The Fulton's of Florida

Motorcycles & Muscle Men

2010-08-25T22:51:00.002-04:00

Here is how we spent our weekend....took a ride on Saturday afternoon and had a great time...yes, all three of us went for about 120 mile ride - had lunch 1/2 way through and only got rained on the last mile!

Apparently - after riding the bike - had to show off his muscles....and Tatoo!

Both Muscle Men!!!

Home is Where You Hang Your Hat

2010-07-18T21:13:00.004-04:00

So you're just not a Fulton until you have your cowboy boots and hat. This was part of our adventure for the weekend. Grant got his first pair of cowboy boots and hat - and I supose as most any little boy - wears them non-stop!

After wearing them out of the store, we get buckled up in the car and Grant says, "Dad, when do I get my horse?" Well, the horse will have to wait. But we did ask what his horse's name will be - without hesitation he said Charlie!

Here's the little buck-a-roo before church this morning....yes, he had to wear his boots. The hat did stay in the car.

This evening of course we needed to drive the tractor. He said he can go in the shed with Paw-Paw now that he has his boots and hat...so, he's been practicing.

"I'm just a little bit of a dare-devil!" Yes, Mom is worried...espcially all that I've heard about his name-sake....

And finishes with a final YEE-HA!

I'm sure there will be many more posts involving Cowboy boots, but hope you enjoy the first round so far!

4th of July

2010-07-14T21:14:00.005-04:00

Here are a few of the things we did in Illinois the first part of July....

Went to the St. Louis Zoo - highly recommend it, only did about 1/3 of it as we had one tired little boy with all the 4th of July festivities!

Making grass angels...I guess when you live in Florida that's as close to snow angels as you'll get!

Frist morning playing - he thought it was a little cold outside, needed jackets and vest...again, I guess it's a Florida thing.

He warmed up and was able to shet the coats for a tractor....

And even warmed up enough to play in a little water with Blake!

We had a great time with all our activites.....until next time....

BUDDIES!

2010-07-07T18:15:00.000-04:00

My Saturday Afternoon

2010-05-29T15:41:00.003-04:00

Today I feel like I have accomplished something - I have finished a very long on-going landscaping project. Very long meaning I started it when we moved in just over a year ago.

The picture below would be what I call stage 2 - juniper bushed pulled out, but still have ugly big stuff....this is what we've basically had for most of the last year.

This winter some of our little plants died (as it was such a cold winter!) :) so that gave me the motivation to make other changes as well...so about a month ago we had some of the bigger stuff pulled out and replaced with a pigmy palm and a little gem magnolia tree.

Finally, today Grant and I finshed it off. He had fun at the "plant store" and was a huge helper....all until it came time to get home and do the work...but we pulled it off and I'm pretty happy with what we've acomplished!!

On to our next project......

Happy 3rd Birthday Grant!

2010-04-12T07:57:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Grant!
You're growing up so fast!
Love, Mommy & Daddy

Our Family Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-06T22:13:00.003-04:00

Oh, Wait....wrong pictures! :)

That was the Orangutan Egg Hunt at the Tampa Zoo that we went to on Friday...it was a beautiful day and lots of fun!

Maybe I can find a real Easter picture next.....

2010-02-23T09:22:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox free photo slideshow

We Are Alive!!

2009-12-30T22:42:00.003-05:00

I know it's been a long time since I've posted on here (other than the one a couple of minutes ago!). I was reminded of this several times when home for Christmas. I'm absolutely not going to make a New Years resolution of stating to update the blog more, but with a relaxing weekend ahead I think I might be able to get caught up with sharing some of Grant's cute stories! Keep checking back - I'll keep adding as I have time.

In the meantime, enjoy Grant on the beach!

Trip to the Dentist

2009-12-30T22:31:00.003-05:00

I have learned that just because Jon and I work for a dental company - that does not mean our son will have perfect teeth. I noticed a while back that Grant is missing one of his central teeth and have been meaning to get it checked out. Monday we didn't have a sitter, so Jon schedule an appointment for Grant to see the dentist and get his teeth checked.

WE ARE SO PROUD OF HIM!! HE WAS SO GOOD! Even let them polish his teeth a little. He's too young to know if he's also missing the permanent tooth in this same spot, but they said not to worry - could be genetic (on Jon's side!)

Here are some pictures of our very good patient!

Had already had x-ray's at this point and still sitting!

Had been practicing how big he could open his mouth...I missed that part in the picture.

Here is him getting ready to have a Panoramic x-ray taken...
moved a little on the first one so re-did it and he didn't move a muscle
(I don't know if he'll ever be able to not move a muscle again in his whole life!!)

Look how awesome he's doing!!

Got a good check up from the doctor and assistant!!!

A'Hoy Maties

2009-11-01T21:07:00.003-05:00

Jon and I have a set of friends that have a boat and asked us to go out for a ride this afternoon - we all had a blast and below are several pictures of our trip....It was a three hour tour - but with a much better ending. :)

Boat in dock

Big Boat...

View from out on front....very cool, Grant did not enjoy...
Don't worry,we held on to him!

My view for the day - beautiful!

City of Sarasota....

Our Main Captain for the day...

thank goodness for Auto Pilot!

There's the co-pilot!

Hanging out in back!

This is the ride out front that Grant did not enjoy....

Grant ran around the boat all afternoon....
While Jon and I will not be investing in a 44' cruiser like this one -

it definitely wore Grant out and went to bed at 8:15 tonight.

I'm sure he'll be up by 5:30 as he has been lately -

but maybe he's just a little more tuckered out.

By the way - didn't think we'd be taking a boat ride on the

Gulf of Mexio on November 1st!

Another joy of Florida!!

Trick or Treat

2009-10-28T12:02:00.002-04:00

I think Grant looks like an absolute treat!!

Nanny is in town - so we went Trick-Or-Treating!

Nothing but treats for Grant!

Done being a Giraffe - for now, he wants to wear it almost every day!

Can't Take the Farm Out of the Boy

2009-10-21T21:45:00.004-04:00

Grant has finally gotten big enough to truely ride his tractor we got him for Christmas. He actually drives very well and has even figured out how to use the reverse. The Lanai was kind of limiting for him to ride around in, so we've taken it to the big outdoors! We had to take the tractor to go see the cows on the other side of the neighborhood tonight. We're thinking about opening it up to 2nd speed so we can get there and back before it get's too dark. He's doing great with it - but it's still a little slower of a pace than normal walking.

Project Finished

2009-10-21T21:43:00.001-04:00

Previous post = before...

This picture = after.....2 large garabage bags of clothes to Good Will!

It Happened Again!

2009-10-07T22:43:00.003-04:00

Our house HAD to be built on a Monday!

How else could my second closet rack come tumbling down???

Another fun weekend project! I will only admit this on the blog - but I think I will actually be going through my clothes and getting rid of what I don't wear....which will be alot in all honesty!!
I hope some charity (and Jon) will appreciate my sacrifice!

New Do's

2009-10-07T22:37:00.003-04:00

So after over 20 years of having the same person cut my hair - I have taken a leap of faith and had my hair cut down here in Florida. Even since April, when we moved, I have scheduled hair appointments around coming home. I got nervous when my September trip to IL was cancelled - I knew I wouldn't be able to make it until November when I was going to be home next. WHAT WILL I DO! I thought....Well, one of the ladies Jon works with said she'd help me out and get me in with her lady. So - I drove 2 hours to her hair salon and got my hair cut. Still getting used to it and not for sure how long I'll drive 2 hours to get my hair cut -but it beats the shaggy mess I had.

(Hard to take good pictures of yourself!)

Grant has a new do to!! Well, this one is just every now and then....

he loves his Spiky Hair!!

Fall Temps in Florida?

2009-10-05T22:23:00.003-04:00

Nope - I was just gone for a couple of days so Grant was in control! I was a little amazed when I got home that long PJ's, a winter hat, and slippers were all in order when it was over 85 degrees outside! But he was happy!!!

Move Over Michael Phelps

2009-10-05T22:17:00.002-04:00

Grant has made major progress in the pool. We've gone from not liking the water, to being in with me, to being in with others to now....swimming on his own with floaties!!!! He even jumps off the side on his own - pops up then kicks over to the other side. He really likes the noodles too. We're very excited about his progress - just now have to get used to getting in the water when it's colder than we like....because we want to keep his excitment going. Come and go swimming with us soon!!!

Finished Product

2009-10-05T22:14:00.003-04:00

Sorry it's been so long- so busy around here!

Below are two pictures of the finished tile project. It didn't take us this long to finish - just to post the pictures!

What Did You Do This Weekend?

2009-09-08T21:46:00.002-04:00

We tiled our backsplash in the Kitchen!!!

Before....

Half-way finished...

Not grouted yet...

I don't have have a picture of the 100% finished...

but will update when I'm back home.

Kind of excited that we (Jon, me, and my mom and dad)

were able to do this on our own!

What a Cutie!

2009-08-30T22:09:00.004-04:00

Here are a couple pictures from our trip to Illinois earlier in August. I think they are adorable!

Vacation Pictures - Jon's rock Climbing

2009-08-25T22:13:00.003-04:00

Looking good in his gear....

Studying his first move....

I will be honest, I wasn't for sure how far Jon would make it so i took pictures about every 2 seconds....i'll spare you and not show you all....

Still Going....
Ringing the Bell - HE MADE IT TO THE TOP!!!!

Graceful landing?

Vacation Pictures - Kiddie Rides

2009-08-25T21:57:00.003-04:00

We visited the Kiddie Ride place twice during our vacation. The first day the Bulldozer below was out of order - it was still the favorite and something both Dexter and Grant decided to fight over. Grant would choose this bulldozer over all the other rides....at least maybe he'll always go the cheap route?

This was a typical sceen - to see both boys shoving the other out of the way...

At least they can share some rides....

Pictures from Vacation...

2009-08-25T21:43:00.004-04:00

Grant really did enjoy the go-carts...below is the progression of the journey - yes, he is tall enough to ride...

Slipping a little....

Okay, maybe he slipped a lot....but he loved it.

Dexter and Jason had a good time too!!

More vacation pictures to come....

Wonder World

2009-08-19T22:00:00.003-04:00

One of the fun activities while on vacation was to Wonder World – an amusement park for your mind. If you haven’t been and find yourself by one – I would recommend it – lots of fun and neat things to do. Grant had fun, but ideal for a little older…I think Gabe really enjoyed it.

Not for sure what this pictures is all about…driving a race car…with one eye?

Maybe he could be an astronaut when he grows up?

He’s lying on a bed of nails! No, I’m not a mean mom – I did it first, it’s amazing how it doesn’t hurt. The woman working this exhibit was amazing – she got grant to lay there and he didn’t even realize what was happening. You lay down on a flat surface – then the nails actually raise you up. She was able to distract him the whole time that it was over before he knew what was going on….pretty neat.

Shout Out to Carrie

2009-08-17T21:47:00.002-04:00

While we were home Janelle and gang had a great cookout up at the campground. Eric and Carrie Carr and their kids were there for the fun as well. Of course, Grant was a loner and pretty much did his own thing most of the night. This included not talking to Eric or Carrie....until we were pulling out down the lane and he asked where Carrie went.

I kid you not - every day since then....at LEAST once a day - Grant asks where Carrie went. Most of the time I say she's home playing with the kids. Eric - you're at the Office working on a Chandelier! It's amazing his memory - we even go through the list of kids, Adam, Janelle, Keckie, and Phil every now and then.

Carrie - looks like you have quite the effect on children, even those that won't even talk to you - can you imagine how you'll effect your students! GOOD LUCK!

2 Days, 6 States & 1/2 Gal. Milk

2009-08-17T21:33:00.003-04:00

Well - We're Home! It has been a very long time since my last update - yep, you guessed it - we've been busy. I've got lots to post if i can just find the time. Two weeks ago was the Fulton Family Vacation in TN so lots to share there. After that we just drove up to IL and spent the week there. This past weekend we drove home - only 16 hours!

We decided to take our time coming home which is why it took 2 days...we stopped where ever we wanted. FYI - That really huge JC Penny store south of Atlanta that looks huge and you feel like you're just going to find awesome deals.....you won't, it's not great, and no need to stop...at least we can drive straight through from now on.

We arrived home late Saturday evening....only to turn around and leave the house for the night! While we really wanted to be home - if you lived in Florida in August and didn't have air conditioning you'd find someplace else to go as well. Thankfully we were able to stay at Nanny & Pa-pa's only 1 mile away (thanks Mark & Sheryl).

We went back home Sunday morning to get ready for church when we found small issue number 2....

The Clothes rack in my closet colapsed. This is just 1/2 the mess - i forgot to take the picture until I got over 1/2 the clothes out. There might be a small discrepency on how this could happen - my opinion is that there was not enough support....jon's opinion is that there were too many clothes on the rack. Sunday after church we purchsed more brackets and Jon has now fixed the rack. Below is how we've tested it to see if it can hold my clothes again. I think it will pass for now! :)

So, over the next couple of days I hope to keep adding more pictures and posts - we've had lots of fun over the last two weeks - but happy to be home (and in Air Conditioning now!!) :)

4th of July - Lots of Activities

2009-07-25T23:10:00.003-04:00

As you can see from all the pictures, we had a very busy 4th of July. In addition to the beach - we also went to the Boat Show...and we're not just talking about little boats - we're talking about BIG boats that go - oh - about 170 MPH!!

This is Grant watching one of the boats on a practice run.

While waiting for Firworks Bradenton had a street fair of sorts....we learned that Grant LOVE funnel cakes - but really, who doesn't?

This was us enjoying a very good fireworks show!!

And what visit from Mom-Mom and Pop-pop doesn't include a good game of ROLL!

Thanks Amy for taking all of the pictures!!

4th of July Beach Trip

2009-07-25T22:58:00.004-04:00

My family came down to visit for fourth of July weekend...I know, I know - it's almost August and I'm just getting this up - we've been busy. I'm traveling for the weekend so have time sitting in a hotel to update blog with pictures!

Pictures below are our Beach Trip to Siesta Key Beach - rated one of the top 10 beaches in the Country....when you come visit we can go there! :)

We had a very good time, and have been back to the beach a couple of times....

The Hob Nob

2009-07-25T22:43:00.003-04:00

Fourth of July Weekend

Dinner with Amy, Mom-mom, and Pop-pop.

The Hob Nob

a neat, outdoor, hole-in the wall....

but with no walls - maybe needs another description...

Telemarketers

2009-06-30T21:27:00.002-04:00

I don't know how you feel about Telemarketers. I know I hang up on them. I don't yell back at them or anything, just say not interested and hang up...at least they are working, right. I do find them annoying and forgot how annoying they can be until we got our new phone number in Florida - that hadn't been registered on the Do Not Call List....it is not, don't worry....

But, Here is my question:

If you knew your Telemarketer were this cute with his headset - would you still hang up?

Seriously - look at that face - how could you hang up?

Yes, Jon and I actually use a headset...it really comes in handy for long phone calls - you can still type, take notes, etc....Grant made his way into the office one evening and called Nanny from this phone - and now has to make every call with the headset.

He loves to talk on the phone so much I have told my family to just hang up when they are done or seriously he would be on the phone forever. If you ask to talk he will quickly respond "no, i talk". If he's on a cordless phone he'll just walk around shaking his head as his answer to the questions. I'm hoping he doesn't learn the phrase "May I take your order" with the headset!

Varmits!

2009-06-24T22:28:00.003-04:00

This post will have a couple of references to previous posts - so if you're new to reading this sorry - but i don't think you'll be that lost!

So, like my very first post i mentioned I wasn't for sure how i felt about armadillos - i now know how i feel about Armadillo's.....now that one has made a home in our front landscaping! I don't like them!!! No, i don't have pictures of the armadillo, but below you can see the mess he makes...and how big he feels he needs to have his house - look at that HOLE!!

So on to referncing another post - remember now, I'm the farm kid willing to touch animals while Jon won't even hold a duck....now that you remember that...guess how Jon feel's we're going to get rid of our new neighbor....ever hear of "water in the hole"...i know where that comes from. (Our yard guy stopped by today and mentioned this wonderful sight. i asked if he thought the armadillo was in there since they are night animals...he thought so)...so Jon stuck the water hose in the hole and let'er go. Jon believes he has just killed the Armadillo by drowning him....I believe the Armadillo will re-surface in another part of our yard as he will probably have dug another way out. I'm ready to call Tripple A trappers!

If I could get my web-cam to work I might use it during the night to see what happens, but since it still won't work - we'll just look for evidence in the morning.

Subject of this post - Varmits...plural....to be continued about rats and gecko's! I'm sure you're just dying for this one!

Web Cam

2009-06-23T12:09:00.006-04:00

For Christmas (I think) we got our family's web-cams so that we could stay in touch over the 1,000 miles. We'll now that we are here we've finally tried to use them. I'm so frustrated with my computer - it's so slow and we haven't been able to "chat" with the web cams - however, last night Grant got to experience it for the first time. He made the video above for Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop. Again, still trying to figure it out so sound is not good turn volume all the way up and you can kind of hear him.

(don't know why but the video is about 5 times as fast as it should be - so sound and picture do not match....i hate this web cam thing!)

Swimming and Shadows

2009-06-18T22:55:00.002-04:00

Of course the cutest and funniest things happen when you don't have a camera or even when nobody else is around. Last night I had two different great experiences with Grant.

1. He now LOVES the pool and jumping in! Who would have thought the kid that wouldn't touch the water and then would only get in the water with me holding him would now love jumping off the side and even going under water. When he first started jumping I was careful he didn't go under but he kept saying - go down there and pointing - so i thought okay, that's what you want...so i let him go under a little and once above just said MORE! So, 1 hour later i said we had to take a break!! He is too cute in the water!!!

2. This next experienced happened in between the jumps in the pool. Because we went swimming in the evening and the sun was starting to go down he found his shadow!! I told him to wave at his shadow thinking he'd enjoy seeing his hand move....well, he really thought it was "Grant". When he would walk towards his shadow - of course it would go further away from him - so he just kept asking where Grant went, even got down and tickled "Grant".....it was so funny, I was laughing out loud!

Can't wait for you to come and share these two experiences with us! The water is 89 degrees, perfect, and waiting for visitors!!! Hope to see you soon!

Disney - Day 2 - Epcot

2009-06-13T13:06:00.005-04:00

Day 2 was Epcot - lots of fun, not a lot of pictures.

Typical Afternoon - frozen drink thing, someone sleeping....

Then we drove home 1.5 hours!

Disney - Dinner at Chef Mickey's

2009-06-13T12:46:00.005-04:00

If you've been to Disney before and tried to make reservations at such places as Chef Mickey's you know that you have to call months in advance to get a reservation. The IL Fulton's had reservations at Chef Mickey's on Saturday night and we so wanted to join them. However, the FL Fulton's only decided the week before that we were even going to Disney so you can imagine the disappointment when we called daily to see if we could add or change the reservation and were told "the magic hasn't happened yet" and they didn't have room. Luckily, Michelle knows how to work Magic as well and was able to get us in with their reservation and we were able to enjoy dinner with the Characters....and the Disney Characters as well!

No, Grant is not petting Pluto - he is telling Pluto to go away!

Grant did great with all of the Characters, except for pluto - there was just something about him he did not care for...

Oh and of course good food too!

Disney Trip - Day 1, Magic Kingdom

2009-06-13T11:57:00.008-04:00

thanks Sarah for reminding me that we went to DISNEY WOLRD! How could i ever forget such a great place - but it slipped my mind with all of the other excitment. This is one of the best things about living in Florida - if you have family from out of state coming to FL to go to Disney - we can drive over for the weekend very easily! Back in the first week of May - Michelle, Debbie, Gabe and Dexter all came to Disney - so we met them for the weekend. Below are the pictures of our good time - in complete random order. This post is hotel and day 1 at Magic Kingdom.

This was the first ride (Aladin's Carpets), luckily short line or i don't think we would have made it. He kept saying no, the closer we got - the louder we got. Of course that makes you look like a great mom when child is screaming no and you keep saying yes, you'll love it. I told him it was like an Airplane ride and he thought maybe that would be okay. Long story short - there are also pictures of Jon and Grant on Aladin's carpets because someone loved it so much we had to ride again!

Wet Willie - need I say more...and it was not to the Mickey ears! Good thing Jon can act like a 9 year old! We had a lot of fun hanging out with Gabe and crew!

The Boys!

This was just getting into the park for the first time - relaxed and ready to ride!

Pre Wet Willie (from above picture!)

Open House - Blog Update

2009-06-13T11:53:00.001-04:00

Hello All -

Sorry for not updating our blog in a very long time. Since we got back from Illinois last we've been very busy. We're actually back in Illinois now - having lot of fun, seeing family, and trying to sell a house! I'm sitting at our open house just praying someone will come today and want to buy our house! I know, I know - tall order. We had a pretty good open house last month - but our house is obviously still for sale so it wasn't THAT good! I'm guessing that i'll have plenty of time over the next two hours to make updates!

Speaking of house - if you know of anyone wanting to live near Newton, 8 acres, 3 gran bins, 2 buildings, pasture, etc - we're ready to make a great deal!!! Completely re-modeled, move in condition!!! Okay, enough promotion - on to updates!

Our New Favorite Hobby

2009-05-26T22:16:00.004-04:00

First two pictures are before we even got it outside - I knew he was going to love it!

HERE WE GO!!

May be hard to believe but the picture below is the fit he threw when it was time to get out.

Anyone coming for a visit - be ready for a bike ride...we go every night. Even tonight, with a big rain storm on the horrizon - we still took a stroll in the bike and pulled into the garage just in time to beat the downpoor.

Random Pictures, Funny Things

2009-05-26T21:57:00.003-04:00

No, Grant doesn't need glasses - they were Gria's (my grandma)....he was very fascinated with them when she was here. Don't worry, his eyes aren't going to cross after wearing them, they're just magnifying. :)

So, with no boppy grant has had a harder time falling asleep - we have to keep telling him to close his eyes. He can't quite figure it out so he'll put his hands over his eyes....it's too cute!!!

Every time we turn around Grant is doing something else to show us how much of a big boy he is...dressing himself is one of his new tricks.....

Anybody know where these boys came from? Pretty much every t-shirt we owns says Newton on it somewhere....and of course everyone asks where that is. I thought these matching boys were just too cute to pass up! :)

24 hours....and Counting

2009-05-25T22:35:00.003-04:00

25 Hours, 38 minutes, and 24 seconds

That is how long we've been without a boppy, passy, pasifier, or whatever else you want to call it.

Jon and I have been discussing that we need to loose it for a long time now. There has always been a reason we've waited: moving, going back to Illinois (on a plane!), going back to Florida, church, people coming, peace, quiet, etc...but finally we did it!

It's weird while we had three different passy's for some reason Grant was very attached to one and would only use the blue one. Jon and I truely did lose it and had to convince Grant the white one would work. This to us was a sign we needed to ditch the whole item all together. So, the white one "broke"! Or as Jon asks Grant - "did you bite it while in bed" - great Jon, make him feel guilty! :) First nite seemed to go pretty well, however, he did just look at me like "how am i to sleep without it", but he did great - didn't even wake up through the night.

We did end up finding the Blue one and hid it in case our plane just wasn't going to work, but only a few times did he ask for it today. Anytime he asked for it we just reminded him of how it broke and he didn't need it anymore. There were a few times he did ask, "can I just hold it"...nearly broke my heart - but so would a 12 year old with a passy so I told him no, we threw it away. Which he did - once...then pulled it back out of the trash - i just don't think he could do it. So anyway, we're back to bed again tonight with no passy - i think we may have done it!

YIPPEE!

Spoiled?? You Decide!

2009-05-25T22:29:00.003-04:00

I think this progression of pictures will definitely lead you to an answer of spoiled. This is what life was like for him at Mom-Mom & Pop-Pop's when we were up in IL....my dad says Grant knows he can get away with more from me...I think we really know where he can get away with the most! Thanks for letting us stay for the whole 10 days - I guess we found out if you really missed us that much or not. Don't worry, we're not coming back for another TWO weeks! :)

Ready, Set, Race

2009-05-25T22:24:00.003-04:00

So, I'm trying to catch up on some old pictures that need to be loaded. This is a continuation of Illinois Fun. RACE is a very fun game that Grant LOVES to play. It is not specifically related to Illinois - he can race anywhere - but these race pictures are from when we were in Illinois a couple of weeks ago! Really - don't over think it - Race is just running in a circle. Amy decides to switch it up a bit and make it exciting by yelling switch directions every now and then...oh what fun.

Of course, when you ask "who won" - his response - "ME!"

Fun Time in Illinois

2009-05-21T22:03:00.003-04:00

So I'm finally getting around to posting about our recent trip back to Illinois. It stopped raining a little while for us to go outside. During that time we went over to the Zerrusen Farm (just Amy & Dave's).

I know it may surprise all of you (that know Amy and I) that we DID NOT grow up on a farm. We are both such naturals with animals that you would have assumed we were in 4-H (or any other animal raising club). I'm just sure that's where Amy got her fondness of Ducks and Rabbits. She and Dave are raising 2 ducks and 2 rabbits....oh, wait 6 rabbits...one rabbit had 4 babies over the weekend. She's so in tune with her animals that she didn't even know the rabbit was expecting....anyway, on with the show...

Grant checking out the animals.

For some reason he didn't care for the rabbits -

was much more a fan of the ducks.

Grant very much wanted to pick up the ducks....

Grant realized he was missing the "duck gloves".

Yes, Amy has special gloves she uses to pick up any of the pets.

Isn't that how all natural animal lovers do it??

See, told you I was a pro....

Jon - the City Kid only willing to pet the duck with one finger....

Oh, what shall our next trip home bring?

We're coming home June 9th - ???

Let us know if you have something fun for us to experience

for posting on the Blog after our return.

I WON!

2009-05-18T22:03:00.002-04:00

A radio contest you ask?

No, better than that!

The Lottery you ask?

No, Better than that!

One of those Random drawings that aren't so random?

No, even better!!

I won the Battle of what was for supper! (with Grant)

Now to some of you this may seem very trival, one of those pick your battle type of situations...well, this was the battle I picked for tonight. I made spaghetti (which Grant loves) and after 2 or 3 bites grant decided he was done and wanted to play. Now, good mothers would not let their children go and play then come back and eat several times - but that is the battle I choose not to fight yet and let him...but tonight he just played. I asked him to come and eat but he refused. We moved on to Ice cream, which he asked for, but I said No, had to have spaghetti first. Didn't seem to phase him much.

Went on playing...asked for Milk - my response...after Spaghetti. (don't feel to sorry for the kid - the reason he wasn't eating spaghetti was because he had already had a cup of milk and juice between coming home and dinner.) I just felt I couldn't give into this one or he wouldn't eat anything we fixed. He went on to ask for everything under the sun - pop tarts, ice cream, cookies, etc. Finally around 8 pm I gave him the choice of a banana or spaghetti. At this point, I was now thinking of me...knowing a full tummy sleeps better than an empty tummy. He ate it in about 2 minutes. He then wanted more....my response....SPAGHETTI!...his response, OKAY!!!

He ate over half the bowl!!!! Very minor, but in my little world of battles with him - I feel I just won the gold medal!

What shall my battle for tomorrow be.........

We Made It

2009-05-18T21:58:00.002-04:00

Yes, we made it back home after a 10 day trip to Illinois. Not just Grant and I returned to the "not so sunshine state", but my 90 year old grandma "gria" came to stay the week as well. Jon's off to Phoenix - interesting timing if you ask me!? We did great through the airport, the plane ride was awesome - Grant fell asleep even before we took off. Been settled in for a day now and I think all is still going well. I will try to post some of the pictures from our FUN in Illinois over the next couple of nights.

I'm headed to Orlando for a presentation tomorrow so not a late night of posting for me!

If you're lucky, maybe I'll even take some pictures of our FL fun this week with Gria!

oh, the comment about not so sunshine state....nothing but rain all week. I haven't seen so much rain and gloom since.....well, since I left Illinois a couple of days ago! :)

Before....and After

2009-05-05T21:59:00.005-04:00

So these pictures are long over due - but wanted to give you some glimps of what you'll see when you come and visit...I'll show some before's - meaning saturday night when we unloaded the truck compared to after's - after my parents had unpacked everything! (thanks again Mom-mom and Pop-pop!)

Before

Master Bedroom

After
Master Bedroom

Before

Living Room

After

Living Room

Before - Kitchen

After - Kitchen

Just use your imagination on this one...

Picture all of the boxes gone, dishes done, clutter put away

(I promise this will look better when you're here)

Before

Family Room

After

Family Room

Before

Dining Room

After

Dining Room

Before

Clothes

After

Clothes

Grant's Room

Guest Room...excuse me - Your Room

Working on getting a calendar up on blog so you can see

when it's available for you to come down.

Lanai

Pool!

Yes, It's warm and ready for you to swim in!

Well folks, hope you enjoyed a tour of our new home!

We're settled in and looking for visitors!

Let me know when you want to come and I can make sure your room is available!!

One of My Favorite Things....

2009-04-30T21:59:00.003-04:00

So I've been thinking about all of the things I can love about being in Florida.....

It has only rained 15 minutes since we've moved here - that's different from up home right now.
We now have a pool that we can swim in whenever we want
It's very sunny and warm
We're actually able to spend time together as a family
We can go to Disney World very easily

All of those things are things I love about Florida - But i think one of my FAVORITEST is.....

(I know Favoritest is not a word)

(not great picture, I know)

DIET SWEET ICED TEA!!!

It's awesome!!!

You have to try it when you're here - I know we'll have some!

Reasons Why I Don't Take More Pictures....

2009-04-30T21:51:00.003-04:00

Too hard to keep the camera away from Grant.....

Grant's First Boo-Boo

2009-04-30T21:40:00.003-04:00

As a boy, Grant has gotten his fair share of bumps and bruises. However, Tuesday night we got our first full blow Boo-Boo while at the "climb". (Climb is what Grant calls the playground across the street.) We go nightly and have a routine of games we play - Tuesday the game of race didn't end as well as he'd hoped. Once he saw blood coming to the surface he was done...we came home to wash it and now proceed to wash it every couple of hours. The picture doesn't do it justice, but you can see it's a little strawberry-ish.

1 Day Down

2009-04-26T21:26:00.000-04:00

So we've survived our first day alone in Florida. I think there were a few tears from everyone - but all for different reasons! :)

I think this might be a typical Sunday for us - Church, Lunch, Nap, Grocery Shopping, Jeep Ride to someplace fun (tonight was to City Pier at Anna Maria Island), home, bath, bed. It was a great day!

We even managed to squeeze in a good game of Tower!!

As mentioned in my very first post - I'm horrible about taking pictures - so no pictures of our jeep ride, the beach, the resturant or anything cool like that - just got a couple of "tower"!! :) Maybe I'll get better at this....

Armadillo

2009-04-26T21:19:00.001-04:00

So we have offically seen our first Armadillo - dead in the middle of the road, but none the less - they are around here. Not for sure how I feel about this yet.....

Let me know if you see one in your neighborhood - the one we saw looked something like this...

2nd B'Day

2009-04-26T21:12:00.000-04:00

I can't believe he's already two - he's changed so much!

This was one of his favorite gifts!

Thank you everyone!!

Dexter's getting so big too!

Grant and Aunt Amy -

I won't even tell you how many tries it took to get this picture...

I'll just say this wasn't the first one.

Thank you to everyone - Grant had a great 2nd Birthday Party!

Just Learning - forgot pictures from previous!

2009-04-24T22:36:00.000-04:00

Backing Up a Little...

2009-04-24T22:27:00.000-04:00

Easter 2009

Didn't even think about taking pictures until end of day - read previous post about not taking pictures.

Some of you may be thinking how bad could end of day really been...

Up at 5 am

At church at 6 am to help cook breakfast for church

9:30 am on way to Springfield, IL for lunch

12:00 lunch in Petersburg

1:30 visiting old home towns up in that area

3:00 head for home

5 pm - realize no pictures from today - yes, that is the time to get a 2 year old to pose for a picture - NOT!

so, one of Jon and I and one of Grant - ENJOY!

Welcome to our life

2009-04-24T22:01:00.001-04:00

So I've always said that once we move to Florida I will start a blog so everyone can keep up with what we're doing. I've decided to at least honor my comment, but I can't guarantee how long it will last, but for starters...

We've been here almost one week (one day short of)....and it already feels like home. I'm sure having 1/2 of our stuff here a month ago helped and the fact that my parents have been here to help un-pack, clean, take care of Grant, cook, etc hasn't hurt that welcome feeling.

Mom and Dad leave Sunday morning so I'm sure we'll get a taste of being real parents again after that. While there is so much to do around here - I think we're just hoping for a nice relaxing day around the house.

In addition to new stories about Grant I'll try to post pictures of the house, things were doing and anything that Grant does that I get a picture of. I will go ahead and share upfront - I'm horrible about taking pictures. I've always relied on my sister for taking great picture of my child...she's done awesome at that and is just one more thing I'm going to miss about her being all the way up in Illinois....maybe she can move down here....there are hospitals here too!

We'll I should end this first post - heck it might be the last (but I'll try for it to not be...)
Maybe pictures very soon, we'll see if I catch on to this Blogging thing....