Graysen & His Gun

Graysen's favorite gift of the evening was his gun. He spent the entire evening playing with it. It is his first gun and I am happy since it is NERF and does not look combative. Although Graysen has always had a natural instinct for combat whether he is a knight, ninja, or army-man.

Taking aim.
Sneaking up on the enemy.
Practicing stealth moves. He was so fast he only shows up as a blur on film!
Shooting at the floor after repeatedly being told not to shoot people.

Mema's Legacy

I think that it is neat to see all of the people related to Mema in one room.

Mema and her children:

Lee's mom, Debbie, was the oldest of the children. She passed away 16 years ago. Her brothers and sisters are: Allen, Loyd, Josie, and Molli.

Memas children and spouses:
Mema's grandchildren:
Mema's grandchildren and spouses:
Mema's great grandchildren:

Mema's Christmas Party

Every Christmas that we are in Tennessee I always look forward to going to what I call "Mema's Christmas Party." It is held every year on the 26th and includes all of the family related to Mema, who is Lee's Mom's mom.

This year it was held in a very cozy hunting club. I really enjoyed seeing all of the family. Here are a few pictures from the evening:

Mema & Caleb
This side of the family is HUGE! This picture only shows about half of the people in attendance.
The little boys were very excited about the party.
The big boys were very excited about new phones received for Christmas.

David & Lee

Lee's Dad, Kaydee, & Amber
Amber & Devon (Engaged)
The boys always love to receive presents.
They were completely spoiled by Lee's family.
By the end of the evening there was one big wrapping paper ball throwing game going... It was vicious!

Palmetto Hearts Children's T Shirt Update

Girl's Shirt


Boy's Shirt

These shirts have been really popular. Each one is handmade. We plan to sell these at the race and each one is $20 each. There is only a limited amount of inventory and we will not be making more once this inventory is depleated. You can pre-order yours to ensure that you will have one and it will be delivered to you as soon as it is ready.

Here is a testimonial from a friend that ordered one:

"Your heart child will look adorable wearing this look fit for any high fashion boutique! In case you were wondering…. the Mom of this heart model has washed this shirt numerous times in cold water with like colors and dried normally in the drier. The red does not run or fade. (Please note the t-shirt is short sleeve and the model is wearing a red long sleeve t-shirt under the t-shirt. Red long sleeve shirt is not included)."

To order, send an email to 5k@palmettohearts.org with your contact information and size.

BOY INVENTORY
Size (Number Remaining)
18 Month (1)
24 Month (8)
3T (2)
4T (2)
5T (9)
XS (4-5) (2)
S (6-7) (6)

GIRL INVENTORY
Size Number Remaining
18 Month (2)
24 Month (2)
2T (4)
3T (3)
4T (10)
5T (4)

Mascot Schnanigans

Last night we took the boys to their first hockey game with our friends Amy & Len. I was not as much interested in the hockey as I was in the storyline that they acted out with mascots. It was the best mascot "production" that I have seen.

The story was that "Rowdy" the Greenville Road Warriors' mascot went missing and there were several suspects. First meet the suspects:

Bilo-Apple-Man


Slushie


Swampee (AKA Stinky due to terrible B.O.)


Then... Rowdy was found!


Who did it? There were lots of suspects, the ones listed and a random Penguin. (It appears that they just dug around in the BILO center basement for left-over mascot costumes because none of them had anything to do with any team.)

The culprit must be arrested!


Oh no! It was Swampee... I would have been very sad that a gator got arrested, but he smelled so bad when I got my picture taken with him, that he really did need to be locked up!

Course Signs

Palmetto Hearts is selling "course signs" to place around the 5K course.

"Heart Moms and Dads will love seeing their heart child's picture thanking the runners as they run along the 5K. Each sign is full color featuring your child's picture and name. Parents are welcome to retrieve their sign following the race and take it home! When placing your sign order we will need a jpg of your child along with your child's name and gender. Boys signs will be in blue and girls signs will be in pink."

Each sign is $25 and you can order yours by sending an email to 5k@palmettohearts.org.

Thanksgiving Cruise

On the day after Thanksgiving, we departed for a short cruise to the Bahamas with Laura's family. It wasn't a bad way to spend the holiday weekend.

We found a good spot on the top deck to watch as the ship left the port.

This is Caleb's standard "processing" face. It shows up when he's strongly considering something. If he were a Windows computer, this face would be the equivalent of the spinning hourglass cursor that usually shows up just before the computer locks up. Luckily, there was no system crash in the case. (Note: This face has appeared for years. See http://leeandlaurasblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/laura-prepared-chocolate-and-banana.html)

Caleb cuddled with his auntie. (The wind was a little chilly.)

After dinner, we enjoyed drinks and conversation in one of the lounges.

Laura's dad bought roses for all the girls...

Graysen and Caleb enjoyed Shirley Temples in the lounge.

We spent the first day in the Nassau. This is pretty much the only picture I took there.

We had two staterooms. I stayed in one room with Caleb and Laura in the other with Graysen. This is Caleb asleep in our room, worn out from a day in Nassau.

Caleb and Graysen liked to pretend that the deck drains were surfboards. (They're easily entertained.)

One of our stops was at Royal Caribbean's private island. This is Kevin and Erica aboard the little boat that ferried us to the island. I entertained myself during boarding by taking pictures.

Laura's dad aboard the boat.

Laura aboard the boat.

Except for a brief, cold, and unexpected rain shower first thing in the morning, the weather was nice.

I explored the island some looking for photo opportunities.

The boys spent the entire day (except for meals) happily playing in the sand.

Another picture from my explorations...

There were activities on the island, but we mainly chose to relax in the sun.

Laura and her Mom napping...

Erica and Kevin educating themselves...

"Sandcastle"...

Dinner on the final night...

Because the Royal Caribbean photography is way too expensive...

In an an effort to teach manners to the boys, we told them they had to wait until everyone had their deserts before eating theirs. I caught Caleb sneaking a bite of his ice cream when he thought no one was looking.

I let Caleb watch television in our stateroom. Graysen wasn't so lucky with Laura. You should have seen the look that Graysen gave Laura when he found out that Caleb watched part of the Captain America movie while he suffered in silence.