Randy goes to Washington

This past weekend Randy flew to Washington State to visit his mom.    She is in a nice home and well cared for by the staff that lives on site.   While Randy was visiting he rearranged her bedroom furniture so that she could see guests sitting in her chair and also placed her nice chair so it had a view out the window (I think that is Puget Sound?)

There are about five seniors living in the home and they share the living room space and eat together at the table.   The owner live on site in the upper floor of the house.    Randy was able to eat dinner with them two evenings and said the food was great!   One night was salmon with a dessert of ice cream or other turnover options.

Joyce reported to Randy that her wheel chair is comfortable.   She can stand and walk a little bit with the assistance of her walking cane.

Another angle of the living room.   It must have been the sunny moment on a very wet weekend!   From the windows is a view of Puget Sound.

Joyce's dresser is decorated with photos of the grand children.   Above the dresser is a painting from home.

Alias names

My toy informant today informed me that Cheese Frank's movie star name is Bull's Eye and Dino Mite's stage name is Rex.   They starred in the movie TOY STORY.   I guess work is hard for them now as they ended up in the school prize box.

Practice makes "Awesome"

After breakfast before getting dressed is the perfect time to practice handwriting.   Sabrina's teacher sent home a laminated sheet which has Sabrina's name in dotted lines on it.   With a dry erase marker, Sabrina can practice writing her name by tracing the letters.

Her hard work paid off when she wrote her name without the tracing paper on some school work.  

She was very proud of her work today and liked the cat on this page.   She will tell you that cat starts with the letter "c" and it has the "ck" sound.   Other work that came home today included a picture story that had an apple in four stages of being eaten.   The kids had to cut and then glue the four squares in sequence.    Soon, we expect, the words will be coming home in sequence.   Watch out!   Once she can write her letters and form words, I am sure the stories will be flowing about Dino Mite and Cheese Frank!

The Second Project

About a month ago, we were contacted by a friend of Gramma Joyce who was making a friendship quilt.   We were asked to make some squares for the quilt, which we did and mailed.   Unfortunately, after three weeks of being in the "mail", they were declared MIA.   They still have not shown up.   However, the friend made substitute squares so we would be represented in the quilt.   Thank you, Jan!

This weekend the family project was to make a pillow for Gramma Joyce which Randy will hand deliver later this week.   It has the same pattern and material as the first set of squares.

Crazy names

This morning I was informed that Dino Mite's pony's name is "Cheese Frank".   We are not sure where the name originated but we think it is crazy.  

Goodie Box Success

The few weeks have ended with a successful visit to the "goodie box" at school.   Sabrina found a dinosaur which she calls "Dino" last name "Mite".   Yesterday, to her delight, she found a horse.   The two toys are inseparable and have been the topic of Sabrina' new found desire to take pictures.  

We were working on a project and Dino and Horsy had to "eat" the pansies.

While Mom is not watching, the camera had to take a photo of the sewing machine.   

Update on Sabrina' quick thinking skills.   Yesterday on the way home from picking up Randy from work she announced she had to go potty.   The next thing she told us was that the yogurt shop had a bathroom in it!   Oh!  I think we are going to have to drink lots of coffee the next few years so we can keep up with her brain!

Curious George, the traffic director

The last few days, the "little monkey" traits have been rising up in our daughter.   She is becoming a big girl with no limitations!   Not even the height of the top of the fridge or the upper cabinets!   She gets tired after asking for something for an adult to get it for her so she just climbs up and retrieves whatever it is.   Yesterday, I was in the back changing and when I reappeared into the kitchen/ living room area there was Sabrina eating Cheerios in a coffee mug with yogurt on them!   The Cheerio box lives on top of the fridge.  The coffee mug is in the top cabinet and the yogurt stays in the fridge.   I wasn't gone long but the little monkey did some climbing to achieve her goal of a delicious snack!   (note:  she has monkey climbing genes on both sides of the family.   Her Uncle John used to climb up and sit on the refrigerator and eat bananas.   Her father has some scary almost to the roof climbing stories and to this day can hardly pass a good oak tree without climbing it.)

This morning I noted she was directing me to stay and go like she was a traffic directing police man.    Maybe that is a career she is pondering at this time in life.   She is great in telling people what she wants them to do.   Leadership skills?  

"Yellow is the first sound in Y"

The last few weeks have been very educational for us in the Carver household.   We have learned how to count:  "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,15,17,19,20!"   and we have been learning the sounds letters make.   Most of these sounds have been in the front of the words however the telling of us the initial sound has been a little backwards.   The word is the first sound in the letter such as "Book is the first sound in B."  

My favorite is "Yellow is the first sound in Y".   However, Sabrina pronounces yellow as "lellow"!   It makes for some big smiles in our household..

The author this week appears to be an oldie but a goodie:  Robert McCloskey.   BLUEBERRIES FOR SAL must be on Sabrina's all time favorite list.   This week we discovered ONE MORNING IN MAINE  which has Sal's famiily in it.   Of course, Randy's favorite MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS is also by McCloskey.   Randy even tracked to course of the ducks using Google Maps.   We will have to see if the other books have maps that can be traced!

Jekyl Island- Sea Turtle Refuge

Saturday we spent a family day on Jekyl Island.   Before going to the beach, we went to the Sea Turtle Refuge.   It is here where injured or sick sea turtles are rehabilitated and then released in the wild or sent to other facilities if they are assessed to not to survive in the wild.  

The hospital part had large tanks with different species of Georgian Sea Turtles.   Many were loggerheads that had propeller injuries to their shells or were suffering from an attack of algae or other water contamination.

The green turtles were named because they eat many plants and their body parts actually turn a shade of green.

The mobile inside the education center gives an idea or the different bodies of the turtles.   A loggerhead turtle can reach the size of a small car and weigh a couple thousand pounds.

Sabrina's favorite activity is running and rolling in the sand on the beach.

For lunch we ate at a beach side restaurant named Fins.   Sabrina's cheese sandwich was served on a purple frisbee which she was allowed to take.   She found it to be fun to throw but also used it to carry sand and water on the beach.

Wave hopping with Daddy!

Making mud pies.   We were thinking it would be funny if Bobby Flay from the cooking channel showed up to challenge Sabrina to a "mud pie throwdown".   Must be a sign we watch too much of the cooking channel.

Mud pie in the frisbee.   We had to leave abruptly when a thunder storm moved in rather swiftly.

Exhaustion!   George the giraffe makes a great head prop in the car!

My job was to make sure everyone stayed awake who needed to.

The water in the lowlands really provided a great scenery when the sun was setting.   The grasses and water reflections were wonderful.

Insightful comments

In the car on the way home from pre-school:

Sabrina:   "Please let's go to a park and frozen yogurt."
Randy:   "We are going to have lunch at home and then go downtown."
Sabrina:   "Don't you have the cards?"
Randy and Julie wondering what cards she is talking about.
Sabrina:   "Don't you have the red card?"   (referring to the debit card.)
Randy and Julie smile as we realize she has figured out how to take an excuse away from us.

Songs from the back seat

On the way to pre-school today, I (Julie) was given a shower of singing from the back seat of the car.   The little vocalist was singing about every day lyrics to a tune of something between Old McDonald Had a Farm, Itsy Bitsy Spider and Jesus Loves Me.   The words ran together and tune changes with the change in thought.


Here are some of the words:

"School, School, School.... I must go to school and play."

"Kitty, Kitty, Kitty Cat!   Mom won't let you in the house.  Meow."

"Put your shoes on your feet...I am wearing rainbow sandals...no laces!"

"Itsy Bitsy Spider is in my hair!"

"Be Safe and wear your seat belt.   La.  La. La."

Nothing like a little voice singing goofy lyrics to bring a smile for the day!

A "run" for her money

Yesterday, I was greeted not only by a pale teacher but the director of the school.   Apparently, Sabrina gave teachers the slip yesterday after using the bathroom.    The first time, she left after using the bathroom and went back to class.   From a report from a teacher, she was running down the hall and was seen by a teacher who did not know Sabrina and thought it was a runaway child, which caused the entire school to go into search mode.  The classroom teacher thought they were looking for another child and joined the search party.   When it was discovered "who" they were looking for, Sabrina was addressed in the importance of staying with the teacher who took her to the bathroom.    Unfortunately, this lesson did not stick.   Later she gave her classroom teacher the slip and went back to the classroom.    Minutes later I drove up to pick up Sabrina and the episode was fresh.    I could tell the teacher was on the verge of a heart attack.    Needless to say, we talked about staying with the teachers and the importance of it.  We hope she has learned her lesson and we are praying that the teacher has recovered.   Oh, the lessons we all are learning!

Runaway Ralph

As children one of our favorite authors was Beverly Cleary, the author of the Ralph S. Mouse series.   In second grade, I (Julie), remember listening with great anticipation daily to hear how Ralph bonded with Keith and was fitted with an eggshell helmet so he could ride a motorcycle.   Yesterday, we went to a grilling party at some friends' house after church.   To our surprise and Sabrina's delight, they had a pet gerbil in a clear ball rolling around the house.  In our daughter's words, "She is SO cute!"     The rest of the afternoon, although she was swimming and playing with another four year old, she had to check in on the cute gerbil.   Later that evening we were informed that she would like a pet mouse.   I scratched my head and thought "Wow, she really did receive some of my DNA!"   (For those of you who did not know me - Julie- as a child, there were years of raising gerbils and playing with them and searching for them when they escaped.)

Morning, the best time of the day

Yes, it has been our second week of adjusting to the new school schedule which means we are all rising before 5:20 AM  to take Randy to work, so we can have the car.   Although it is extremely hard to wake up and get moving, it is the best time of the day!   The stars are out and the sliver of the moon has shown itself hanging in a different angle than we are used to seeing it in the Pacific Northwest.   Cars are not out on the road driving like they are members of a NASCAR team.   The weather has cooled off to the low 70s.   Perfect!   It is the time of day to drink a cup of coffee, breathe deeply and meditate on the upcoming day as we know the sun will rise and with it the temperature and humidity.   The drivers will rev up their engines and not allow enough time for their destinations which makes them two-inch tale gaters over night.   Children will do funny things like cut their clothing or hair during a scissors lesson.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Yes, it is in the stillness of morning under the dark sky with stars that is the time to gather strength and peace for the day.

1st week of school project

During the first week of school, Sabrina's class was to do a "person" showing things about themselves.   Sabrina's person had some water color painting, cut out figures and crayon coloring.   

The happy artist.

Kevin and Beth's Wedding

Over Labor Day Weekend we traveled to Oregon to Julie's cousin's wedding at Dion Vineyard outside of Portland.   It was a quick trip, arriving at Midnight on Friday and leaving Eugene Sunday evening.   The wedding was on a perfect Sunday afternoon in the Dion Vineyard which is my uncle and aunt's family sixty acres of grapes.

Beth, the bride, before the wedding

Cousin Kevin 

Randy and our nephew keeping in the shade.

The bagpiper.   A Burridge family tradition but also a tradition in Beth's family.

The grapes in all their abundance!

Dancing to the bagpipe music!

Watching the bagpiper!

Papa with the bagpiper in the background.

A preying mantis!

Showing to Papa.

The happy couple!

Showing the preying mantis to Aunt Joanne.

Hugging!

The Johnsons!

Now a spider!

Most children are wanting to keep somewhat clean at a wedding.   Our daughter went on a bug hunt in the dirt.

Showing Grandma a spider!

Children and bubbles!

Blow and catch!

The ceremony under a shady tree.

The vows!

Juice!

The best dog!

One happy bride!

The wedding toppers were in New Mexico style, from the bride's home state.