Scottish Heritage Festival

Yesterday we went the the Scottish Heritage Festival in Athens. We didn't do anything during the Christmas break because someone was always sick, so I'm glad I heard about this and we could all go. For a drizzly morning, it was a perfect activity. They had crafts for the kids (we had them each pick one to do) . . .

Natalie made a bag (later Alyssa and I went and got fabric and she made a bag at home) . . . . Alyssa and Jake made drums.

They had games . . . marbles . . .

. . . the Haggis throw, Jake was a natural.

Throughout the day they had events like the bagpipes, dancing, story telling, parade of tartans, etc. Upstairs they had different clans at tables, their tartan on display and information about their history.

They had a weaving demonstration and the kids thought the loom was really cool. They even had a small loom that Natalie and Jake tried out.

The kids loved the bagpipes at the Christmas parade last month, so I knew this would be a favorite. We did miss the "bonniest knee" competition, but Robert wasn't wearing his kilt.

We could have stayed longer, but Robert was ready to go :).

Being in downtown Athens we stopped by for cheeseburgers and a shake at The Grill.

Walking to The Grill we passed by a store with this sign in the window . . . and I couldn't pass by without taking a picture of it.

We all had a wonderful time. I love finding things like this to do in the area.

Small Town Spoiled

The kids take the bus to school, so I rarely have to be out of the house before 9 or 10 in the morning. This morning we were going with Alyssa to a before school breakfast (see post below) and I laughed at myself when I told her I hadn't driven in morning "traffic" for a while. I laughed because morning "traffic" meant I saw more than three cars ahead of me, although we were still going at posted speeds.

It did take me a few months to get use to driving 10 minutes or more to get to anything (I have to drive 5 miles down the road, in either direction, before getting to non-residential areas), but I'm now spoiled to the lack of traffic and most of my speed limits being 45mph or more (going 35mph seems really slow to me).
Coming back from the breakfast put me in my normal "traffic" situation.
Take a look out my window . . .
the 55mph road to my neighborhood (if I go out the other way it is 50mph),
oh there are cars coming the other direction!

this is a cool little shack right before you get to my neighborhood, there is also a windmill next to it and Jake knows that is the #4 windmill from Watkinsville center, meaning we are almost home.

Brave of the Quarter

This morning Robert, Logan and I went to have breakfast at the middle school with Alyssa. Getting doughnuts and a bagel made being woken up and taken out into a cold morning worth it to Logan. He also loves being in school with any of his siblings.

Alyssa was getting the Brave of the Quarter award - along with 51 other students in 6th-8th grade. She has gotten awards before, but when the principle explained this award I was very proud of Alyssa. This isn't given for grades, attendance or creativity, the students are picked, for Brave of the Quarter, by their teacher for being someone who makes teaching a joy.
Alyssa was very excited to learn it was her math teacher that had chosen her. Math is her favorite, but hardest class - so coming from this teacher made it extra special for her.Along with a nifty certificate, she also got a OCMS (Oconee County Middle School) cup with some candy, a free shake at Chick-fil-A and a free game of bowling!

Sunday Night UNO

The last few Sundays have begun a ritual of a family night of playing UNO. Last night Jake was getting upset that he hadn't won a game yet and everyone else had, so Robert said that whoever didn't win a game would get a cookie. As the last game was winding down, Jake started getting very upset and started saying "don't turn it to green, don't turn it to green!" Alyssa turned it to green and Jake was even MORE upset, "no! no! NO!" and started to cry. Robert asked him if he had lost - no! his last card was green and WON! He wanted it turned to yellow so he would LOOSE and get a cookie. He was upset because he was going to win and NOT get a cookie! He got a cookie anyway.
The trauma we put these kids through!

Alyssa's Winter Walk

(Above: her beautiful picture of the sky)
Last week, Alyssa's friend took her down to the river at the neighborhood park. We have been having a lot of rain and that part of the river usually floods it's banks. We haven't seen it flood since we've moved here, since we've been in such a bad drought. In the picture below you will see a birdhouse on a post near the foreground - the water was almost up to the birdhouse.She went back after the water had gone down and took these pictures. The river was still up to the edge of the bank (we have only seen it 2 feet below the bank or lower).

When she came home she asked what water restrictions we still had, she wanted to wash off her bike with the hose. I told her to ride around and it would come off on its own. It's been wonderful having so much rain lately, although they say we won't know until April whether it will really help in alleviating the drought and help with water needed this summer.
I loved the picture of the sky she took. She is getting really good at taking pictures of nature.

The Fort!

The boys went outside to play the other day and when I went to check on them, I was hearing lots of giggling and Jake talking to Logan, this is what I found . . .

They found the perfect place for a fort! behind the hedge in front of the house. They played there for hours, even taking an umbrella (it was already broken) to make a covering.

It brought back happy memories of the fort my brothers and sister and I made in our large (it was REALLY LARGE) forsythia bush we had at our house on Cushman Rd.
It was large enough that we each had our own "room". We made seats and tables (small of course) out of flat rocks. We even dug holes to keep things in, covering the holes with rocks. And it even came in handy once when my mom wasn't home when we got back from school one afternoon and we made little fires to keep warm (we kept food and matches in our "cupboards") - don't tell her, she didn't know we had matches there. It's a good thing we didn't burn down the bush! We had a blast - hours, days of fun in our bush fort.
I left the boys to their fort and having fun together. And, yes, it is January and Logan has no socks on!

Happy Late New Year!

For New Year's Eve we went to our friend's house to eat, play games and ring in the New Year. I, however, did not make it to midnight. I left early with Logan so I could wake up at 4:00am! to make it to the airport for my flight to Utah.
(Logan got me up a little earlier by waking up at 3:30am and by the time he was settled and asleep again it was 10 min before my alarm!)(Sam and Christine Earl)

Yes, I left the family and went to my sister's wedding! It was a wonderful, and COLD, three days. My in-laws picked me up from the airport and I got to spend most of Thursday visiting with them, Don, Nysje and James stopped by as well. I loved having them all to myself! That evening the wedding festivities began with a family dinner. It was great meeting Sam's family and I know that Christine will have so much fun with them as in-laws. The next day was the wedding and reception. A beautiful time and I'm so glad I could share it with them.It started snowing that evening and while beautiful, I'm glad I live in Georgia. Jake, on the other hand - when I told him I was flying to UT - started planning our trip out there next Christmas so we can play in the snow with cousins. It was fun to spend time with family, stay up until 1am chatting, and sleep in a bit. I was happily exahusted when I got home and have been trying to catch up since (hence the delay in this post). Robert held down the fort, Alyssa woke up with a cold the morning I left and wasn't up to helping as much as normal. But they survived - even Logan, who I didn't talk to for 1 1/2 days because I didn't want him to get upset that I wasn't there. When he WAS upset I wasn't there I talked with him on the phone and he laughed and loved hearing my voice. The kids are now back in school and we are pretty much back to a regular schedule, so . . .
Happy New Year Everyone!
and Congratulations Sam & Christine!