d is for dance party

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My sister Katharine is in college...and just recently decided to pursue a degree in Education. Something that I could not be more thrilled about.
So, since she got out for summer break a few days before we did, I decided to give her a little taste of what one can really do with a hard earned degree in Early Childhood Education. I think I'm doing some sort of hillbilly move in this next picture... Dancing is serious business in my class.Good times were had by all. As usual.I'm pretty sure she left feeling the weightiness of her decision.

paci's are not forever. or ARE they?

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This guy loves some paci's.
A lot.

And the closer he gets to 3, the more worrisome his love becomes to me.
Because I know something that he doesn't know.
I know that the Day of Reckoning is coming.
The Day of Doom.
The Day of No. More. Pacifiers.

How am I going to get up the nerve to separate him from his one, true love?
I may just break his sweet little heart right in two.

It's been weighing heavily on David's mind too.

The other day when we took the kids to the Library, I ran across this book.

It was like a sign.
And I actually found myself entertaining the totally delusional thought that this book could be the key to ending my 2 year old's serious paci addiction.
I just knew that the words of the book would speak to him so clearly that he would have no choice but to get rid of his paci forever.

Looking at David, (and feeling quite proud of my lucky little find) I said, "Hey, Daddy - let's read this one."
I could be wrong, but I thought I sensed in David's eyes a little glimmer of hope too.
The story/crucial life lesson started out really well.
Charlie was super engaged.
He happily and eagerly pointed to the pacifier on each page we read.
Then, we got to the good stuff...
Here's how it went:


me (reading): ...Goodbye paci. Let's throw our paci in the trash-y.

Charlie (looks at me in utter disbelief, like I had just read the silliest book known to man): Noooo... we don't throw our paci's in the trash-y.

Then he promptly walked off.

Clearly, this is going to be more difficult than I'd hoped.

breaking the new house in.

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There's only one word to describe the following photo:
Charlie.
And today, after I walked in the kitchen and surveyed his latest handiwork, I said that word more like...
CHAR-LIEE!!!!

Immediately I started cleaning up the millions of tiny glass shards on the back porch. And as I emptied the dust pan into the trash, this is what I found:
It's a 3 lb. weight.
In my trashcan.

It didn't take too long for me to put 2 and 2 together.
Broken glass...heavy banging instrument thrown into the trashcan...
I know. Just call me Matlock.

After some questioning, he totally fessed up.
Readily fessed up.
Shamelessly fessed up.
And dare I say proudly fessed up?

Awesome.
Thank goodness he's cute.

avery's 5th birthday

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On September 14, Avery turned 5.
In the Magic Kingdom.
To celebrate, we treated her to breakfast with Cinderella and the Princesses in the Magic Kingdom.

Avery was so excited to be dining with the Princesses in the castle.
Charlie was excited about breakfast.
But was not so excited about waiting for it.
The Princesses came out one by one, and each one greeted us at our table - taking time to give Avery a hug, and pose for a picture or two.
Sometime during breakfast, the waiter brought Avery a special treat - her own lighted cupcake.
When Ariel saw her cupcake, she said, "Cupcakes for breakfast? Oh man... all I had this morning was seaweed!"

Charlie greeted every princess with the same look... which made me giggle. The Ladies make my brave little man a shy quiet guy.
Who knew?
Belle was one of our favorites. When Charlie asked her where the Beast was, she answered by saying, "The Beast went on a beastly run this morning... and he is taking a bath."
At the end of Breakfast, Avery made a special wish with her wishing star and magic wand.
Ariel helped her close her eyes to make her birthday wish...


And... Charlie got... a sword. A sword.
Giving Charlie a large object that is designed to be used as a weapon can only lead to certain disaster.
And multiple injuries requiring swift medical assistance.
They may need to reconsider that idea.
And my Charlie may be the reason for that.
It was such a fun experience for the family.
But my favorite Princess was definitely our sweet little 5 year old princess.

Charlie's Superhero Party

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Charlie turned three on November 21.
He is unbelievably obsessed with superheros and "bad guys", so it seemed only fitting that he have a superhero themed party for him.





For this party, I decided to make the cake from scratch. Which, as it turns out, is a pretty nerve-racking decision since the only way to know if it's good or not is to serve it to everyone.
At the party.

Thankfully, Al Gore invented the internet.
And the Food Network invented Ina Garten.
And Ina Garten invented a seriously amazing chocolate cake recipe.
And included a handy video to watch while you make her amazing chocolate cake.

Bless you, Barefoot Contessa. You and your fancy scmancy parties, smugly overpriced ingredients, and fantastically intricate recipes are a-okay with me.
And - Charlie.

We rented a giant bounce house for the day which arrived at 9 or so that morning.
Charlie and Avery probably bounced in it for 7 of the 8 hours it was at our house.
The energy they have astounds me.
I bounced in it for 15 minutes and had jello legs the rest of the night.
Which either means that bouncing in a bounce house is hard, or I am seriously out of shape.
I can't be sure which...

Happily, a few months ago, I discovered that my brother Joseph is a close, personal friend of Spiderman.
Charlie insisted that he be invited to his party and talked about how "Piderman" was coming to his "bewrfday pawty" for weeks and weeks.

The next picture is what he did when he saw "Piderman" come around the corner:

 After greeting him, we sprayed him down with Spidey Spray.
 And Charlie opened his present from Spiderman.

Everyone loved Spiderman, but none more than our little friend Spencer.
She asked him to hold her hand and take a picture with him.
Then she sang him the Spiderman theme song.
I think it's safe to say that Spiderman's heart melted just a bit.
 My Boy is Three. And announced to me the other day that he is no longer my baby, but a Big Boy.Sorry, Kiddo. You may be a Big Boy, but you'll always be my baby. *** Special thanks to my friend Spiderman for donning what he called a "grownup onesie" in public. I owe you one. Or two...

Settled in at Citrus Ridge

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After a strike out day at the Daytona Beach Flea Market, I began my journey to my winter home, Citrus Ridge in Davenport, FL.  It was a great drive down and when I hit downtown Orlando on I 4 I just knew I would run into traffic but it was not to be, everyone must have been shopping.  I just breezed through to my exit.

I got here and Liz came down to give me a hug.  She said she wouldn't get in my way just wanted to welcome me and Sedona back.  Next Mel came by and helped me get backed in and set up and to welcome me back.  Wow, it sure felt good to be back.

I love my site.  It's right on the water and though I won't be here as long as I originally thought, it will be a great place to just chill, have fun and visit friends.  I've decided not to pursue working at Disney this year.  There has been too much going on and I just want to have fun.

My welcoming committee

There's plenty of room for the Whim.

Here's my new Buffet addition, looks like a perfect location.

Added Santa hats to the mirrors on the Whim.

Here's a pair of Sand Hill Cranes, I understand there are 3 couples this year.

View from my patio

Buffet and the flamingos wonder if this is a relative.

The Whim from the road.

A night scene-fountain gets turned off at 9:39 p.m.

I'll tell you a little funny on myself...see the nativity scene in color?  First day here I looked across the lake and saw all these "people" and thought they were having a meeting.  Then I saw a couple of men walking around the gazebo and they left.  The other folks were still there and I just thought it's a long meeting.  I rode my bicycle over there and guess what???  Yep, not people, it was the nativity scene.  OMG, how crazy is that, so much for a meeting.  It's okay, you can laugh at me, I did.

I'm beginning to get used to the Whim.  I'm thinking I should probably have gone to 24' instead of 21' but jury is still out.  I love driving it and when I came from Jonathan's to Davenport I got like 16.4 mpg so the more I drive the better I get and yes, that's towing.

I hear it's snowing in Crossville TN so yes, I'm glad I'm here even though its windy and getting a little cooler.  No complaints here.

I found a dermatologist locally that I can get in to see on Thursday.  I sure hope I can finally get some relief from this itchy rash but most importantly what it is and why it has lasted since middle of September.

Donna (Squawmama) I now stay at my son's house in his driveway, however 1st year out I stayed at A Big Wheel Park in St Mary's and was very pleased.  Liked the location and the owners were very good.  Across the street from Crooked River State Park.

Later...

Chili Party at the Lakeside Resort

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Margie and I decided to throw a party at my place which I have dubbed the Lakeside Resort.  That is what I put on the invitation and people got very confused as to where this place was and they didn't want to go outside the park, etc.  So when we told them where it was I got the number incorrect on the invite and sent guest on the other side of the lake to 364, thankfully those people are gone for a couple weeks and weren't home.  Alas, people began arriving and fun ensued.

Roger fixed the chili, which was delish.  Everybody brought a contribution to chili, their chairs and own drinks so there wasn't much else left.  I believe a good time was had by all.

The Lemon Drop Express made an appearance and the guys seemed to enjoy her.  Only thing is I need to get a back up battery sometime for her.  The range of travel for her is great as the pond is a perfect place to drive her around.   Someone suggested I get a little sled to put behind the boat & put Sedona on it and ride her around.  Don't think that would work though.  Sounds fun!

It was nice to see old friends again and to meet new ones.  I believe we will have another one in January at Margie & Roger's new place.

The flamingo and parrot say "Welcome Friends!"

Collette is brave enough to start the line.

It just took one to do it, yummy!

Mel seems to have made a friend.  Sedona wants some chili too.

Golf Cart junction.

Roger is checking everything out.

Sun's goin down. Hazel, Don, Dave and Patti have a front row seat.

A  visitor drops in

Vern and Denise with her light up glass!  What a great smile!

L-R Eldon, Roger, Louie, Don, Jean, Tina

Jean and Tina

Don from Ohio is putting away the last of the wine.

Patti is telling what a wonderful time she is having and Dave looks ready to go.

Roger is the puppet master.

Margie has gone to the birds.

I think the parrot is saying "it's time to go home, honey!"

We had a great evening with Jimmy playing on the computer, a little reggae and the Village People serenading us through the night.

Later...