Family Weekend 2009

Every year our church has a weekend long celebration called Family Weekend Connection.   It is a fun venue where you bring the dogs and kids and camp in a tent.  We have never done the tent thing before at Family Weekend until this year.  For two years Vivian cried when we left.  She had the mistaken impression that WE were going to sleep in a tent.  HAHAHA…..  Well, I guess I was laughing right up until Steven decided to go ahead and get a tent to put up to see if we could do it for one night.  Well, I did do it for ONE night.   As a child, I was always confused about the story of Jacob, where he propped his head on a rock to sleep.  I did not fully understand until Friday night and that was when the answer to this two decade long puzzle became crystal clear in my brain.  I would have welcomed a rock to put my head on.   Anything!

We borrowed a pop up tent from a friend and I dug out a full size air mattress.  Well, it wasn’t until Steven wrestled the air mattress into the small tent and blew it up, that he realized he put the pillow part at the bottom of the tent where our feet go.  So, we slept slanted with our feet on the pillow! HA!  Everytime Steven got out of the tent, my rear-end hit the ground, and every time he got back into the tent, I see-sawed back up into the ceiling (it was only 2-3 feet above the mattress for movement).  Lots of fun.  After waking up almost paralyzed from the cold and pinched nerves, I declared that I was NOT going to spend another night outside at Family Weekend.  Not that I dislike camping.  Camping is great…..in the summer, or when you are at least comfortable and can sleep.  I did my mommy duty by staying out there one night to appease my five year old.  She had a blast….of course…..

Here are a few pictures from our weekend.  Hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend!

Andrea

Pumpkin Paint

pumpkin painting fwc

Hello Kitty!

Steven helping me with pumpkin painting booth

Angie and Rebecca

Yup, all six pictures of me look like this! I always blink.

Our campfire

Tasha and her dog

Rebecca and Kaylie

Jamie and Caleb

Vivian in her princess costume for the parade. She is not happy about the attention she was getting.

Vivian in the parade

What we’ve been up to this week…

No, not an exciting post.  More reflective than anything.  I felt sick today, so I left Steven over at our rent property putting in the final touches in each bathroom, installing baseboards and finishing up the plumbing….yay for him!  I did help him caulk the baseboards and liquid nailed finishing pieces onto the cabinets in the kitchen.  I am convinced that paintable caulk and paint can fix a multitude of ugly!  I started to feel ill, so I came back over here.  Hopefully he won’t read this post and realize how much of a slacker I am being this evening while he is over there slaving!

These beautiful flowers have been blooming in the backyard of 94 Bungalow (the rent house we are currently fixing up).  They are gorgeous and almost look like roses.  They come from a ten foot tall bush.  I cannot identify them.  They do not have a scent and their constitution is very weak, they did not last one day in a vase.  So, if anyone knows what they are, please drop me a line.

Yesterday, I had the day off.  I realized two things: 1) I seem to never get anything done on my TO DO list, even if I take the day off; 2) that my dog shares my affinity for people watching.

And believe me, there are some interstin’ people to watch on my street!  Viv and I packed up the boxes of Christmas presents that we send to Handumanan Village, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines.  We send gifts to the children and a box of supplies for their school every year.  This year, when I emailed our contact over there to ask what they need, she said: the presents are nice, but send school supplies and books.  LOL….it is funny to me that the adults find the presents frivolous.  They just want basic needs met.  But, the kids LOVE the gifts we send.  Some of them do not even take them out of their packaging.  When some people from our church visited this Spring, they noticed that several of our gifts were on shelves unopened.  They did not want to get them dirty.  It was more like a trophy not to be touched than a toy to play with.  Very interesting.  I hope they get around to playing with them.

Vivian had a great time helping me.  She kept asking me, “Are we sending these to the kids?”  Too cute. Speaking of cute, Vivian and Taavi are getting along better now.  She has completely gotten over being jealous and is actually enjoying him now.  I catch her singing to him sometimes.

Taavi has a little blue and green turtle that we call Louis.  It is his teddy bear.  He loves the dumb, stinky, smelly thing.  He picked it out himself from PetSmart.  Since he would not part with it in the store, I bought it for him.

Taavi is looking more and more like his dad everyday.  Would you listen to me?  You would think I was talking about my son or something.    Fortunately, I am not.  I do not think Steven would appreciate me comparing Taavi’s looks to his.  Here is Taavi’s dad.

When posting these pictures, I saw that Steven snapped this picture of Vivian Thursday.  I wonder if she got a whooping right after it was taken.  She is positively staring daggers!  If looks could kill…

Well, besides a lot of other boring details, I have had a very busy week.  Soon to come will be pictures of the finished 94 bungalow.  We are finishing up, affixing the details and next week we will refinish the floors and clean up.  At that time I will take good after pictures and post the whole album online.

Happy Saturday!

Andrea

Found some pictures

I found a roll of film in my purse.  I didn’t know what it was from.  I got them developed, then I remembered that my digi cam was going haywire around Easter time, so I drug out my faithful minolta camera.  Here are a couple pictures from that roll. 

Steven and Vivian...Easter 2009

In front of the Magnolia

Andrea

Welcome Skyler!

Skyler was born yesterday evening.  8lbs 4 oz.  Congratulations Melanie!  Welcome new little nephew!

Sklyer

Sklyer...a few minutes old

Andrea

Celebrating Friday with “Broc-amoli”

While Steven and Jonathan played video games, Vivian and I watched a movie and ate “Broc-amoli” (guacamole) and chips.  We had a hard time trying to keep puppy out of the guacamole, but in the end, he prevailed!  He likes guacamole…can ya tell?

Happy Independence Weekend!

Andrea

The Game

Hello! I am the new pup. When I want Vivian to play with me, I go and get one of her things. I know if I do that, she will chase me.

The bait!

Sneaking over to get the bait

Got it!!!!!

Hasta la vista!

Come and get me! Nah, nah, boo boo! You are too big to fit under this table!

"Give it back Taavi!"

Nah, nah, I still have it!

Gotcha!

Andrea

Puzzles Anyone?

Recently, my brother came in town, from New Orleans, for a conference.  He was putting something in the microwave and jokingly asked me if I liked to play puzzles.  I had no idea what he was talking about until I looked over and saw him pushing around my floor tiles with his foot.  “Ha..ha..ha..” I said, rather dryly.  It seems that whomever it was that put these ugly .50 cents industrial tiles down, they did not glue them very well, or at all for that matter.  When we first moved in, we pulled up carpet in the kitchen to find these tiles.  I was glad that the tiles looked better than the carpet.  But these tiles are cracked, chipped and not glued down.  If you pull up any given tile on the floor, you will find a pile of dirt under it.  Gross!  I hate, Hate, HATE this floor!  Lol…  My husband hears about it all the time.  I have scrubbed it, scoured it, scraped it, stripped it, mop n glo’d it, all to no avail.  It still looks horriffic!  It would not take a whole lot of effort, or money, on our part to fix it.  But, the problem is, Steven wants to finish the attic and put in a staircase that you would access from the kitchen.  So, until we have that all worked out, we are stuck with the ugly floor.  Sigh…  I guess this is my grumble for the week.  If I get really bored this summer, I might line all the black tiles up one side and the white on the other.  I was always good at tanagrams.

On another note, our puppy is adjusting well.  Vivian is less jealous and actually playing with the dog now.  Thank goodness!  He is a sweet little thing.  I don’t remember if I mentioned it before, but we named the puppy Taavi.  He is an Australian Terrier and according to a listing of Australian based names, Taavi means “Beloved”.

Vivian and Taavi taking a nap on the sofa

Happy Saturday!

Andrea

PS: I don’t know what to be more horrified about — the ugly floor, my ugly feet or the fact that I showed you both!

Warren Family Vacation 2009

I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!  Whew, what a fast 7 days this past week has been!  I did not announce here on my blog that I was going on vacation due to security reasons.  You never know who is out there lurking….  All of my friends and family knew where I was though. 

We had a great time!  We camped in South Carolina, canoed in North Carolina, enjoyed the scenic beauty of the Tennessee mountains by staying outside of Gatlinburg for a night and then stopped in Arkansas last night on our way to get Taavi, the newest addition to our family.  For anyone interested, here are some photos from our week and a snippet of information on where we were and what we were doing.  I missed everyone!  I am glad I am back home!

Sunday

We left on Sunday.  On our way to Alabama for the night, we stopped in Jackson, Mississippi to eat at Keifer’s.  Keifer’s is the best doggone Greek food I have ever eaten.  It is a small business located downtown and people drive in from multiple states to eat there.  It is THAT good!  If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend this family owned, on top of its game, restaurant.  I also stopped in Birmingham to visit with a college friend, Consuela.  I haven’t seen her in six years…..good times, good times!  When we arrived at the hotel, Vivian wanted to swim.  So, even though it was 10:00 p.m., we donned our bathing suits and made a lap or two in the pool.  It never occurred to me that Vivian has not stayed in a hotel before.  Upon entering our room, she had many questions and was amazed that someone set up a little bedroom just for us!  Here she is after a full day of travel and an hour swimming.

Tired after a day full of travel and swimming

Monday-Tuesday

“Is Mississippi a road?”  Vivian asked from the back seat (I guess that is better than “Are we there yet?”).  “No, it is a state, baby” I replied.  “What state do we live in?” I asked.  “Alexandria!” was her triumphant answer.  So, did ya’ll know that Alexandria was a state?

Oconee State Park, SC - Vivian feeding the geese

The main purpose of our trip was for Vivian to meet her great grandmother and great grandfather.  On our way to see them, we stopped in downtown Greenville and visited the park. 

On street parking, downtown Greenville, SC

The downtown area was thriving and very hip.  We passed many restaurants and specialty stores on our way to Reedy Falls park, which is in the middle of downtown.  We even happened upon a conversation of young businessmen (and women) who talked about living in their loft in the downtown area and how much they enjoyed living and working there.  I thought that was very cool (All of my preservationist friends understand what I mean).  The great thing about most of the streets in Greenville was that they had storefront parking.  They never did widen the road or remove the parking spots from in front of the shops.  I think this was one of the main reasons the downtown thrives.  The other reason is the highly attractive park that has a creek/falls that runs smack through the middle of downtown.

Reedy Falls Park, Downtown Greenville SC

Greenville spiffed up one of their best assets by putting a bridge over the creek falls for people to bike over, or walk out on and admire the view.  The bridge, from what I understand from the sign, was financed through private persons and non-proft groups.  Greenville has also retained a good bit of green space in the downtown area despite development.  I call that good planning by the city administration.  Greenville also has bicycle lanes and has good walkability and bikeability (if that is a word).  You would not have to talk me in to living there.  It was beautiful.

The bridge across the falls/creek

Vivian at the park

Vivian at Reedy Falls

Vivian and Andrea at Reedy Falls

Wednesday

We got a wild hair and drove up to Rosman, North Carolina and took a four hour canoe trip.  We had a good time paddling down the quiet French Broad.  We saw a hawk catch a fish.  At the end of the day, you could clearly see the spots I missed putting sunscreen on!

On the French Broad, Rosman, NC

A bridge over the French Broad, Rosman NC

Thursday

We visited with my grandmother again and then went on to Easley, SC and visited with my grandfather and my cousins.  It rained ALL day.

Grandma Petrone and Vivian

Grandpa Petrone, Me and Steven

Friday

Our plans were to stay at the park (Oconee) and boat, fish, make a fire…you know, all the things you are supposed to do when you go camping.  The only problem was that the weather was not cooperating.  It rained Thursday, Friday and Saturday. 

Vivian, singing in the rain, Oconee State Park

Steven was determined to cook out, so he grabbed a poncho out of the car and flipped hamburgers in the rain.  Our geese friends decided to come up and check us out again. 

Resident Geese, Oconee State Park, SC

Vivian and Steven feeding the geese (wow, no mistaking paternity here)

Lazy rainy afternoon on the porch at our cabin

 

Friday night we decided to head to Tennessee.  We left the park early, we were supposed to stay until Sunday.  We went to Sevierville, TN which is right outside of Gatlinburg, and stayed the night at the Wilderness at the Smokies, a waterpark/resort.  Poor Vivian had been drug across four states and had not had any fun yet, so we decided to let her play in the water park for a day.  This place was brand new and pretty cool.  Included with your room you get free passes to their two waterparks and free tickets to the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Aquarium (which was voted the #1 aquarium in the country).  We splashed for hours, rode down the slides, sat in the hot tub, went back to our room and then came back down and did it all over again! 

The bucket of water just dumped out on them...you better move when you hear the bell ring!

Vivian and Me

Eating dippin' dots at the park

Sunday-Monday

We packed up and drove to Little Rock and stayed the night Sunday and then today, we got up early and drove to Hot Springs to pick up Taavi.

Vivian and her new puppy, Taavi

We are now back home and I do believe that Taavi is adjusting well to living here in Alexandria.

Vivian and Taavi playing in the front yard

Andrea

“What you think of me is none of my business”

Goofy Me

That is probably the most interesting thought I have heard so far this year.  It is extremely true and a very fresh and fascinating concept.  Actually, I guess it is not THAT fresh.  A book with this title was published in 1988 by Terry Whitaker.  I have not read this book and am not endorsing it, but I definitely admire the title.  We, especially Americans, worry more about what people MAY be thinking about us than enjoying the life and opportunities we have been given.  If you ponder it, this is a very logical concept.  My thoughts are not public domain and I am entitled to them.  So, why are people so worried about my private musings which may or may not include them as a subject?

I guess I have never been one who really worries about what other people think or say about me, I mean, come on… I live in an old house, in an old neighborhood, don’t have caller id, am using folding chairs in my dining room, googled a recipe tonight on how to make your own laundry soap… do you really think status bothers me?  Nope.  But, I hope that by posting this, all my friends, family and acquaintances will know that I like you just the way you are.  You don’t have to be ‘SOMEBODY’ to be a somebody to me.  You don’t have to impress me, you don’t have to lie, you don’t have to aggrandize your comings and goings, you don’t have to worry what I think…I love you just the way God made you.

Andrea

***On a side note, what would have happened if she cared what people thought about her?  Check out the audience frowning and laughing…they all judged a book by its cover: Susan Boyle, Britain’s Got Talent 2009.  This also reminds me of another story where a man was judged by his looks and meekness, Paul Potts sings Nessun Dorma, yet he blew the audience away.***

Easter Pictures

Before I drift off to sleep for my annual Easter Sunday nap, I thought I would post some pictures from our day.

Happy Easter Everyone!

May the glory
and the promise
of this joyous time of year
Bring peace
and happiness to you
and those you hold most dear,

And may Christ,
Our Risen Saviour,
always be there by your side
To bless you
most abundantly
and be your loving guide.

Andrea

Nana and Vivian

This is one of my favorites, Vivian snuck into the picture and smiled

Vivian and her cousin, Reece

Counting her bounty

Nanny, Vivian and Poppy (my parents)