Rare affection

What used to be more of the "hate" part of a love-hate relationship between sibling cats Molly & Hunter has softened over the past year, allowing for moew photo ops like these.

It's puzzling...

Some friends of ours gave Nathan a puzzle for Christmas with the little guy's name on it. He was able to put it together al by himself.

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Christmas Merriment

And since I've been on a picture posting rampage on this blog as of late, I'll continue with a few shots from Christmas Day. Nathan's big Santa present this year was a Nintendo DS, while Sharon got an Mp3 player (and a snuggie!). I got some gift cards from my favorite places, several DVDs and a Transformer I'd been wanting. Nathan, of course, had no shortage of Transformers, Legos, Bakugan, and other toys as well. It was a great year, although, for the first time in many years, we actually spent all of Christmas Day at our house in Mooresville instead of doing any traveling to Kings Mountain. We missed seeing some folks, but it was nice not having to run around that day. We, as always also spent some time at Sharon's moms the week before.

Transforming into six

Here are a few pics from the little guy's sixth birthday party, also earlier this year.

Little Pilgrim

I'm a little late posting these, but the little guy had a couple of programs at school that were very good. In fact, he was offered a lead part, but he turned it down (Ah, the humility! or probably just apathy) Still the outfits were really cool, so I thought I would post them here.

Seagull Snacks

Just a quick video from the fun and frivolity of the outing to the beach today.

Making our mark

During what is becoming our annual trip to the "Propitious Niche" Condo at the Sanctuary a False Cape resort during the winter, we decided to "make our mark" by writing our name on the beach so we could see it from our unit. We also fed the seagulls today and had some general fun on the beach.

Last night we were able to visit with our former Pastor, David Slayton and his family in Chesapeake. We had a great time laughing and catching up.

Tonight we're meeting with our friends the Johnsons and going to supposedly a very good Mexican place they've discovered. We're also going to try to catch a movie.

Big Pig

Nathan and the big pig at Hendrix BBQ in Salisbury.

The Real Deal

Tonight, against my will, the little guy drug me to McDonalds while Sharon was away. I'm now glad I went. In addition to the vastly superior Happy Meal toys they always have, there was a celebrity guest: that's right the big guy himself....NO NOT ME. Santa. The jolly old elf was sitting across the restaurant from us. Now I've heard rumors of this "Mooresville Santa" and have seen him at Gail's (my fav restaurant in town) before. This is apparantly more than just a guy with a beard. Both times I've saw him, he's had red pants on. I mean, what kind of self-respecting guy wears red pants and red suspenders for no apparant reason? (Okay other than maybe Adam Lambert) A few kids laughed and pointed, and he gave Nathan a little wave. Nathan was beside himself with a quiet excitement. Nathan even went up to another child in the restaurant and loudly proclaimed, "There's Santa over there." After Santa finished his sandwich of choice (wish I could have saw what it was, after all if it's good enough for Santa...), he put a finger to the side of his nose (okay, he didn't do that), spoke to a few children and left. After he left, I told Nathan to go over to where he was sitting and look for reindeer dust. He did and proclaimed "I found some. It's black!" It must be the real deal, because who else could it have been? We then scampered out to the parking lot and checked the skies for signs of Rudolph, but alas it was too cloudy. Never would have pictured Santa as a McDonalds guy...

Super Rester

Nathan got an award for being a super-rester in his Kindergarten class today, rewarded to kids who behave nicely in naptime. He gets that skill from his dad, cause I'm also a master napper.

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Leaf me alone!

If you saw the previous post, I guess I need to reedeem myself by saying I'm not all work and no play. As you'll see through these pics and videos, we can have a little fall fun as well.

Put your toddler to work

When the leaf blower gets to be too much work, delegate...

Arrrrrrrrrr!

Last night our church had its fall festival...Trunk or Treat. Nathan dressed up as a pirate this year because we could not find a Stormtrooper outfit in his size (his first choice - and he was specific too - not a clone trooper but a STORM trooper) Okay, Mr. Star Wars Purist! Anyway, we had a great time, despite the rain coming in heavy about 3/4 way into the night. I was busy helping out with registration, but I did get to float a round and see some of the goings-on. Early indications seem to show that despite the rain we probably doubled last year's numbers, we're not sure.

Photo Shoot 2009

Every year around the little guy's birthday, we try to take him for a photo-shoot. This year was no exception. The pictures truned out really good, as indicated above. We, like last year, bought the release from the studio so that we could legally post them on the web to share with others. Nathan has learned how to "fake-smile" which he tried to get by with in some of the photos. We were able to get him to put on the real deal for a few of them though. Our favorite is the one seated indian-style with the sepia edges. I hope you enjoy these. He's really growing up!

Nathan's G.I.Joe Review

After seeing his dad watch many Transformers toy reviews on youtube, the little guy wanted to get into the act. Our original webcam mic was broken, so we got out the clunky headset, which actually makes the little guy look like a tv pitchman. This is actually the second take. The first was a review of some Transformers figures, but it got a little long-winded and out cat Hunter blocked the view much of the time. If I can get that edited, I may put that on here as well, too.

And yes I'm the mayor........

Cool shades

Because of Nathan's eyes being dialated, he got the "cool" sunshades to wear after leaving the doctor. He got a good report overall, though. Maybe just a bit far-sighted. We'll go back in a year to follow-up.

Dialation

Looks like the dialation drops are taking effect. We're at the pediatric eye doctor in Charlotte today for a checkup. A few years ago Nathan had signs of a little bit of a lazy eye, but it seems to be corrected now. We just got back from the dialation drops being put in. The little guy is not a fan of drops. It was funny. He tried to diplomatically talk the nurse out of giving them to him. He said something like "You know, I don't like eye drops." and then "I like the older kind oif drops better. I don't want these. "

Stair time

The cats love to help me do some of my physical therapy excercises I do on the stairs.

My view today

To treat my plantar fasciitis, I had electroshcokwave therapy done yesterday. Hopefully this will do the trick, but I'm going to have to wear this boot for the next month, which is something I didn't expect. Also, I have to be off my feet for 48 hours, which fortuately falls mostly on my day off, which gives me a very good reason to just take it easy.

"Fall" Training

Pepaw got the little guy a batting tee and ball several weeks ago and we got it out tonight just before sunset. Mom, Dad, & little guy all got swings. Here's a few bits of media definitely not quite ready for the ESPN highlight reel.

First Day at Kindergarten

Today was the little guy's first "official" day of Kindergarten. He jumped eagerly out of the truck this morning with Transformers bookbag and Spiderman lunchbox in hand and headed into Elementary School, where Sharon had been "re-employed" as a teacher's assistant again, this time in first grade. Most days Nathan will ride with Sharon to school and ride home with her on the bus she drives in the afternoon. However, today, Sharon drove an early bus and so I made the long commute amidst the horrific traffic to drop the little guy off (and a trip aftewards to Bojangles - shhh don't tell). It was a very rainy first day, but all reports from mom & the little guy seem to evidence that he had a good first day. He has actually been to the school twice already, once for an open house, and then a staggered entry day last Tuesday. Here are a few pics that mommy took.

Hendricks Tour Day

I recently reconnected with Angela Patterson Padgett, a friend from high school, who now works at Hendricks Motorsports. She gave our family a tour of the facility today that was really awesome. We got to go inside many of the behind-the-scenes areas where the cars are actually assembled and made race-ready. This was probably the last free day we had before the little guy and Sharon have to go back to school, so it was a great day with family and friends.

Buffalo Beals Pictures

Recently, Sharon took our little guy and and a few friends to the Buffalo Beals Animal Park in Maiden, NC. Here are a few photos from that adventure.

Twins & Jolt

Mommy (a.k.a. Sharon) allowed the little guy and I to have a "Daddy Day" since she was going to be out of town. So, the boys, had a great day seeing the new G.I.Joe movie, picking up a couple of the latest Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen characters - Ice Cream Twins and Jolt, playing video games, and ending the day with a meal at Pizza Hut (new wings there are really good, by the way). It was a great day.

Christmas Shop

I thought I would include a few pictures here from the 2009 GGBA Children's Choir Camp. This was my fourth year teaching sign language and helping out in the camp. Sharon was my assistant this time around, and we and our other assistant Ashley made a very good team. We brought 5 kids from Southside, including our own little guy. This was his first ever Children's Choir Camp. He chose to do the boomwhackers class and had a great time. We'll be going in a week to do the official premiere of "Christmas Shop Around the Corner" down in Spartanburg, SC for the Choral Festival Conference at FBC there.