Two Weeks ago today.....

It's hard to believe that two weeks ago today is when we packed up the car and left for our vacation!  What a whirlwind!  We had been on the fence about whether to go, or not to go based on the projections of the oil movement in the Gulf.  After all, the main reason for going to FL was to snorkel....and if you can't get in the water, well, what's the point?

Our first stop, which would have been two weeks ago tonight, was in Kennesaw GA.  Now, I didn't know it at the time, but apparently several of my ancestors fought in the Civil War battles around that area.  I found out looking up something for a stop at the end of our trip, which I'll get to later!  Wish I had known - I would have taken some photos, or made the side trip to Lookout Mtn.  Our main concern in this area, was getting the heck out of there - Dave had heard terrible things about the Atlanta traffic, so we wanted to leave asap!  Fortunately, on Sunday mornings everyone in Atlanta must be in church - we breezed through!

Our next stop was Savannah.  We thought after a full day and a half of driving, we should stop early and see some sights.   This was a free night stay for us, so we couldn't be too picky, but we thought the hotel was lovely - brand new, and only 3 blocks from the Juliette Gordon Lowe house.  This is us as we walk down from the hotel to visit her house.

The tour was very interesting, especially for current and former Girl Scouts!  She really was a remarkable woman for her time and very talented in many ways as the art objects in her house demonstrate.  Lauren was able to get a pin for her sash that you can only wear if you've taken the tour.

Next, we drove over to Historic Fort Jackson.  It was either that or Ft. Pulaski, which would have given us another stamp in our National Park passports, but it was rather far out of the city and we were sick of the car.  Ft. Jackson is a state historic site serving in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars.



It's main purpose is to protect Savannah from invaders up the river.  There were many interesting displays for we history buffs to enjoy, and because it was Memorial  Day there was a canon fire demonstration and an interpreter on site.




The kids favorite part was most likely the tiny crabs living in the moat around the structure.  They were visible because the tide was out. 

Next, we returned to the city and went walking around until dinner.  We had the required hat pins, and souvenir patches to collect.  I loved these trees - so spooky looking, they have to add to the mystique of Savannah's paranormal history!  There are many park squares throughout the city that provide a lot of charm and ambience.  We were never able to figure out which one was Forest Gump's bus stop scene though.

We went down to the riverfront as well.  Not much appeal there - great restaurant's, but mostly souvenir shops.  With it being a holiday weekend, there were street performers and live music, and I think it had recently been the place of much partying. The streets were the old cobblestone - which was fine if you were tourists in good walking shoes like us, but I felt sorry for the idiots in heels trying to impress their dates!  And for the moms with the strollers!  Yikes@!  Overall,  it was a bit dirty and smelly for my tastes.



Check out the stairs to get down to the riverfront!

The best thing on the riverfront was the candy store where they made homemade pralines and candied pecans!  It smelled SO good in there!  We of course had to get a souvenir from there!

Dinner reservations were made at the Historic Pirate House.  We had been told that it was good food and kid friendly.  When we arrived we were less than enthused - it seemed like a fancy, yet old, Long John Silver's and Dave and I despaired of having truly good food.  But, we were wrong!  He ordered the BBQ platter, and I ordered the house fried chicken - OMG!  Both were excellent, but the chicken was served with a praline drizzle that made it scrumptious!  Highly recommend - I think it even outranks Mitchie's Tavern!  And of course, the house is interesting and full of pirates!  We encountered one while dining that impressed Lauren into service.   The restaurant is an old house that was supposedly where Robert Louis Stevensen set the scene for the death of the pirate in "Treasure Island".  It is of course, haunted.

Speaking of haunting, no tour of Savannah would be complete without a Ghost Tour.  I had wanted to make reservations for a walking tour, but they were booked so we opted for the traditional Trolley tour.  Not recommended.  It was hokey and we could barely hear the lady, nor understand her accent when we could hear her.  The kids got into it in the end, but I think I would go the private walking tour option if we ever were to return.


Next stop - Key Largo, but that will have to be another day.

Hoping to stamp today - Lauren needs to send out her party invitations asap as her birthday is right around the corner!

Smiles!

Susan

Crazy weekend in April

I think I say this a lot lately - but what a crazy busy week we have had here!  It was scheduled to be a busy week, but was compounded by Lauren getting the stomach flu in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.  She was home sick all that day, and Thursday was home to recover - she hardly ate that day either.  I felt like a horrible mom, because I left her at home alone on Thursday while I went up to her school to prep for the History Day our Enrichment Committee was sponsoring.  We had to transform a section of the library into a one room school house.  I did go home every 2 hours to check on her, and she was resting either watching tv or playing playstation.  She went back to school on Friday so thankfully she didn't miss the History Day, but she was still suffering and didn't eat that whole day.  

Friday morning, Jason's 8th grade band left for a competition in Kansas City with Music in the Parks.  It's ironic that one of the programs I was in charge of for Busch Gardens Williamsburg when I was Special Events Coordinator there was the Band Competition program sponsored by Music in the Parks.  Coincidentally, my parents were in KC for a gig that my dad had with his old group from the Lake.  Jason's band took 1st place - Best in Show.  The funny thing was that the entire band came home with these giant stuffed bananas - all won by a friend for a fee!  Jason had started it by asking him to help him win - he has a cast on his throwing arm - and then everyone wanted one.  I don't know how they fit them on the bus home!

I would have liked to have chaperoned, but didn't go with him because we didn't want to miss Lauren's very first guitar recital.  I'll have to post video later since it was too dark to use my camera so I'll have to wait until Dave can download from the Video camera, but here is a photo of her all ready to go.  She did a splendid job - despite the tornado sirens going off and the loss of power that caused a stage light to explode!  There were at least 80 guitars on stage at the final round.  It was quite impressive.  In May Lauren will be auditioning for the Early Ensemble group.  She really enjoys guitar and will be moving up into a more advanced group this summer.

Saturday night we went to a Burger Bar dinner at some friends house.  It was great to all be together again - our kids are all in so many things now that it seems we don't always make it to the planned get togethers.  This time we only missed one family - but we had their dog with us!

Sunday morning brought Jason's Confirmation Day.  He had given his Statement of Faith two weeks ago.  What a blubbering mess I was that morning!  He looked so grown up and mature!  I was so proud of him -and all the turmoil to get him there was completely forgotten!  It was quite a struggle because he was very apprehensive about talking about his faith in public.  Our Pastor calls it "Lutheran Laryngitis"!  I refused to tell him that he "HAD" to do it, because to me it would make it less genuine if he was only doing it because it was expected of him.  So, we had many heart to heart talks about why, despite the fact that I was never confirmed, it should be important to him.  Ultimately in the end, despite the fact that the church offered him some options to having to read his statement, he decided to do it.
A great growth experience for him!  So yesterday was the actual ceremony.  He looked so handsome and handled himself so well. 

The most interesting part was that the confirmands acted as communion assistants following their confirmation.  It was somewhat weird to receive communion from your teenager! 

They had a reception upstairs following service.  The best part of the day for Jason was the cake - chocolate pudding filling and whipped cream frosting!  Great choice!  These are the other confirmants.  Jason had not yet changed. 

So that was a great part of our day and month!  He was very blessed to have many people give him gifts - and was thrilled to receive an iTunes gift card (always an excellent choice) as well as some money for our upcoming vacation!  I know there will be many things in the Keys that he will want to buy.

So, from my day began with the solemn occasion of confirmation and ended with Lauren's "Groovy Girls" end of year Girl Scout Banquet.  What crazy loud music and dancing!  She had a great time as you can see!
The pictures are blurry because it was pretty dark in the room to allow their flashy light necklaces to glow and they were of course dancing!  Remember the years of dancing with your girlfriends and singing along with the songs?  Soon there will be boys entering the equation.   YIKES!

Lauren bridged up to Cadette.  Looks like I'll be co-leader for her troop next year as we move into middle school.  That should keep me busy - I was so worried that I'd have nothing to do now that elementary school is almost over!

Coming soon - updates on my stamping projects, May events of both graduations, end of school picnics and parades, Lauren's Track and Field event, Jason's band concert, Lauren's Girls on the Run 5k event (which I'm walking!), Jason's Fishing Trip, church fishing derby! 

Smiles,

Susan

Stampin UP! Introduces New Color Families!

Welcome to the color renovation at Stampin UP!

Stampin UP! recently announced that there will be some changes introduced with the new catalog - including some changes to the color families we've come to know and love!  Like me, you'll find some changes hard to accept (not many purples left!) and some things that were kept will leave wondering (Bravo Burgunday stays?  Really?) and some old favorites will be returning (Baja Breeze and Wild Wasabi -YEAH!) and a few new introductions (love that Marina Mist!).  Change is never easy nor ever exactly what we want, but it can be good.  I think the new colors give  a fresh face to Stampin UP - and from what I've seen they are on target for what is considered current and fashionable.  And the in-color program will continue to keep things stirred up!

So, the moral of the story is that you may want to start stocking up on the colors below that will be retiring with the new catalog.  You can find a copy of them on the sidebar widget to click on for a PDF of the colors.  Remember - all products with that color will be leaving:  Cardstock, ink, refills, markers, crayons, etc....So make sure you are fully stocked! 

Also, just as a reminder the mini catalog for the Spring comes to an end soon as well.  There is a new mini catalog that I can't wait to show you come May 1!  Lots of darling father's day stamp sets.  Again, if you need anything from the Occassions mini, make sure you get it prior to the end of the month!

Who Do I Think I Am?

I've been wanting to post a summary of our trip to Kentucky over Spring Break, but it's been so busy ever since we got back that I haven't had time!  So, I'm going to work on it and save it as a draft until it's ready to post - hopefully won't be too long!


One of my favorite hobby's other than card making is working on our family genealogy.  I've been doing this for years - first with my dad, when it was his hobby handed down from his Aunt Irene.  Then my mom got interested in preserving her side when her parents died.  When my parents lived in Germany during my college years, my dad's interest flared again because so much information was at his fingertips - just day trips to long ago homesteads.  We actually found the old Picker farm in Wehe Germany and visited with distant cousins.  Apparently my ancestors decided to send all of their sons to America to avoid the Prussian Army, and the farm was handed down via the daughters side.  But I digress....

Now that so much information is readily available on the internet, I have been able to get back into this hobby more over the past 2 years.  I started an Ancestry.com account - fabulous!- and have been able to trace several sides of my family back well into the 1600's.  It's amazing - you just have to carefully choose who you copy information from - always making sure that they are well sourced.  The other digital benefit is that I can scan old photos and keep them safe from deteriorating.  I can print books and posters of the information I've saved.   It's awesome.

I've also recently become a fan of the NBC show "Who Do You Think You Are?" and this inspired my family trip to KY.  My mother's side of the family has the surname Daugherity- which of course has multiple spellings in the history books.  There are numerous Daugherity's in KY and many books about them.  I'm sure we're related somehow and that I could find the connection if given more time. But this trip took us in an unexpected direction.  We had family stories telling us that Tom Daugherity was married to a Swarts, but there was not any documentation to back it up.   Even the other Swarts in town didn't seem to think it was true.  Well, while in KY we found the marriage certificate with the names and were able to trace her family back.......turns out I have a Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather named James Swart (the "s" was sometimes dropped, thought to be a plural or possessive)  who fought at the Battle of Blue Licks in the American Revolution - with Daniel Boone!  And, his name is on the monument at the state park as one of the very fortunate few to have survived this massacre. 

It was so exciting - we were actually staying at the Lodge at the state park, which is quite lovely and serene.    For your trivia game information, this battle was the last battle of the Revolution, although that honor is usually given to Yorktown.  However, after the surrender at Yorktown, it took some time for the news to reach the frontier and so of course they didn't know that they weren't supposed to be fighting anymore - and they were actually just defending themselves from the British and Indians attacks.  Daniel Boone's son was killed in this battle.










Once we discovered James - which we did RIGHT before leaving to return home - the door was open to many further ancestors.  If you've never tried to research your family history, it is interesting to learn how difficult it is to get past the frontier if you had ancestors that moved west.  In the time of the Revolution and the early 1800's, many of the states were of the Ohio River valley were actually frontier counties of the original colonial states.  KY for example was part of VA.  And of course, the first Federal Census didn't come along until 1850, with most of the states not complying very much until after the Civil War (because then they wanted their pensions so they registered).  And of course, in the frontier you had fewer people that could read and write, so names are often spelled phonetically by the recorder.  It is quite the challenge.  However, once we knew that James had fought in the Revolution, and we had his land grant information that brought him to KY from PA, we could trace his family back - all the way to Norway in the late 1590's.  Turns out that my first ancestor in North America was a Norwegian who first went to The Netherlands to build houses, then followed the dutch to New Amsterdam to help build the colonies.  He was known by the dutch as "the norseman" and reportedly "Norman Ave." in NYC is named after him.  He was a land owner both in and outside of the fort wall and it just makes you cry .....if only!  Donald Trump has my family land!  Oh well.

Sounds like a lot of detail to know about someone that lived so long ago, right?  But again, once you get back into Colonial residence, the record keeping is very good.  I even read actual court records online about Djirk's wife in court over a man selling her a hog that wasn't his to sell her!  It's amazing.

So, that was our adventure!  We really loved it - and mom got the information she has wanted to file for the DAR membership.   What Sarah Jessica Parker said on her show segment is so true....you know that you're an American, but when you find your family's American story, it makes it that much more real to you - really connected to what this country stands for!

Smiles,

Susan

Easter Blessings!

What a great time of year to think of all the blessings that we've enjoyed in our life!  We had a wonderful Easter and were really thankful that this year our weather befitted the occasion.  In fact, it's been so spring like that it has gotten TOO warm TOO fast - and the flowers are almost spent!  But I was able to get a few pretty photos from the day.  For those of you that haven't seen us in a while - can you believe how tall Jason is?!!!!!  I no longer have a clear view over the top of his head!  And Lauren is not far behind him!  I just hope that Jason doesn't outgrow that new jacket before the end of the spring - he still has confirmation and 8th grade graduation to go!

He's even almost catching up with his dad!  We had a really nice Easter and were even fortunate enough to have my parents stay in town to celebrate with us - and my grandmother who is 97! 

Both of my kids seemed reluctant to hunt for eggs this year.  There wasn't the usual re-hiding all day that we've always enjoyed in years past, so I guess we're too grown up for that now.

And of course, we were more excited to find money in the eggs than candy -which was fine by me - less temptation!

Here is Lauren finding an egg that matched her dress.

I didn't get to post much prior to Easter, but I have been making some Easter goodies.  This was a basket template that I ordered from Waltzing Mouse (see sidebar under Blogs I wish were mine).  It turned out so beautiful!  I hope I can make it last for years to come.  I'll have more Easter projects to share in the next few days.  I may do this basket as a class for May.

Smiles,

Susan