Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving with Family

Tim's Mom and Dad came down from Michigan to visit with us for the week. The photo below was taken at the Thanksgiving lunch at JT's school. I wasn't able to go to the lunch because I had to take my Mom to the doctor for a follow-up visit after she wore a heart monitor home for a 24 hour period. Apparently, her heart is beating too slow and dipped under 50 beats per minute for a solid 18 hours. They have decided a pacemaker is what she needs and that she should feel better once it is inserted. So, that is scheduled for next week, 12/3/08. Of course Mom is apprehensive about it, but that's understandable.
Wednesday night Tim took me out on a date while his parents stayed home with JT. We went and had a nice dinner at the Bonefish Grill . I had the Lobster Thermador and it was delicious. It had alot of butter in it though - perhaps a bit too buttery. Tim had some type of shrimp, spinach fettucine dish. I didn't taste it but he said it was better than mine. :) After eating we didn't really know what to do with ourselves since we're not used to going "out". So, I'm sad to say we ended up at Publix picking up a few last minute items for Thanksgiving dinner and then heading home. We were gone less than 2 hours. Sad, huh? JT snapped the photo below just before we went out.For Thanksgiving dinner, it was Tim, me and JT, my mom, my sister KD and her husband Bobby, KD's daughter Jenny and Tim's mom and dad. Jenny's boyfriend is a fireman and was on duty so we didn't get to see him.

The photo below is me with my sister KD and my Mom. Bobby took quite a few shots for us, but this was the only one that turned out. A little too much flash, but it's not a bad photo of the three of us.Below is a photo of KD and Jenny. I don't often get a chance to get a photo of them together so I thought I better take the opportunity. It was nice having Jenny come over and spend time with us. I don't get to see her very often anymore since she moved out to the country. She made a homemade pumpkin ginger snap cheesecake and it was delicious! (I think I'm ready for another piece right now just thinking about it!)

As usual, all the food was delicious! Tim tried Alton Brown's brine recipe for the turkey this year and it turned out really moist. I thought it was really good, but Tim was disappointed it didn't have more of the flavor of all the spices he used. I thought it was great and can't wait to have a turkey sandwich tomorrow! :) We also had ham, cornbread dressing, gravy, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower & cheese, creamed corn, white acre peas, cranberry salad and several pies. Of course, the amount of food was ridiculous as usual!

JT gave everyone a sheet of paper to write what they were Thanksful for. After dinner we sat around and JT (with the help of dad) read each one outloud. We did this last year and he apparently wanted to do it again, so he took it upon himself to initiate it.

Once everyone left, we settled in and watched a movie and JT snuggled on the couch with me. The photo below was taken while we were goofing off with the camera during commercials.
All in all, it was a really good day with family. Tim's parents leave in the morning to go back home to Michigan. Hopefully they won't hit as much snow going home as they did trying to get out. Of course, as usual, since they are leaving the temperature will be up in the 70's for the next few days after being cold since they've been here.

I hope you all had a very Happy & Blessed Thanksgiving!

Getting in the Christmas Mood Early...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

JT with his cousins Nathan and Cory.

Space Shuttle Endeavor Launch 11/14/2008

Today I heard the Space Shuttle was supposed to launch tonight. I have lived in Florida all my life and have never been to a launch. Before Tim met me, he had traveled down about 6 times to see a launch and each time they were cancelled.

So, I thought it would be nice to be spontaneous and just take off to watch the night launch. Tim and JT agreed and we were on our way. It's a 2 hour drive but traffic started backing up on I-95 when we got near Titusville, so it took a little longer. We grabbed a few subs at Subway and started looking for a place to park and watch the action.

We finally found a parking lot about 2-3 blocks away from the water. We walked a little way and saw some people gathering behind a condo building. We got extremely lucky and ended up at a place with a great view of the launch pad across the river!

It was exciting watching the shuttle launch and it was nice sharing this first together.

This video doesn't do the sights or sounds justice, but it's not too bad coming from my digital camera with no tripod.

Jaguar Chorus

JT stepped out this year and surprised us by joining the Jaguar Chorus at school. They had their first concert in honor of Veteran's Day. The kids did a great job singing quite a few patriotic songs and I was amazed at the talent of a few of the soloists. They not only sang Thursday evening for the parents and guests, but they performed 3 times on Monday for all the kids in the school.

Halloween

JT dressed up like a Ninja for Halloween. They had a party at the karate school that he went to that allowed us to go out on a date a few hours alone as well.








The people Tim works with decided to dress up again this year for Halloween. Tim ended up being a cowboy this year. Judging from all the photos, there were quite a few very imaginative costumes. There seems to be a theme going on as well. Take a look at all the photos here.

Food Rescue

Through one of the ladies at church, I recently got involved in an organization called Food Rescue. Basically, what they do is get donations of perfectly good food from restaurants and stores that would normally get thrown away. The volunteers pick up the food from the establishment and then deliver it to an organization that can use it. I've been picking up from a Panera bakery a couple of times a month and taking it to the Clara White mission downtown. It breaks my heart to see the homeless people sleeping in the parking lot where I go to deliver, not to mention all the ones just hanging around waiting for the help they receive from the mission.

It's amazing how much Panera throws out daily. Some days I pick up as many as 7-8 huge plastic bags full. We just got word that we're delivering more than Clara White can use, so the next time I deliver, I will be delivering to a new organization. I'm not doing much, but hopefully it's making a difference to at least one person.

Maybe you'd like to donate 90 minutes of your time once a month? Or perhaps you know of an establishment that throws out food that they could donate? Find out more about Food Rescue by visiting their website at http://www.foodrescue.net.

2008 Songahm Taekwondo Fall Nationals - Orlando, Florida

JT has been taking Karate classes for a little over a year now and is doing very well. It's very obvious his instructors are impressed with his progress and he gets called out quite a bit in classes to demonstrate moves and help out. Of course, he loves it! He goes to karate class at least 4 days a week. He would go every day if we let him. He is very passionate about the sport and works very hard to be the best he can be. We are very proud of him!

His instructors told us he was ready for competition and asked if we wanted to let him compete in the Nationals competition in Orlando. We decided that since he worked so hard, and he really wanted to do it that we would let him. So for a couple of months before the competition he worked really hard getting ready.

We went down on Friday and watched the black belts compete. Then on Saturday morning it was JT's turn to compete. He was very confident and didn't seem nervous at all. It was a good thing because I think Tim was nervous enough for all of us. He ended up competing in a ring with about 12 other boys his age/size. I had a few knots in my stomach as well! JT put on his game face and competed like a little champion! We honestly didn't really expect him to win anything, just walk away with experience and life lessons. He surprised us though!

He ended up with a Gold medal in Weapons... a Silver medal in Forms and a Bronze medal in Sparring! I think he even surprised himself! He had some really good competition and the wins weren't easy... he truly earned them.

Here are a few photos and a video:

After a spending a couple of days at the karate competitions, we decided to head to Universal Studios on Sunday and enjoy some fun family time before we headed home. We had figured it would be a great consolation if he didn't do well, or a great way to celebrate if he did.

Random Labor Day Video Clips

Labor Day on Ichetucknee River 2008

We had a great time Labor Day weekend with the Emerson's. They invited us to their house on the Ichetucknee so we went down Sunday morning and came home Monday night.

We packed alot of fun into those two days we spent there with them. Shannon said the river was much higher than usual due to tropical storm Faye. Because of that, we had the pleasure of seeing lots of Manatees come right up to their property where they swim. Once there were 8 manatees there at one time. The kids had fun swimming with them and taking photos with my camera underwater.

It took awhile, but JT finally got to touch one. I told him I've never swam with them, much less touched one before so he was pretty lucky.

JT had a few firsts this weekend besides swimming with the manatees. He drove a golf cart, swung off a rope swing into the river and jumped from a high platform into the river. You can tell from the photos he had a great time. I don't think the smile ever left his face.

Tim and I had a great time too! Thanks Shannon, Derek, Zach, Jacob, Josh and Mia for a fun and memorable weekend with friends! Also, thanks to Becky (Shannon's mom) for giving up her bedroom for us for the night!

JT Asks...

JT is selling Entertainment '09 Coupon Books

We use ours all the time and have saved a lot of money between the restaurants and movie passes we've used.

If you like to go to the Alhambra, they have a buy one get one coupon that will save you up to $42!

Check out the discounts included at:
http://www.entertainment.com

Then let me know if you would like to purchase one. $20 for the Jacksonville edition if purchased from JT direct.

They make great gifts too! If you'd like a city other than Jacksonville, you can buy them online.

You can also visit http://www.entertainment.com/email to purchase an Entertainment Coupon book. Be sure to enter my Seller Number, 269183, so my group gets credit.

Thank you!

God & Country

JT recently earned his God & Family Religious Emblem. This is the 2nd of 5 religious emblems he can earn while in the Scouts program. In order to earn each of the emblems, he has to complete a multiple week course of study which includes a workbook that he completes. His counselor checks it and then our Pastor reviews it and signs it.

While a Cub Scout he earned the God & Me emblem. Now, as a Webelo, he earned the God & Family emblem. He will have the opportunity to earn the God & Church, God & Life and God & Service emblems as he progresses further into his Scouting experience.

These medals are to be worn for dress only and are medals that can carry through with him as he progresses into adulthood. This is one recognition Tim never had the opportunity to achieve as a Scout.

We are proud of JT's accomplishments so far and hope he continues on the Scouting path he's on and becomes an Eagle Scout like his father. We also hope that the God & Country curriculum also helps build his faith and his walk with God as he matures into a young adult.

Tropical Storm Fay Update

We've been cooped up in the house for 3 days and we definitely have cabin fever. The rain has been relentless for the past few days and comes in waves along with the bands of the storm. You can see a band of the storm coming in over the ocean in the photo to the right. (I didn't take the photo, but wanted to show you want the bands look like.)

During one of the breaks in the rain today, we got in the truck and took a ride just to get out of the house and see how things looked outside. Plus, we were in need of a chocolate fix! There's something about being stuck in the house during a storm that makes us eat way too much... it seems like that's all we are doing. We'll probably each gain 5 lbs before this storm is over! (We did stop at the grocery store and pick up some cookies)

This storm track photo shows that the storm has already passed us by quite a bit. What it doesn't show is that all the bad stuff is to the East of the storm (where we are) and so we have been getting pounded with rain for the past couple of days while Fay just stalled over us. We had one tornado scare, but fortunately it was about 10 miles south of us and didn't come where we are.

Tim has been out of work for 2 days. JT has been out of school for 3 days and I have been having to share the house I'm used to having to myself with the two of them. Poor JT has already used up 3 of his allotted "weather days" so it looks like the holiday weekends will be shorter for him now.

During another break in the rains today JT and I went out so he could play in the puddles and do some skimboarding. He's not had alot of experience with it so he's just learning. He had a couple of good rides though. I was worried he was going to hurt himself and have to miss Karate graduation tonight. Unfortunately for him, that apparently was cancelled tonight. He's due to get his brown belt so he's pretty excited about getting it. He'll have to wait though. Unfortunately for Tim and me, this was also supposed to be a parent's night out and we were supposed to go on date. Hopefully they'll reschedule that too.

It looks like we'll have a couple of more days of rain, but other than that, it shouldn't be too bad.

You can view the rest of the photos we took today at
http://picasaweb.google.com/rtungett/TropicalStormFay

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We're looking forward to seeing the sun again... maybe Monday.

Tropical Storm "Fickle" Fay

For those out of town keeping up with us, here's the latest forecast for the weather here.

Wind: 35-45 mph; gusts to 55 mph; 1'-3' tide rise, bands of occasional heavy rain mostly Wednesday, becoming heavier and steady Thursday. Isolated tornadoes possible Thursday night; potentially 6-10 inches of rain.

School has been closed for the past two days and will be closed again tomorrow. Tuesday was really a wasted day off since we just had a bit of rain. Today hasn't been so bad yet here.... the wind is just starting to gust outside, but it has been raining all day.

Tim got a call this morning from his boss saying his work campus was closed, so fortunately she caught him before he left for work. Too bad she didn't catch him before he got out of bed and showered.

So, here the 3 of us sit.... still in our PJ's, watching TV, reading, playing video games... whatever. The lights have flickered on and off a couple of times, but so far we've had no outage to speak of. I'm sure that will change as the storm moves in more and the big bands of rain hit us. We are in an area that has a lot of trees and trees are always falling causing damage to homes and power outages. I just pray we get no trees falling in our yard. There are a couple in the back yard that make me nervous.

Another transformer just blew down the street - lights flickered. I better post this before I lose my connection totally.

First Day of 5th Grade

It looks like my "baby" is growing up. This year is his last year of Elementary school. I look at him in awe at how much he's grown and what a wonderful young man he's becoming. Although some times he can make me crazy, he is my heart and he makes me so proud! He's got this quirky personality that makes him JT. He's funny, he's caring and compassionate, he's smart and he's so full of energy and wonder. He's stubborn and he doesn't back down easily, he questions "why" and he has no problem challenging anyone and telling them when they are wrong. He has an excellent memory - except for when it comes to school - and he loves to learn, on his terms. He's a great prayer and I believe he's got a special connection with God. He never ceases to amaze me with his thoughts about God or how he pieces together things of faith.

He is truly a wonderful blessing and I am so blessed by God to have him in my life. Yes, WE (Tim and I) are blessed, but I am the one writing this! :) We've had him in our life for 7 years. Time certainly flies.

In a mere 5 years, he'll be behind the wheel of my car learning to drive. He'll be kissing a girl for the first time in just a few years. He already wants to ask a girl out on a date - but he has at least 5 more years before that's gonna happen. In 8 years he'll be heading to college. 8 years isn't far enough away!

Where is that little 3 year old who used to actually fit in my lap?!

We had a bit of a scare this morning...

We had a bit of a scare this morning. We were sound asleep and heard a noise around 6:15 am. It sounded like popcorn popping to me. Balto, our biggest dog and the only one who barks at noises, barked and Tim jumped out of bed thinking someone was breaking into the house.

I laid in bed listening to see if there was a reason for me to get up and then I just heard Tim making these little strange sighing noises. So, then I jumped out of bed and ran out and found Tim on the floor with Kobe, the dog we got a few months ago. Kobe was frothing at the mouth, he had lost control of his bowels, and his legs were thrashing about. His heart was beating wildly and he was burning up. We didn't know what was going on. He's always getting into something so we were worried he had gotten into something bad. Whatever it was, it looked bad and we thought he was going to die.

The "popcorn" noise I heard was his paws smacking up against a plastic laundry basket he was lying next to. We had no idea how long he had been like this since we had been asleep, but at this point we knew it had been several minutes so Tim scooped him up and headed to the Emergency Vet. It was a little too reminiscent of the morning we had to take Winter to the vet early one morning and have her put down.

I called the vet and let them know he was on his way and I woke up JT and we got dressed and headed to the vet too. I was sure we were going to tell Kobe goodbye. Half way there Tim called and said that Kobe had snapped out of it halfway to the vet's office. By the time I got to the Vet's office, Kobe was pacing the floor but clearly a bit out of it.

After consulting with the doctor, it was decided that he had some sort of seizure. To our knowledge, he had never had one before, but we've only had him less than 4 months. The vet checked him over and everything seemed normal. We were told to take him home and keep a record of any seizures he has and how long they last. He said he could start having them regularly or he may never have another one. If he starts to have them regularly, then he'll look at giving him meds. To be honest, I hope we never have to experience him having another seizure.

He's been pretty tired today as we would expect after such an expenditure of energy during he seizure but he's been "okay". He seems back to normal now after spending some time a little out of it.

We are just thankful that he's okay because we really thought he wouldn't be coming home with us.

Hair Play

JT's Bedroom Remodel

JT went away to summer camp for a week and while he was gone, Tim and I remodeled his bedroom for him. We've been talking about doing it for some time now and decided that this would be a great time to get it done and surprise him. His room was decorated as a Spider Man room about 5 years ago and now that he's a self-professed "pre-teen" it was time to give him a more mature theme. Since he's crazy about Karate he had expressed an interest in that as a theme, so we kept that in mind as we remodeled.

The reason I video taped the reveal was because Tim wasn't home when JT returned from summer camp and wouldn't be able to enjoy JT's reaction. So, I set up the video camera real quick while I sent JT to check the mail. He was totally surprised by the change and judging from the smile on his face, I believe he truly loved it.



Now, time to move on to another room in the house...

Visiting Family

After church today, Mom, Karen, Shelly, me and JT squeezed in Aunt KD's small car (it was actually pretty spacious in the back seat surprisingly) to go visit our cousin Debbie who only lives about 10 miles down the street from me. We were inseparable for a few years when we were kids. I always have a great time when we visit, and I don't know why we don't get together more often. (I always say that after we get together and I always mean it.... we just don't make the effort)

Here's a rare glimpse of me in a bathing suit in a pool. This doesn't happen often, and there's not much that can get me into a bathing suit, but.... JT needed someone to play with and he's definitely worth it!

Here's Shelly, the sister who has always tanned easily while I always struggled and burned. She is in town visiting from Tennessee. Her first trip 'home' without children in about 23 years I believe.

Here's my biggest sister KD (Karen is what I call her), just relaxing after already having her dip in the pool.

Here's a nice photo of Mom. She usually makes faces or tries too hard to pose when a camera is aimed her way. This time she just grinned a little and let Karen snap a photo of her.

This is my 'cuz' Debbie and her daughter Victoria. We had a great time visiting them today... catching up on what's been going on in everyone's lives, swimming in the pool, and of course, enjoying a wonderful turkey & dressing dinner she put together for us just because she wanted to and she's always been a great Hostess. Thanks Debbie for a wonderful day!

JT & Dad Build a Karate Belt Display

JT and his dad have been working for the past couple of weeks on a belt rack for JT to keep his karate belts on as he earns his new belts. Tim came up with a design and he and JT went to Lowe's and bought all the materials they would need to get busy. Other than just a couple of cuts on some thin pegboard, Tim supervised and JT did all of the work himself. They had a great time working on it together and were excited to show it to me at each stage of progress.

My only contribution was printing out some ATA logos for JT to put on and then helping to search for the right letters to use for his name.

JT should be very proud of himself. He did the cutting, the sanding, the glueing, the nailing, the screwing, the painting, the staining... he did it all! I think this was also a great memory making time for JT since he'll have the belt rack hanging for years to come.

He has been so antsy to show his karate instructors and fellow students so he'll get to do that tomorrow when he goes to class. This morning, he couldn't wait to show Aunt KD, Uncle Bobby & Nana, so he carried it with us to church and then ended up taking it out and showing it to them while we were in the Famous Amos parking lot. (See photo below)

He saw one of the students from Karate America in the restaurant so he took it in to show it to him. He got lots of attention on his way in and his way out and stopped by a couple of people asking him about it. He was all smiles!

I'll have to take a couple of good photos of it once we get it hung on the wall and post them here. They made sure they put a shelf at the top so it can hold the trophy(s) he's sure to win one day!

Happy Birthday America!

It was a pretty quiet day around here this Fourth of July. We were invited to a friend's house from church for a cookout. Besides us, there were quite a few other couples from church & Emmaus, including KD & Bobby. JT had a couple of teenagers to play with in the pool, so he had a good time. It was nice spending time with people from church and getting to know them better.

When we got home Tim and I just wanted to relax and watch TV. JT really wanted to go to the fireworks downtown so at the last minute we decided to head out. We left the house 20 minutes before the show was supposed to start. I didn't think JT was going to be able to stay awake long enough to get there.

Fortunately, we were able to park at Fidelity where Tim works. By the time we got there, carried our chairs out on the lawn and sat down, it was 9:45 pm and the fireworks started. Less than 15 minutes later they were over and we packed up and left. Since I'm used to going way early to find a place to park and a place to sit, being there just 15 minutes felt like it just wasn't worth the trip. I should have just been thankful to have a place to park and not have to hang out too long. JT barely sat down in the truck and fell asleep immediately.

I was glad we went though. I have memories of fireworks from when I was a kid and I don't want JT not to get to experience them enough to have good memories.

JT's Summer Activities

With JT being on Summer break, I've been trying to keep him busy so he doesn't get too bored and doesn't spend too much time watching TV.

So, for the week of June 9 - 13th, he spent the mornings at Karate Camp learning about pressure points and self defense. Since he spent 15 hours training during the week, he earned an extra belt advancement, which brought him up to a Purple belt. Below is a video of him showing some of his new self defense moves on the 13th during testing.

The following week, June 16 - 20th, JT went to "Power Lab" Vacation Bible School at our church. (He also decided this week that he wanted to get a buzz cut. So, that's him with no hair in the bottom left corner of the following photo. He quickly decided he really didn't like it so I don't think he'll be asking for a buzz cut again anytime soon!) He had a great time at VBS as usual.

The following Friday, June 20th, was normal graduation time for Karate and he had earned moving up a belt. Since he received his Purple belt already, he tested for his Blue belt. Needless to say, he's pretty excited about being a Blue belt already. Below is a photo of him during testing just before he broke the board. You can tell from his face he is very serious!

The following week, June 23 - 27th, JT went to "Rainforest Adventure" Vacation Bible School at the Presbyterian church where his friends Joseph, James & Jacob go to church. This is his 3rd year going to VBS there and he loves it there too. Plus, I get 15 hours of childcare for $18!

Today, the Cub Scouts went to the IMAX theater at World Golf Village to watch the documentary on Antarctica. Then afterward, they went to a nearby park and cooked out and had some fun. I wasn't able to go because I had an Emmaus team meeting all day getting ready for the July walk.

Now that June is over, it's time to start looking at what's happening in July. So far he has Music Camp at church for one week and sleep away camp in Leesburg, Florida for one week. Stay tuned for more!

Madyson's Motorcycle Run

Tim went on his first charity ride today after hearing about it from some friends from church.

(That's Tim in the foreground)

The ride was held to benefit Madyson Darner, a 9 year old little girl who on March 5, 2008 was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Her tumor is inoperable and an 18 month course of chemotherapy is the only option.

You can view a slideshow video her father put together of the ride activities here.

Madyson and her family could use your prayers.