Key West - More Spring Break Pictures

Here are some gift shop display stands in Key West. John Owen and his friend each bought one of these coconut dudes.
This is just a cool, and very colorful sign in town.
Here are John Owen and Joy posing by this very large conch shell.
You can get hours of entertainment from a fun house mirror! Gotta love 'em. This one is in the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum.
John Owen insisted I take a picture of this gigantic strawberry he was eating. It was actually four strawberries fused together. I will continue to post Key West pictures over the next few weeks, maybe. I will try to put quilty stuff in too, for those of you who are looking for that.
By the way, I have figured out how to make a toothbrush rug, and am starting a small one now. Such a cool way to use up undesirable fabric.
Julie

Key Largo, Florida - Spring Break 2009

Key Largo was glorious. The weather was perfect, the water was warm, the sun was bright. You can see for yourself what the sky looked like here.
We chartered a boat, the Aquarius, for snorkeling. They took us to a coral reef off the coast of Key Largo. It was a blast. Here is Joy enjoying the ride.
John Owen loved snorkeling and seemed to be an old pro at it.
Here I am standing by the water in Key West. It was such a beautiful place.e

This is Ann's Beach. It is actually on another key, Islamorada, Florida. We enjoyed the clear water and all the sea life. My kids got to catch sea cucumbers, hermit crabs, blue crabs, sea slugs, and all kinds of other animals. Of course, we released them after checking them out. The water was nice and warm. So luxurious....
Julie

Loser Monday

Yes, I lost 2.8 more pounds. This makes a total two week loss of 7.6 I think. Now, on to week three.
I am behind on some posts that I need to do, like a thank you post to Cathy for a gift that arrived from Australia. I took photos, but I am lazy about downloading them to my computer to blog about them. Cathy, I love the stuff, so do the kids, I am going to post soon!!!
My son is in Jekyll Island, Georgia, on a gifted field trip. He will be gone for 3 days. I know he is having fun. He loves animals and nature and this is right up his alley.

Sixth Grade Beauty

Here is my good news. My daughter, Joy, won Sixth Grade Beauty in the Vallerata pageant yesterday! I was so happy for her. She enjoyed herself and didn't get nervous at all. She just had fun. I don't believe that is my baby girl. Is it? She seems so grown up!

What is Vallerata, you might ask? It is a pageant held every year by our school, Valley High School. Joy was in the Junior Miss Vallerata Pageant, which is for the middle school girls. The sixth graders are the youngest group. Here she is with a sweet girl who is in one of my classes. Don't they look pretty together?

I just love this shot of John Owen looking at his sister. Some of my fellow teachers are peaking out from behind the column in the background. Here is my sister, Jo Ellen. She had a lot to do with Joy's success. Jo Ellen took Joy to have her hair and makeup done. She also bought Joy's shoes and some other necessities. Thanks, Mama Jo, for all your help!
Here is Joy with one of my friends and fellow teachers. She is such a fun person to be around and makes the job fun!!

Thanks for reading.

Julie

It's November! Congratulations, John Owen!!

Happy November to you. Here is the corresponding block from my Sunbonnet Sue Through the Year quilt. Isn't she cute?This is what I am really blogging about. My son, John Owen, had a pencil drawing entered in the local art show here at our local Community Center. We went over to see the show and found that he had won two ribbons!Here is the artist displaying his artwork and ribbons. I think he is very good. There is another art show in the spring and he is going to enter more artwork then. Here is a better photo of the artwork and ribbons. He is interested in architecture and likes to draw pictures of buildings or towns that he makes up. He also draws actual buildings that he has seen. He recently did his first commissioned artwork. His school asked him to draw a picture of their school and they are going to frame it and hang it in the school. What an honor!

John Owen's Trip and Good Plumbing News!

Here is a photo of John Owen at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He really had a great time and took so many pictures! He stayed with his Aunt Carol in Naples and she really kept him entertained. They went to Universal Studios, Kennedy Space Center, Islands of Adventure, a water park, and the beach. He was so excited and had so much fun that he never became homesick and, in fact, was not quite ready to come home at the end of the week! Thanks, Carol, for giving John Owen a week to remember.

And great plumbing news! My plumbing was fixed on July 4th!! It is amazing how wonderful it is to have free flowing water. That nasty smell coming up through the pipes is now gone! And, like Angela pointed out, I had a chance to organize that under the sink area in the kitchen. It is so much nicer now. The laundry room is also more organized. And, in more good news, my daughter is coming home from her two week trip to Hawaii tomorrow night. I can't wait to see that girl!

Julie

Travel Day

Traveling day was today! Today we all had to get up at 3 A.M. to have Joy at the Montgomery airport for her flight to Hawaii with People to People. I am including a picture of her acting silly a few days ago. I didn't bring my camera with me to the airport and so didn't get a photo of her with her People to People outfit on. They were a really great-looking bunch of kids though. She will represent us well, I am sure. As of this post, she still has not arrived in Hawaii. Her flight was delayed three times and they won't arrive now until after midnight (our time) but it will be about 7 P.M. local time in Hawaii.

Here is a photo of my son, John Owen (on the right), with a couple of his buddies. After we took Joy to the Montgomery airport, we had to travel to Atlanta to put him on a flight to Ft. Myers, Florida, for his weeklong visit to his Aunt Carol. Carol lives in Naples and will be taking John Owen to Universal Studios and Kennedy Space Center. He called me earlier and is very excited. They are already having a great time. It was a little weird putting him on that plane and leaving him there, but he was extremely excited and I know it is a good confidence-building exercise for him. Well, more later!

Julie