Paradise in the Pines

2007-04-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

Just testing to see if I can post here.

2006-08-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

I just thought that I would try a post here to see if it still worked. For some reason, when I log in as Marshall, Paradise In The Pines doesn't come up on his list of blogs. It only shows him as a member of RETRAVELS. I don't know what this means. Maybe Dawn or Sheryl could check theirs and see if they can post. There may be some problem with Blogspot. I am having trouble uploading photos.

2006-02-15T18:20:00.000-08:00

We are enjoying the nice February weather and have gotten some good rains in the past couple of weeks. More coming this week-end, we hear. BIG NEWS -- Travis has FINALLY learned to TIE HIS SHOE!! He wanted new shoes, but didn't want Velcro. We told him he could only get the tie strings if he would learn to tie his shoes. Suddenly he was highly motivated to learn!
Wow! I never know what kind of incentive it's going to take in order to get him to do something. Meredith sang a duet tonight at Common Ground, but I didn't get to hear her. When I went in, the speaker was already preaching, so I thought she had already sang. Fortunately, she performs enough that I still get to hear her often. Meredith has been asked to accompany an Hispanic children's choir at a local Catholic church for a few weeks until their regular accompanist returns(a few weeks). It's a pay job, but Meredith didn't know how much pay. Trevor started baseball on Monday. Rodney is fine. Cat and dog are fine. My attempts to e-mail Jason didn't work, but I hope he is doing well with all the snow and cold weather in the northeast. Trevor and I had a great time with Dawn and Greg and the girls on Sunday night and Monday. We researched Confederate soldiers to our heart's content.....well, I could have gone on a few more hours, but everyone else was getting tired after five hours!

Love, Sheryl

2006-02-01T09:40:00.000-08:00

I had a nice birthday yesterday. Like every other day, for the most part -- housework, and teaching, and a little time for genealogy. Then Rod came home early and Meredith made Chicken Stir-Fry for supper. Rod made rice and inadvertently melted a tupperware container that was sitting on a burner. From the other room, I commented on the stench, and Rod in his typical manner, assured me all was well. (Vesuvius could be erupting in our back yard and he would say "Don't worry, everything's fine!") Trevor made a cake, put it in the wrong size pan (on the advice of his father), so it ended up gooey in the middle. Travis wanted to decorate the cake with M&M's. There was discussion between Rod and the kids on how Travis should do this. It was decided that they would spell out my name in M&M's. Rod started helping from the end by spelling out "MOM" while Travis was working from the other end spelling out "SHERYL". The error was caught, adjustments made. The cake was covered with chocolate icing and M&M's, as was Travis. Then Travis announced that we needed "a whole BUNCH of candles!" I assured him that we did not have as many candles as I have years, but I did find one. He was happy to have one to light. He struck the match, and it broke. He knew where some stronger matches were, so located them, struck another match, lit the candle and in blowing out his match, blew out the solitary flame also. We started over again. It was an entertaining and enjoyable celebration.

About Trevor's paper on Vikings, after the electricity failed and he lost it all off the computer, he read me his notes and I retyped for him in about 20 minutes. He remembered most of what he had written and intended to write. All turned out well.

I got new cordless phones for my birthday and a CD holder for the visor of my van. Trevor felt this to be a priority. He has already "installed" it this morning. Now if I just had a CD of my own to put in it...... :-)

2006-01-26T11:45:00.000-08:00

Richard and Emily have friends visiting from N.D. We are enjoying their company for a few days.
The plan is for us to go out to dinner tonight. That should be good to. We all had dinner here last night. Just the usual: Pot Roast with potatoes and carrots, green beans, salad, pecan pie and chocolate pie.
My shoulder surgeon said my shoulder was 100% then said "actual it was well past that". Now if we can just get some of these other joints fixed maybe things will go better from now on.

Marshall

2006-01-25T08:27:00.000-08:00

Here they are. I thought I had included
the pic last post, but guess not. It's kind of hit or miss with me and the pictures on this blog. :-)

2006-01-25T08:23:00.000-08:00

Trevor and Midnight study together -- today they learned about the construction of medieval castles.

2006-01-25T04:08:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed the rain over the week-end. It didn't stop all day Sunday. Midnight is really growing. He isn't sleeping as much, but loves to play. He can't get good traction on the laminate floor, so when he tries to run, he ends up skidding and spinning around the room. Travis carries him on his shoulder and tells us to look at his "parrot". Meredith's classes are going well and she made an A on her first paper in English. She is working out permission with her teachers to be gone for the Mexico Mission trip next month. The youth choir will sing on Sunday night and Mrs. Sheffield asked Meredith last night to do a solo(!) Yikes! Not much prep time. Trevor is working on getting ready for baseball season which starts in a couple of weeks. He had misplaced his glove from last year, so had to buy and break in a new one. I think this is only the third glove he's had in all the years he's played.

Dad, you did goood on your post. Thanks for the news.

Love, Sheryl

2006-01-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

Just another perfect day. Cool and breezy all day. Went to exercise this AM and came home to work on the addition to the "Hotel Room". The bathroom is nearing completion with only cosmetic touches left to be done. Richard took his bath out there tonight and I suppose all went well.
Meatloaf for lunch (one of my favorites) along with mashed potatoes, mixed tomato salad, cornbread, and peas.
Went to The Woodlands this afternoon to pick up Michael's car. It has a number of problems, not the least of which is the water pump. Firestone wanted over $700 to fix it, so you know that was like waving a red flag in front of Richard. We worked on tearing it down until dark and then went to McKinsey's.
If this comes through it is credit to Richard for putting me on the straight and narrow about posting an original comment to our blog.
I go to the shoulder surgeon tomorrow for my long delayed follow-up. We will deliver Grace to her mother while we are down that way. Hate to see them go.
Bedtime at last;where are my pills?

Marshall

2006-01-22T17:35:00.000-08:00

This is a test of a new post

2006-01-21T21:46:00.000-08:00

It seems to me that it would be easier to read what everyone writes if they make a new post each time rather than comment to a post from several days ago. Am I the only one who thinks it would be less time consuming to not have to go back and check for comments that are made to a post that originated several days ago?

I read Sheryl's comment to Dad having surgery but had not yet heard that he was going ahead with it. Please update me. Was this written as a comment and I just didn't find it? I always feel like I'm a step behind everyone else.

Trying to keep up,
Dawn

2006-01-19T17:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the news on Jason. I'm glad today went better for him. I told my family that Dad was going to have knee replacement surgery in February. Rodney said, "Which knee?" Trevor said, "Replaced with what?" Rodney said, "Oh probably an elbow!"

2006-01-18T16:24:00.000-08:00

Travis' new kitten is adorable! I hope he is nicer than the white one you had 22 or 23 years ago.

2006-01-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Has anyone heard from Jason? If so, let me know.

We're all fine, except for Rodney who has an eye infection. He was at the doctor this morning, and is already feeling better after taking eye drops. Travis is testing today, so we will see how much he enjoyed school! I pick him up in 20 minutes. Meredith is off to work and then to class. She turned in her first English paper yesterday, and has a quiz in Spanish today.

Trevor and Midnight are doing Algebra. I thought y'all might enjoy the pics.

Love, Sheryl

2006-01-11T13:39:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the mis-posting of the pictures of Travis and Midnight. Dad, I hope you
did find them on Richard's blog. Richard, if you are reading this, please feel free to remove those
pictures as they are taking up a lot of room on your page. I must have had your blog open when I posted, instead of Dad's and didn't realize it. There wasn't anything to make it obvious. I uploaded from the dashboard page.....I think. I'm going to try again to post a picture, and see if it goes to the correct blog this time. (See pic on left! Success!)

Midnight is doing very well with us. He is possibly the most loving kitten I have ever been around. He lays in Trevor's lap upside down, stretched out on his back, or curled in a ball, all morning while Travis is at school. He mews and arches his back while rubbing against the kids' feet so that they will pick him up. Maggie has accepted (if not exactly embraced) Midnight as a new member of the family, although she does seem to be curious about why we are allowing this little "rodent" to have the run of our home and to sleep with her boys! Midnight is doing much better at using his litter box today, but yesterday it was like having a baby (a very FAST one!) running around the house with no diaper on! We are airing out and disinfecting today! We gave the kitten a bath, and although he didn't exactly like it, he didn't fuss too much. He is fluffy beautiful again now.

Meredith had her first Spanish II class today. She is one of NINE in the class, and all but two were in her class last semester. She starts voice lessons tomorrow. Travis and I have been preparing for his spelling test. He keeps trying to spell them out loud, "Is that F-R-O-W-N?", but assures me he won't do that tomorrow during the real test. Trevor and Meredith took
their test on Ancient Rome today. It was a challenging essay test. One made a 91 and one made 92. Veni, vedi, vici. Trevor wrote a good paper on gladiators. If I think of it, I'll send it to you on e-mail in a little while. I won't send as Word attachment since you are having trouble with Word. We are enjoying Netflix because of the good documentaries and historical things we have received. We got one on Pompeii and Vesuvius, and one on the life of a gladiator which was great. (Dawn take note!) Right now, we've got a good documentary on the Titanic, with interviews from several survivors, all of whom were, of course, young children when the disaster occurred. It also interviews Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreck. To my surprise, he sounded like a Texan! I had only read things by him in the past and not ever heard him speak.
Do you know where he is from?

Tonight is Travis' first night back at choir after the Christmas pageant. Rod is gone to Dallas for a few days. We will miss him. Let me hear how the bathroom project is going.

Sheryl

2006-01-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

Hello! Is anyone still reading this blog? We had a busy first day with Midnight as part of the family. He has had a couple of accidents and we draw straws for who has to clean up after him.
On the other hand, he has used his new "cat restroom", so there were high-fives all around for
the little successes. Travis loves his new kitten, and Maggie has accepted him with no problem.(Pics posted below, I hope!) Rod is working late tonight, and Meredith has gone to Praise Band practice then to a LETU-ETBU basketball game. The boys and I are home alone for the evening. Tomorrow Rodney leaves for a few days in Dallas -- flooring meeting or convention. Meredith started her English class today -- she likes the professor -- she talked a lot about the boy who sits next to her and introduced himself to her within the first minute. Travis has done better about going to school the last two days. No fussing. He forgot to line up with his class yesterday when it was time to come in from recess. I'm wondering when they found him......possibly just before I picked him up? Oh, well, I try not to worry.

Jason, Grace, Tracy, if you read this, know that we love you, congratulate you on your new job in the north country, and am sorry we won't get to see you before you leave.

Love, Sheryl

2005-12-14T09:14:00.001-08:00

It is ten days until Christmas. Just can't believe it. No wonder I'm getting so old. The days won't slow down. I've just about finished what little shopping I am going to do. Jason and family will
come for christmas day. We will have dinner at Janets. Cameron will be gone skiing.

Sheryl, the pictures of the kids were great. Maybe we will learn to send pictures someday.

It is raining today and a little dreary. Guess we will just stay in.

2005-12-14T09:14:00.000-08:00

2005-12-08T07:53:00.000-08:00

It looks like no one is posting to this blog but me. I'm sure everyone is busy right now. Meredith sang and played at Wed. night youth service last night. I found out by accident from her choir director, so snuck in to hear her. It was beautiful! She sang a Christmas song "All is Well". Travis did a great job in his pageant on Sunday. I saw the video last night and could see that he was fidgeting a bit on stage, but knew the songs and sang out. This morning he told us that he was too sick to go to school, and he just wanted to cancel school. (sigh) He may be back at home after Christmas. We'll see.
Meredith and Trevor have their Christmas piano recital tonight. Right now it is in the 20's here and snowing lightly. The cars are so iced up that we had trouble getting the doors open. Meredith and Trevor finally left for piano lessons just now, but the windows were still slightly iced up. At least there is no ice on the roads.
Better get a few things done while I am home by myself, a very rare event!

2005-12-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

Rod and the boys left early this morning to go the Fortners to split wood. Mitch had several huge trees that needed to be split, and had rented a splitter. They all had a good time, with Trevor driving the truck around and Travis running the splitter. Robin and I helped stack wood for a couple of hours, but then I got tired and came home. Meredith visited with Megan, and entertained Madie.

I spent the morning helping at the Christmas pageant rehearsal. Decided against taking Travis to rehearsal as too many rehearsals seem to discourage participation in the final program. I served snacks to 60 kids and an unknown number of adults. I got involved in some "Christmas pageant politics" with some moms and choir directors who were worried that we didn't have enough costumes, while the music minister felt "it would all work out." This following a dispute earlier this week on whether we should serve pizza or just snacks to the kids prior to the pageant. Costumes weren't my job.... but I think we've got it all under control now. I assured everyone I would have my fabric and sewing machine there tomorrow in the event we needed some extras at the last minute. I could write a very funny story about the drama BEHIND the Children's Christmas pageant. :)

Hope you have fun at Kayla and Amanda's events tomorrow. It will be a big day for them, and I wish I could be there. Say a prayer for Travis, the ANGEL, if you think of him.

2005-12-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

I think I finally understand how this thing works. So, now we can try to make it easy for everyone to see.

Hello one and all. We have had a very nice Thanksgiving at The Farm and have gotten our tree up as well as some of the outside lights. I wish we had taken pics of the lights that Kayla and Jason spent the whole day putting up! maybe Nana will take a few after dark. They did a GREAT job!

2005-12-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

If this works, then it will be thanks to Richard telling me I could post and Meredith showing me how. Trevor got his braces today. I sent him in alone to the orthodontist, and they apparently let him choose his color. So we will be looking at GREEN teeth for the next eighteen months. Those teeth are right at my eye level, too! Maybe he will grow taller, and the teeth will move on up out of my direct line of sight .....like the top of the refrigerator and the mantle.....they are high enough that the dust doesn't bother me up there. If I can get Trev to stand still, I'll try to take a picture and post it here. Travis wants "metal" in his mouth, too.

Travis completed his first full morning at school today. He says he is too sick to go back tomorrow. Not sure if this school experiment will last long. We'll give it till Christmas break anyway.

We watched Polar Express this evening. It was the first movie that all five of us have watched together, ever. Usually Travis goes off to watch his own movie, but this time it was about a train, so it held his interest fairly well. If you haven't seen it, it's a wonderful movie to watch at Christmas time. We all enjoyed it.

2005-12-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

Sheryl,

You can make your inputs as regular post instead of comments. This is better since everyone can see them rather than having to go look for new comments. Just my 2 cents worth. You are right, Meredith can answer your questions. I think that she has this down better than me.

Richard

2005-11-28T19:44:00.000-08:00

2005-11-27T20:26:00.000-08:00

We went to Sunday and Church this morning. It has been a very warm day and very windy.
Sheryl, this is a family sight. Put in what ever you want and have time for. It is to much trouble
to go to several blog spots, so use this one.

Some one please help Travis decorate his tree.

Meredith, good luck on your test and your presentation tomorrow

Floye

2005-11-26T17:24:00.000-08:00

We had a good Thanksgiving. Everybody home. It was a warm day and we ate on the porch.

Jason and Kayla Put up lights on the outside of the house. I can't believe it is that close to

Christmas. Today everyone is gone and it has been a rainy dreary day.

Floye

2005-11-23T17:59:00.000-08:00

more pics from the Alaskan cruise!

2005-11-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

This is from the Alaskan Cruise- Johns Hopkins Glacier, near Ketchekan.