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Just a reminder that Anthony is going to be doing some "truck farming" this summer.



He will have corn, tomatoes, and squash for sale.

He is working HIS side of the garden by himself - including running the tiller. He also bought all of his own plants and seed from the money he made from mowing the neighbor's yard. He INVESTED this money, hopefully to see a return in a couple of months.

What a great lesson in Economics...

Happy Easter (a week late)

What a beautiful day we had on Easter this year. It was sunny and warm and we got to spend time with both our families. 

Every year the kids have a scavenger hunt to find their Easter baskets. Of course it is a competition because EVERYTHING IS A COMPETITION and as usual the girls come out the winner. They are sent all over the yard looking for their clues, which are hidden in color coded plastic eggs. 

They are sent to the shed.

and looking around the trees...

and Holly won!!

When Anthony was looking for his last clue he was in the shed looking around the tractor.  He could NOT find this last egg.  He picked up a white garbage bag several times looking under it for his last clue.  What he didn't realize was that his last clue was actually the Easter basket inside this white garbage bag that he was holding.

Another thing they enjoy doing is the egg toss.  Since Momou and Papaw have an abundance of eggs that their chickens supply - we have to have several rounds of egg toss.  When Alex picks out the eggs, though, she gets a very small one for she and Holly and gets a big fat one for Anthony and Sy. 

It's all in the wrist.  And the hips.  And the soft touch on the catch.

Her theory with the small egg worked for a little while but then it hit the table and not even the small egg could withstand a blow like that.  

This was not a successful catch for Anthony either.  The boys started throwing them like baseballs.  I am pretty sure there should have been some bruising the next day. 

I do think Holly looks like Shawn Johnson, who is on Dancing with the Stars this season, but she may need to work some on her form.  And her partner.

Hope you had a happy Easter, too!!

Stone House

Over Spring Break Alex talked Momou into taking them on a hike. They went to a stone house that Momou had been searching for with her hiking buddies. Once they found it they were eager to take the kids to show them. To get to this particular house you park at Sugarlands and walk from there.

Part of it has fallen down but you can still see the mantle, the cook stove, and some of the framing on the windows.

Tom and Charkie went and took their grandkids, too.

Growth Hormone Deficiency, Part 1

The real reason I decided to start a blog is because of this little girl who is no longer a little girl at all. This picture was taken in the Spring of 2000. Right after her well child visit with her pediatrician - her great pediatrician - Dr. Booher. She was all kinds of cute. She was three years old and T.I.N.Y. Not that we were alarmed, though, she doesn't come from a tall family. You can't expect mountains out of mole hills, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and all that. Luckily we had a doctor who didn't write her smallness off quite so quickly. When she went for her three year old well visit he asked us to come back in six months instead of one year to do a followup on her growth. When we came back after this six months she had barely grown any. Most kids grow several inches a year and she was measuring in at less than 1/2 an inch in a year.

He referred us to an endocrinologist, Dr. Nickels, at Children's Hospital. The first thing Dr. Nickels did is order an initial bone age x-ray and a blood test. Her bone age x-ray and blood test indicated that there needed to be further testing done. That further testing was a grueling day for her - and us. This test was a 4 hour stim test. She was given two different stimulants and they tested her blood every 30 minutes for four hours. By the end of the four hours and eight blood draws we were all crazy! (Miraculously she did not cry until the last one - she had finally had enough). What was determined in this test was that she was producing very little growth hormone. Not enough to sustain normal growth. The next test they wanted to do on her was an MRI because this lack of growth hormone production could be caused by a tumor on her pituitary gland or a pituitary gland that was not formed correctly. The MRI showed that her pituitary gland was formed correctly and was producing everything properly EXCEPT FOR GROWTH HORMONE.

Happy 12th Birthday Alex!

On Friday Alex celebrated her birthday with a couple of her favorite friends (never mind that her birthday was almost two months ago) - better late than never, I say... She wanted to wait until the Hannah Montana movie came out and see it with her friends. On Friday we picked up Hope and Lendi and our first stop was for a manicure. The girls picked LOVELY Easter colors (blue and green) with some funky designs on their thumbs. While they were getting their manicures a man came in to get a pedicure and they thought that was CRAZINESS. He had his jeans rolled up to his knees and they were pointing and whispering and snickering. Never had they thought about a man getting a manicure or a pedicure. There must to be something wrong with him.

Aren't those beautiful colors??? They blended right in with the table at El Jimador, where we had lunch, so they had to put a napkin under their hands so their nails would show up.

After manicures and lunch we went to see the Hannah Montana movie. Loved it!! I love a day out with the girls. The only thing better would be if their momma's had gone, too.

Dowsing

On Sunday afternoon, Anthony, Alex, Holly, Sy, and Kendra learned how to dowse. What, you might ask, is dowsing? Dowsing is a way to find underground water using "dowsing sticks." Don't ask me how this works but it does. (Sounds like a good science fair project!) They used two long metal sticks with an L-shaped bend in the end. Holding it lightly in their hands they began walking. When they got close to a water source the sticks slowly started to drift towards each other. When they crossed, they were directly over the water source.

I was a little skeptical so I had to try it myself. I thought since they knew where the water source was that they were letting the sticks cross. It really surprised me but you can feel a definite pull on the sticks when you start getting close to the water. You should try this!!

The New Additions

Tell me how cute this little bundle is!!

'Bout as cute as this little bundle!

They are twins that were born this morning on my dad's farm. Notice how one has nice, slick, clean hair? Momma cleaned that one. Momma don't like multiples. This is her third set of twins and with both of the previous sets she chose to only feed one of the two. My dad (Papaw) spent a lot of time with the other two rejects - Dixie and Tippy. They bonded well with him. Tippy still thinks she is a dog.

Here's Momma. She looks like a good Momma, and she is. To one baby at a time. She has been locked in a stall with both her babies to see if she can be forced to love them both. If she chooses not to - one of her babies will be forced to bond with Papaw. Again.

And here is the proud Daddy. He is no help at all.

I will keep you posted on this family's progress...

My FIrst Track Meet

I have finally attended my first track meet that was held at Lenoir City Middle School. This is Anthony's first time running track and he really enjoys it. He "does" the long jump, the 800 (1/2 mile), and the mile. I have a new appreciation for him - I was winded carrying my chair to the other end of the track. It's an adjustment to me getting used to a sport with no score board but they do keep a tally of the points and there is an overall winner - so I can relate.

The one thing that was confusing to me, though, was in the open 800, they pull the fastest runner from each school out to the front and give them a head start. This troubles me. I think to be fair you would pull the slowest runner to the front for the head start. It is not much of a head start but it is 6 or 8 feet and every little bit helps.

Not only is it encouraging to see SO MANY kids in shape enough to run these distances but I was tickled to see their sportsmanship. When the kids from different schools were lined up beside each other they were chattin' and telling each other good luck.

So, aside from the wind and the rain I am gonna love the track meets and can't wait to go to another one.

Jamboree 2009

Today was Alex's first softball game of the season and they won 4-0. I love watching my kiddos play sports.

And she loves the Italian Ice.

April Fool's Day

Not an April Fool's Day will go by that I do not think of this sweet, kind, thoughtful, mischievous, ornery, and sneaky lady. One of her FAVORITE (and I do mean favorite) holidays was April Fool's Day. She would plan for weeks, even months preparing for this one day. Beginning in February or March she would decide who her target for this year would be and she would put a lot of thought into how she was going to GET them this year. And believe me, she got someone every year.

Some years were much better than others but there are a few that I chuckle at now when I think of them. One year in particular she drove to the barn where my dad was working (way before cell phones) to tell him that one of his friends, Jerry, was trying to reach him because he needed help at his house. So, my dad drove to Jerry's house where they talked for several minutes, both wondering what the other was doing. Finally, Dad asked Jerry what he needed, explaining that this dear sweet lady had instructed him to come help. Jerry didn't need help. With confusion, they decided that maybe she had the wrong name, and that instead of Jerry needing the assistance it may have really been Donny. So, they both decided to check on Donny to see if they might be able to help him. The same scenario occurred at Donnie's house - it wasn't him that called either. When she was asked who they were supposed to be helping she told them. It was April, April Fool's!!! She particularly loved this one because it went even further than she had anticipated, getting three men involved. All in a day's work.

Another one that she considered a personal best was one that she was able to get on her oldest son. When her son came to visit with her on this afternoon she told him that his wife had called and had asked him to bring her a 5 gallon bucket of cow manure. Not asking questions and just doing as he was told, he got a 5 gallon bucket, traipsed around the barnyard shoveling manure, filled his bucket full, and proudly took it home. To his new house. Where his wife met him with "What are you doing bringing cow manure home!?" April Fool's!!!

She loved being able to GET people on April Fool's Day but much to her dismay it became harder and harder. She blamed it all on television. She claimed, "You have to get someone really early in the morning now because they talk about it too much on TV." You can only be a successul April Fooler if your targets are unsuspecting.

Mammy died in September of 2006. When my mother was cleaning out her house she found a stamped envelope addressed to Anthony. In it was... NOTHING. Pretty sure he was to be a target for her next April Fool's Day prank.

So Mammy, on this and every April Fool's Day I will think of you and wonder what you would be doing this year.