The little guy ....

Our guys are just growing up toooooo fast!! I hear Tyler reading and it seems like just yesterday Sandi spent hours and hours reading to him. Kamen came in to ask me how many sides were in a polygon yesterday ... RJ just told me that he's coming tomorrow morning and I can't sleep until he gets here -- well, he sort of changed that by saying, 'I'll see you in the morning." And today, I saw the littlest guy, Rudy, who has taken up the art of climbing at 10-1/2 months old. I was quite intrigued that he had figured out that if you get up on something, you must figure out a way to get down!

What was even more intriguing was that he decided that I was the "favorite person of the day" today and didn't want sisters, Regan and Bailey, to take him from me. He protested vehemently. I was even more surprised when he decided that he preferred Nana to Mommy (although I knew that would be very temporary but it did my spirit good!) Teri bribed him with, "Let's go swing!" Since I don't get to see him very often, I was rather surprised with his attachment yet happy to know that I have grandchildren who love me as much as I love them.

Imagine my surprise that my 9 year old granddaughter 'just loved' my shoes!!

Rock Band???

Since I've spent some time at my brother's home recently, I have learned to appreciate (or not to appreciate) Rock Band ... between the guitar 'hero' and 'rock band' with the set of drums, it can get quite interesting and perhaps a little noisy! The house has been known to shake a little -- and they have a big house! My brother decided to get in the "mix" one evening so I grabbed my camera since I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get him out of his comfort zone. I actually got two videos and had to decide which one -- the musical "talent" might have been slighly better in the other video ... then again! Interestingly enough, Tim has a very good voice!!

By the way, Rachel's daughters, Jene' and Shara', spent Saturday night with Tim, Susan and the boys and visited their church on Sunday morning -- I think they were quite happy to hear Mark Hall (Casting Crowns) who leads the worship in the 11am service where Tim and Susan attend. (Mark is also the youth pastor for their son, Michael.)

Okay, I'm going to try to upload this video ... enjoy .. or not!

Attn: William: Hey, look ... I cropped the photo!!

Okay, William -- I cropped the photo!! He told me I definitely had to crop the photo so it wouldn't show his office -- but, hey, if he had a completely clean office I would think he wasn't busy! That's not to say it was that bad -- but I think I will stop while I am ahead.

By the way, Teri emailed me tonight that our youngest grandchild, Rudy, took his first step today!! He can't be that old yet!!

Walking old roads ... or new roads!!!

Roxanne and I drove by our old house this week -- on a relatively new road. Well, relatively meaning that the road wasn't there when we lived in that house. We loved the fact that we had a back yard that was basically woods. Now, Jake Alexander Blvd (a four lane road) runs right behind the house. Fortunately, the people who bought the house planted a whole row of trees so the house can't be seen fully from the road.

I had to have our friend, Ed Arthur, draw a map of how to get to another friend's home since you can't get there from here now!! It seems like just yesterday we moved -- but, Kasi wasn't even a year old and she is now over 17 years old. Roxanne was quite pleased with herself. People who didn't know her were sure that she was just in her 20's so her head swelled quite large -- no wonder she told me she had a headache yesterday! That must have been the reason!!

We dropped Ed (well, drove him by and let him get out) off at Jerry's Texaco in Salisbury on our way to the Salty Caper. I reminisced for a moment and remembered my first encounter with "Jerry". (Jerry's Texaco is just down the street from our first home in Salsibury). I had stopped to get gas then went on to the mall. Imagine my surprise when I got out of my car at the mall to see Jerry staring at me -- glowering!! "You did NOT pay for your gas!!!" I was mortified! We had just moved to town, lived down the street from a gas station which we would frequent for fuel and for car repairs and I had forgotten to pay for the gas!!! Needless to say, that became a private joke for us over the next couple years! You would think I would get it right ... I decided to get gas while Ed was picking up his car. I pulled up and thought I had seen that the gas price was $3.21 (which for there was quite good.) It didn't ... it clearly stated $3.69 for regular. Okay, we have a problem. Something isn't quite right .... "Uh, are you needing 'full service'?" I heard a voice ask -- a guy was standing in front of me looking at me like, "Can't you read the sign? It says 'Full Service'!!" By the time I had figured that out, Ed had paid for his vehicle repair and was headed out to the Salty Caper and I had to be sure to follow him since I can't remember anything about how to get anywhere in a town I should have known well! Oh, well ... so, we waited to get gas until later and that time, I actually got it right.

Back to Ed and to Roxanne -- put the two of them together and laughter isn't just there -- it's really LOUD!! I was trying to work on some income tax returns (clients) and the two of them were watching a video in Ed's office of 911 calls -- among other crazy 'funny' videos. About the time they would quiet down for a moment, I heard it start up again! Neither one can control their laughter for long -- so it became quite entertaining .. for the most part! I later saw what they had been watching -- and yes, it was quite funny!!!

I did get Ed back -- he drove Roxanne and me to lunch at Casa Grande where we were to meet Terri Russell and William Brown. He was driving quite fast (okay, a little erratically) so I thought that I should share that information and yelled it out the window at some people standing in a parking lot. I'm not sure if they even cared but Ed was a little mortified and I was quite satisfied!!

Enough for now ... as we drive down I-75 towards home! We missed the storms in NC/SC/GA last night -- a little rain but that was about all ... we were blessed!!

By the way, here are a couple photos of kids of friends -- Cameron Brown, son of William and Tammy Brown (I knew Tammy's mom as a 10 year old - we were childhood friends. William graduated from high school with our daughter, Sandi.) Cameron wasn't too sure he wanted his picture taken. And Stephen Arthur -- whom we've known since he was about 2 and he's 23 now -- he works at the Salty Caper and treated us to a Hawaiian pizza -- try it, you'll like it! Oh, and Ed Arthur -- a great friend. We always enjoy being with him and his wife, Brenda. She manages the Super 8 Hotel in Salisbury and always keeps us amused with her updated hotel saga ...

Enough rambling for now!!