Saturday in the 'Boro

Friday afternoon we headed to the 'Boro to spend the night with Mom. We had a very nice visit and it was great to spend some time with Mom. Fletcher did great and really enjoyed his Grandmaw's company. Saturday afternoon we headed to Cub Creek Park which was much fun! Fletcher rode his bike to show Grandmaw what a great bike rider he is and then we played on the playground, played hide-and-seek, and swung. We also threw rocks and sticks into the creek. I love a creek and feel that every child should have the experience of playing in a creek.




Love the playground structure with all the colors and chipping paint. This would be a great place (for someone with more talent or a better camera than me) to take pictures!

Fletcher the Author/Illustrator

We have been reading a new book from the library called Library Mouse by David Kirk about a mouse named Sam who lives in the library and decides one day to write and illustrate his own books. So this morning Fletcher decided to do the same. We created two books: Telephones, Telephones, Telephones! and Camera's, Camera's, Camera's! Neither has much to do with either telephones or cameras. First Fletcher drew the pictures (otherwise how would you know what the story is about?) and then Mommy helped to write/type the words.

Blog Slacker

I've been a blog slacker lately when it comes to my blog and to those of my friends. I've been bad about posting and bad about commenting. Ed and have have been concentrating on some things we've let slide lately and are devoting a lot of time to our finances, clearing out years of accumulated stuff from the attic, and goals for the future. I also have a class this semester that will keep me somewhat busy. So just because I don't post/comment doesn't mean I don't care, just switching gears recently. Love to you all!

One of my Favorite Boys

Last Thursday, one of my favorite boys spent the day with us. This is Logan. He is Isabelle's little brother and he is the cutest, sweetest child. He is so happy and we really enjoy spending time with him. He'll be here next Thursday, too and we're all excited. Fletcher loves his cheeks and calls him "sweet little cheeks." He has the most beautiful blue eyes and blond hair (just like his sister). Although he is just 1, he thinks he's a big kids and plays wonderfully with the others.

Recent Snow

We've had a couple of snowing days lately and we have enjoyed watching the snow. However, it's been too wet to get out and play in it much. But here is a picture of Fletcher in what was left of the snow on Thursday after the rain stopped.

New Obsession

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, I had gotten some photo albums from my grandmother's house and over the past several months, have scanned over 100 photos into my PC. There are photos of my mom and her 6 siblings when they were children, my grandfather (my moms dad whom I never knew) when he was young, my grandmother and her family, and a generation or two back from there.

Around Christmas I saw an ad for some genealogy software that would allow me to attach photos to people or events within a family tree. My mom got this software for me for Christmas! Once I finished scanning all the photos from the albums, I loaded up the software onto my PC and plugged in all the information that I already knew into Family Tree Maker and got some dates, etc. from other family members. There are still some information that I need to fill in and I need to set some limits for myself, like get all the info for 5 (?) generations before going back any farther than that.

With my Family Tree Maker software, I got a free 1 month subscription to Ancestry.com that allows access to all kinds of really cool stuff that I can also attach to the people in the family tree. For example, I have Birth Indexes for several family members, draft card for my mom's grandfather, found the Passenger list from the ship that brought Ed's mom and her parents and siblings home from Panama Canal Zone (Ed's mom born was born there because her dad worked there), and a family tree on One World Tree that may trace Fletcher (through Ed's maternal grandfather, "Buddy Bus" Bussey) back about 100 generations.

Now this (the tree mentioned in the above paragraph) is where I began to get completely obsessed and overwhelmed and doubting the validity of the information (King of the Danes, really?) and decided that I absolutely had to limit myself before making myself insane(r)! Just think about it: you start with one person (Fletcher), add all the people you actually know (about 80 or so family members) and before you know it you have over 600 people in your index based on other info! Genealogy grows exponentially (every one person has two parents with 2 family lines, who each have 2 parents with 2 family lines, and so on) very quickly!

I let you know when I get to Adam!

Catching Up

Seems likes things have been busy lately, so I have not been doing much blogging or even checking out the blogs of my friends as much as I'd like. Hope to do better soon. Recent news: Congrats to Shaun, Emily, and Cam on the arrival of Tate! And a fire in my Mom's apartment building (she's okay, just shaken up). Here are a few recent pictures of Fletcher at the park and "my kids" being bears in a cave. Grrr!

Chilly Fun

This afternoon we headed to the playground at Bailey Road Park. Boy, was it cold! The gauge in the van said it was close to 50 degrees, but with the wind chill, I doubt it was even 40. But it was good for Fletcher to get out (he is a boy who requires lots of activity every day)!