rendering of the jellyfish warnings. And yes, they were all over the beach, and yes, you do have to be careful!

Poor Jeff had to go back to work but Jordan and I had breakfast at the Shore and then went shopping on Atlantic Ave.

And this is just a reminder of why so many people flock to south Florida for the winter. Yes, we have these blooming even at Christmas time!

Shane and Rebecca sent a few Christmas pictures from their holiday in San Angelo with her family. Aren't they cute?

And of course George is cute too, but it looks to me like they're planning to pack him up to go home here. I wonder if he really fits in that suitecase??

Now, have a Happy 2007 and let us hear from you!