Nana's Pre Op

Nana had her pre operation appointment today at the Opthamologist office. She has a servere cataract in her left eye where she is totally blind from it and a "partial" (but still growing) cataract in her right eye. The good news is that cataract is curable with surgery. With that in mind, Nana will have her eye surgery next Thursday, September 18th - please pray for a successful surgery and pain-free recovery !! The prognosis with this kind of surgery is great - she may not have to wear glasses !! I can't imagine my mother not wearing glasses !!!!

Nana getting her blood pressure checked.

Nana getting her cataract and eyes measured.

Nana getting an ultrasound on her eye -- testing the pressure behind her eye.

And then we ended this visit by watching a brief video of what to expect on the day of surgery.

If you'd like to know more about eye cataract, click on the link below.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cataracts/DS00050/DSECTION=symptoms

"Miss Thang"

Today, September 11, 2008, is a "day of remembrance" at Jordi's school. So, she decided to dress in red, white, and blue ...... "with a little bling" (in her words) So, I nicknamed her "Miss Thang" ha ha



When we got outside, we noticed all of these small baby frogs in our driveway. Since all of the rainy days from Hurricane Fay to Hurrican Ike, our front "ditch" has been filled with water. Over the weeks we've been monitoring the tadpoles and I guess today was the day they "dropped" their tails and started hopping about. They are soooooooooo small !!

Study, Study, Study ....

Well, we've certainly had to adjust to 5th grade and the amount of homework this year. Jordan is required to read out loud for 30 minutes each night 6 days per week (yes, Saturdays, too!!) and then write a summary & connection point of what she just read. This usually takes 1 hour total each night. She also for the first time changes classes during the day (only once equalling two teachers but it has still been an adjustment) Her second teacher (math, science) is male. This is the first time she's had a male teacher -- she's adjusting to that too (he apparantly doesn't write the homework assignment on the board -- so, I told her that the minute he "says" the assignment to write it down -- when she did this she was told to put her pencil down??) Which means she has to "memorize" her homework assignments for math and science. This past weekend we had a "study marathon" because this teacher announced they would have a science test on Tuesday. She now knows the definitions to the words... Mitochondria, Cytoplasm, Chloroplasts, Vacuoles, Ribosomes, Lysosomes, Endoplasmic Reticulum, Cell Wall, Cell Membrane, and more. She knows the criteria of the cell theory and the 5 kingdoms of the cell and their criteria (Animal, Protists, Plant, Bacteria, Fungi -- kingdoms) We spend at least 2.5 to 3 hours each night on homework. Is it just me or does this seem like an awful lot !!!!!!

With all that said, she seems to be getting it and for the most part doesn't seem to be overloaded. At night, when she starts getting "burned out" -- we get up early the next morning to finish. This picture of her reading her "30 minutes" was taken this morning at 5:45 am.

It's A Dog's Life.....

Is this what they mean when they say

"it's a dogs life"?

Sure looks good to me !!

A Big But !!!!

Well, my father-in-law didn't waste anytime getting busy for the Lord after his retirement! My mother-in-law mailed me their church newsletter that congratulated PawPaw as the new Care Minister for their church family. Their responsibilities will be to visit and pray for the hurting folks of their church and possibly their community (hospital visits, etc) The newsletter had a great "bio" of him. And many may not know that he was ordained a Baptist minister in 1989. (He married my husband and me !!) Well, on the back of the newsletter was a little "blurb" that my father-in-law wrote. Here it is ................

A BIG BUT

During my recent retirement ceremony, I made a few observations. Not to seem morbid, but it occurred to me that retirement ceremonies are very similar to funerals.

1. There is a gathering of your loved ones, family & friends.
2. There is a program with your picture on it.
3. There is a brief synopsis of your life,(bio).
4. There is listed, a beginning date and ending date.
5. There is a preacher and a prayer.
6. Beautiful songs are rendered.
7. Flowers are presented.
8. Eyes get misty and maybe a few tears are shed.
9. Many kind words are spoken of you, (some of them are true).

BUT........

At your retirement you can rise up and THANK GOD... your family, friends, coworkers, etc. Do that daily!! While you have a chance! While there is life still in you!

For there is an ultimate retirement for all men; where we will face the only true BOSS and we will be rewarded for the work we have done. He has two retirement plans - forever with Him or forever separated from Him. Please choose the former !!

Jordan decided she no longer wanted to play basketball but wanted to give tennis a try !! So on Tuesdays and Thursdays she has tennis lessons with about 8 other kids in her class. So far she really likes it. Tshombe played tennis in highschool and over the Labor Day weekend took her to play for a few hours -- they had a good "daddy/daughter date" !!

Universal Lesson !!

Everyone has learned this lesson the HARD WAY !! Remember sucking all the air out of your milk glass and letting it hang off your mouth??? And when you took it off, you had this HUGE "hickey" ring around your mouth that lasted for days and everyone in the 4th grade laughed at you??? (ok, maybe it was just me !!) Anyway, while mindlessly watching TV -- Jordan decided to suck all the air out of a tiny squirt bottle and let it hang off her upper lip -- and guess what -- it left a "hickey" ring !!! HA HA HA

Water Damage From Fay

Well, at first we thought we didn't have any water damage from Tropical Storm Fay but today I found out otherwise. I was cleaning the house this morning and stepped in a wet spot and thought that someone had spilled a drink without telling anyone -- but before I started yelling, I got down and looked under our futon and the "wet spot" was the entire half of the carpet underneath the window in our office. Yep -- water damage. Well, the handy man came over and ripped up the carpet to let it air dry for a few days. So, it's not THAT bad !!!!

The Next Martha ??

So, today is the second day (of the first week of school!!) that she has been home all day because of Tropical Storm Fay. So..... she decided she wanted to make a shirt! And here it is !! Kind of cute, huh??

Tropical Storm Fay Hits Flagler Beach !!

Alright, call us nuts but we wanted to see what Tropical Storm Fay was doing to our beach before she came in full-throttle. Nana & I stayed in the car but the other 3 "storm trackers" went out to greet Fay!!!!

3rd Day of 5th Grade !!

And here's Jordan on the 3rd day of 5th grade !! Why is she at home ??? Because schools are closed for Tropical Storm Fay to pass through !!! This is the first state we've ever lived in where they didn't have "snow days" but instead they have "hurricane days" !!!!!

1st Day of 5th Grade

Well, here's Jordi on her first day of 5th grade !! She's excited and rearing to go ! She's happy to go back to school !!

Jordan Turns 11 Years Old !!!!!

Happy Birthday, Boo !! Jordan turned 11 today. She invited her cousins, Christopher and DJ along with her BFF, Francesca to the Daytona Lagoon. It is a water park and arcade. Unfortunately the water park was rained out so we spent the day in the "dry attractions" playing.......


LAZER TAG......

MINI PUTT GOLF....

ROCK WALL......

TONS & TONS OF VIDEO GAMES.....

TICKETS FOR PRIZES !!!

A SCAVENGER HUNT AT HOME....

ICECREAM CAKE WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY .....

AND A KISS FOR THE BIRTHDAY GIRL FROM MOM & DAD !!!

Boys Will Be Boys !!

Christopher & DJ are brothers (they are also two of Jordan's cousins). They went to her birthday party at Daytona Lagoon and cashed in their tickets that they won playing games for two swords !! And here is the result........an impromptu samari warrior sword battle!)

Wake Up Sleepy Heads !!

Wake Up !! I went in to wake Jordan up for church & this is what I found.... two zonked out girls ! I'm not sure which one looks more comfortable ?!?!

Wipe Out !!

The top video is of Oreo at the beach the other day. She would swim all the way out to Jordan & Francesca, turn around and ride the waves !!

Later that day, Oreo was too pooped to pop!! Notice she couldn't make it to her bed (only inches away from it !) she was sooo tired!! Tshombe shot this video of her -- he thought it was so funny that she was tired from a day at the beach!

Sea Turtles & Summer Fun !!

These are turtle nests !! And anyone who crossses the lines has to pay a hefty fine !! We're hoping to be around when they hatch!

Here's Jordan and her BFF Francesca ridin' the waves !!

20 Leagues Under The Sea.... & Into Jordan's Mouth !!

After Paw Paw's retirement ceremony, the family went to a Chinese Buffet where Jordan found fried Squid -- yum, yum!!

Bye, Bye Tension !! Hello, Pension !!

This past weekend, my favorite Father-In-Law, Ernest Scott Robinson RETIRED !! He worked close to two decades at the Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, AL. (yes, he drove from Birmingham, Al where he lives all those years -- talk about "can't find good help these days"!)


Here he is opening gifts...he loves crossword puzzels ! Look at the clock closely (Nana gave him the clock -- tee hee !)


So, here is the couple who has withstood it all - over 40+ years !! Pretty impressive, huh?? We all asked how he was going to spend his time... he said he was going to take care of the long "Honey Do" list.... ha ha


But then again..... they might have other plans.....(tee hee hee !!)

Congratulations !!