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.