The Apple Doesn't Fall Far.....

I have really got to get better at this blogging thing.  Time gets away from me and the next thing I know another week has passed!  I'm going to brag on my kids once more and I promise to stop - well for a little while at least!

Zachary has won honorable mention in a poster contest for "Fire Prevention Week" - like - for the whole city!  It was extra credit, but he wanted to do it anyway.  I think only 3 people in his class even did it.  Next thing we know, Mr. White (his principal) came to Charles' office with a fax that told him his poster was one of 1,500 chosen from the whole city!  It will be framed and will hang in the Memphis Fire Museum for one year, then given back to him to keep.  He was so excited!  He gets to go to a special luncheon at the Chickasaw Country Club too!  This made up for his slump after the karate tournament.  This reminded me of when I was in 6th grade and won 3rd place in a "Law Week" poster contest.   I got to go downtown to a luncheon with the Mayor (Wyeth Chandler at the time - some of you will have no idea who that is - yes I'm old).  Somewhere there is a picture of me with him....maybe I can dig it up.  Believe me - that poster was no work of art.  I'm sure Zachary did an amazing job on his - you know he IS his father's child!  I never saw it - it is best for special projects to be left at Daddy's office where little hands (a.k.a. Sarah & Ava) cannot get to them.   

Speaking of "little hands" -- the girls have done a good job of staying dressed this week.  I hope this is a trend that has passed!  They are so funny....Sarah is singing her "ABC's" like a champ (with the exception of l-m-n...gets a little blotchy there!) and Ava amazes me at just how much she understands.  I think I underestimate her !  She's so tiny that I tend to forget how old she really is.  (She is 16 months old and still wears 12 month clothes...thus the nickname "Itty Bitty"!)  She goes to the tub when you mention a bath, goes to her room when she's ready for bed, she'll put something up if you ask her to.....and her favorite word right now is "NO!"  Ask if she is hungry -- "NO!"  Ask if she is ready to get in the car -- "NO!"  Now, if she really means no, then you get "NONONONONONO!"  I took the girls to see my grandmother this past weekend and Ava's little face lit up like a candle when she saw my grandmother.  She looooooves her!  Well - all my kids do -- she is so great with them.  It is sad to see how her health is going down (she has a cancerous cyst on her pancreas).  There was a time a few years ago when the boys would go stay a day or two with her, but that is out of the question now.  She is barely able to stay by herself.  I had taken some things to her house to make dinner for her so that she would have something to eat on for a few days and it made me sad to think how much things have changed over the years.  When I was little, I loved weekends because we would go to my grandparents house and cook-out steaks.  They were sooooo good!  We would have baked potatoes and salad too.  I always thought she made the best salad ever -- then I realized it was her dressing I liked.  She always bought that Thousand Island dressing that came in the jar -- the thick stuff.  When I spent the night, she made a breakfast to feed an army.  She was always up & moving & could not stand to sit still.  She loved to cook and always made more than we could eat.  Now, everyone else is taking care of her.  It really stinks to grow up...  

Well, like I said, I hope to get better at keeping up with my blog.  The girls alone give me enough material to write about!