Wii Sword Fighters

John has gotten quite skilled at operating the Wii. His favorite game is 'Swordplay' - he consistently clears the bridge of opponents in 'hoard' mode.

Christopher has gotten quite skilled at doing whatever John is doing!

Thank You, Naomi...

...for taking good care of our little tomato plants!!

Are Luke and Darth At It - AGAIN??

Julie captured some nifty light sabers during her Thrift Store outing in Charlotte this weekend.
Naturally, the fighting broke out as soon as they were in the hands of the Jedi's...

Chips Mountain, SC

We had 7 cubic yards of chips delivered for John & Christopher's play yard.
The Jedi immediately climbed to the summit...

Look, Ma - No Hands!!

Garfrerick's Cafe

On our way to Clemson, we carefully plotted our course and timing so as to arrive at Oxford, Alabama in time for lunch at Garfrerick's.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Garfrericks-Cafe/94748901732

It is our favorite cafe in all Alabama - we try to eat there whenever we can. They have wonderfully interesting dishes, made from home-grown meats and vegetables from Mr. Garfrerick's own farm, and presented simply but elegantly.

One of us ordered spanikopita with green salad:

 And another of us ordered a filet mignon burger.

Yummy!

Lynnie & Friends

Dick and Carol's daughter Lynnie came to spend the week with them. She helped them with their food planning and lots of other things.

Tent

When we go to Clemson to spend time with John Michael while he is on Spring Break from his pre-school, we plan to go camping at a nearby Corps of Engineers campground. So, we needed a tent.
Thanks to Craigslist, we found one at a reasonable price. We think it should be big enough for the three of us. (Christopher will still be going to his pre-school.)

With rain fly in place ...

But it won't rain, will it???

Naomi and Danielle Spend the Night

Naomi enjoyed pasting 'sticky-ons' on the windows.

Mimi and Danielle practiced drinking with a straw.

Don't they both look proud of themselves?

Later, Naomi practiced 'sand surfing' on our new sand hill (until it gets flattened into a sand box.)

By the end of the day, Danielle was not feeling very well. The next day she had strep throat.

Buddies

Linda and Jon had a lot of items left over from their 'downsizing' garage sale. So we offered to take it all off their hands and donate it to the CMA garage sale and the E3 garage giveaway.

There was quite a bit of stuff.

But it all packed up neatly in the van and Great Grandad's new trailer.

Thanks, Jon & Linda!!

Great Grandad Visits Orchard Park

GGD went to see the new Senior Living facility where he is planning to move next.
He was greeted by his friend Sharon, whom we became friends with at Stonefield Assisted Living, his previous home.

He also was greeted by another friend from Stonfield, who is now working at Orchard Park.
Small world.

Grass To Garden: Driveway Planting Bed

After 4 years of study and discussion, we finally moved ahead on the 'do something with the sloping patch of weedy grass next to the driveway' project.

We started by detaching the fence panels and wiring them up to the neighbor's fence. This gave us access to the space behind the fence posts, provided storage for our fence, and partially hid the neighbor's fence. We were surprised about how much the extra 18 inches opened up the space.

 This is looking toward the street. The gray bricks on top of the red retaining wall are temporary. They will be used to make a pad for the trash bins. Later. Some day.

We got 3 cubic yards of 'soil blend' from the Plano/Collin County recycling plant. They take in yard waste and turn it into mulch and other garden products, and sell it.

Mimi was ready to do her part unloading the trailer!

Here's the view back toward the shed, after filling in with the new soil.

... and the view toward the front.

We can hardly wait to plant some veggies and flowers!

Meet

Gaylord Texan

We (finally!) got visit the Gaylord Texan thingy - thanks to our friends Carol and Dick Best (see them in the background.

 This is them in front of the mosaic fountain wall at the Texan Grill restaurant, where we had a yummy lunchner on the way home from DFW. Thanks, Dick and Carol!

Daffodils in the Dark

Since Jessica showed off her Spring flowers, I thought it proper that we should do the same. Except when I thought of it, it was dark outside. Not to be deterred, here is a photo of our daffodils - at night.

Pancake Day - 2011

Today we celebrated Pancake Day (aka Shrove Tuesday - thanks, Jessica, for calling it to our attention!) We began with authentic almost home-made ingredients.

Batter complete - all natural, no artificial sweetners.

First cake onto the skillet.

Add all the tasty enhancements - all natural, no MSG.

Enjoy the fruits of our labor!

Of course, we being us, we each had to make our own version, in our own way, on our own time.

Blueberry (the nasty looking ones), pecans, and cranberries... yum!

We ate separately, too. Of course.

(First to Blog!!)