New Year 2015

Happy New Year 2015
I hope to do much better writing my blog this year than before. Last year was pretty busy and I'm thinking this year will be too.
I didn't make any resolution- just want to finish what I left undone from last year and find better ways to do things this year.
So til next time .....

End of Summer

Today is the last day of summer and first day of autumn, my favorite time of year. All morning I have been thinking about cool weather, apple cidar, pumpkins and of course Halloween. And I thought about Honeybunny and my summer bucket list. We have finished most of it with maybe only 3 things left but we were very busy for the most part.

Above was one of his favorite from his bucket list and that was to hold a bee. So we went to a Bee Festival at Rockwood Park and he got to see the bees in their hives too. The bee he has on his hand liked chocalate flavoring and as soon as it had a taste it walked right over onto his hand.

One item on our list was to go to a baseball game and his favorite girl Jillian just happened to have a game one evening near here. We enjoyed watching her play and he had the best time though with his friends from school. I loved the happy look on his little face as he and the other two boys were hamming it up !

Another item was to go to the local Farmers Market and find two things you have not eaten before and try them ! This was a fun experience for them as they seen things they liked such as corn and berries but also a lot of things they didnt know about. We ended up getting a Canary Melon or crenshaw melon and some muscadine grapes. The grapes were a better choice as the melon was more of a too sweet cantelope type. But we had fun anyways and later went to follow the geese. More on our summer adventures later

Summer Bucket List

This summer Honeybunny and I have a large bucket list of things to do and places to see so that we stay busy each day and keep learning new things and remembering old things. One of the first things on our list was to take a ferry boat ride which we did just before school was out for the summer.

Aunt Sheri came along too with us and we had a great time once Honeybunny got over his fear of getting out of the car. We explored the whole ferry from front to back top to bottom. We had to ride it twice to make sure we got it all done but how exciting it was to ride out over the water to Jamestown and back on the Pocahontus Ferry and to wear his ship captain hat on a boat. Stay tuned for more adventures !

Happy New Year 2013

And so another year begins for us ! We managed to survive another End of the World event aka Mayan Calendar ending so now to plan for another year of adventure and fun. 
Honeybunny and I were home alone for New Years Eve and I did the opening of the doors at midnight and listening to the neighborhood bring in the New Year with their loud gunshots and firecrackers. This year it seemed a lot longer than usual. For myself, I prefer to either hear bells ringing or those old tugboat horns that I used to hear when I lived near the rivah.
I took the honeybunnies to see all the pretty decorated trees down at the PAAL art museum. I have to say they were very pretty and really artsy. The kids and I enjoyed them very much. Then we went over to the local Heritage Museum to see toys from over 100 years ago. Perrin really wasnt into the toys so much as he really wanted to see if they had shark teeth there like I promised him. But he walked around looking at the toys first and while we were there , one of the news reporters came in to do a story on the toys. She asked to take pics of the kids and then interviewed each one about what they liked . I picked up the paper yesterday for their scrapbooks.
We had a pilated woodpecker here yesterday although he hangs around all the time, but mostly he is too far away for a picture. I managed to capture this one while he was laughing in the pear tree next door. Gotta love that red head he has !
One of my projects this year is to make this peacock bottle tree. I would love to find a few other colors of wine bottles to make a rainbow color one too. Wonder if I can get Mel to drink another brand of wine lol
Not sure what this year has in store for us but am hoping we all stay well this year. Anything else we will make it thru it I guess. 

Heading out to make my bucket list and at the top this year is this river Stonehedge I will be looking for near by in Richmond. Wish me luck :)

12/12/12 Twelve special moments

Another year and the last date of this kind I will see, so I thought I would write about 12 special memories, one from each month of this year.
January began the Year of the Dragon which is my Chinese sign and I always wanted to see the Chinese New Year. It must have been in my cards as there was a festival in Deep Run so off my little honeybunnies and I went. Mike and Mel joined us there but they missed the Dragon Parade which was pretty cool.
February brought us just enough snow that Perrin and I were able to use our snowman kit to make a cute snowman outside. After we enjoyed a warm cup of hot cocoa while we watched the Polar Express for the thousandth time lol
March brought some tears to my old eyes as Perrin and Dylan found each other again in the park one day. Two little boys who were born on same day and finding each other in preschool, life changing events separating them and then suddenly finding each other and what a joyful reunion it was. Somehow the two boys were like they were never apart and the rest of this year they have been able to stay in touch at least once a month.
April sent us to the zoo with Perrin and his classmates. We made it a family day too joining the kids there and following them around. It was fun watching their little eyes light up seeing the animals but the moment that stood out the most for me was Perrins little friends seeing a peacock and all calling him to tell him Kevin was over there, knowing that Kevin was Perrin and his moms favorite bird.
The merry month of May found my honeybunnies and I at the fishing tournament for kids in Hopewell. Now I am not the fishing type at all. I do not know how to tie on a hook or anything. But they all wanted to go so we did. It was great I can tell you that much ! We were lucky that one dad there helped us with the right size sinker(mine was too heavy _ and the right size hook) The kids all were like pros casting off their lines, enjoying talking to the other families sharing a very pretty fishing day. It was time for lunch and no fish for us, when Perrin asked to try once more, so we let him and Wow he caught his first fish ever in one throw. It was a little perch and the look on his face was just happiness all over !
Midsummer in June found us at one of the best festivals of the year. We got to see smoke blowing bubble dragons, the best balloon man in town. met the Queen of the Renaissance, and best of all seen the fire throwers. My honeybunnies and I had a great time.
July brought us a few fireworks and the hottest July ever. We celebrated it with a big water balloon fight and lots of watermelons and ice cream every day !
August was a biggie for us. Not only did Mike and Mel take a trip to Africa, but Perrin turned six and he broke his arm swinging on the monkey bars just before his trip to the beach. Breaking the arm and making some cool volcanos with the honeybunnies was one of the fun things we did besides Perrins Skyrim birthday party.
My favorite memory of September  was the first day of school and Perrin missing his mom , would go outside and blow her kisses where the sun was . He was so happy when she and dad returned home.
September was also my 60th Birthday. mmm I had a wonderful celebration with my girls when they took me out to a special restaurant where the waiter did almost everything for me. It was one of those occasions where you dont want to forget anything but most of all I think of those delicious truffles mmm
October my favorite month brought an old friend to visit and celebrate my favorite holiday. Actually there were several of  my friends I had not seen in a long time come to our annual party and we had a wonderful time together casting our magick on that night. O Patty, Sandy ,Tanya and Franky how far we have come since SMP days !
November my little honeybunny got his first awards in Scouts and his uniform. He went on his camping trip with PaPa and had so much fun. He did some archery and BB shooting where he made a bullseye on the target his first time. He also caught some big fish !
The holidays approach us and Perrin was in his first parade for Christmas ! I enjoyed seeing all of his little Tiger friends decorating their float and waving to the crowd of people wishing them all a Merry Christmas !

So these are just a few of the moments of 2012 on this 12/12/12   

Day one while Mom and Dad are in Africa

August 25 Perrin and I went to see Melody and Mike off at the airport on their way to Nairobi . Poor honeybunny tried to be so brave while he still had mom and dad in his sights but after we drove off, he completely broke down. I had to pull off road and sit in the back with him to hold him and give him kisses to settle him down a bit. Once he remembered how we could blow kisses in the sky to his mom, he settled down a bit so I could drive the road home. But on the way back we hit a huge storm dropping lots of water on the roads. Once again we pulled over for 30 minutes til it calmed down enough to drive, but looking around it sure looked like we had gone thru a war zone with stuff all over highway and lot of standing water. I was glad later we were not on 95 where the water was high enough to close parts of it. Anyways we got home to no power so called Grannette to see if she wanted company to keep honeybunny mind off his mom and dad a little. He decided to spend the night once he talked to mom and was ok that she was safe.

I have been up and down all night checking the flight plan to see how their ride was. Right now they are in Amsterdam safely getting ready to fly to safari in Nairobi . Thinking of them while I stare at the wild raccoon in our yard this night. Peace out !  Pics are of Mike and Mel on the plane and up in the clouds on the airbus Mike posted during their flights just before Amsterdam.

First Fish

What a fine day it was to take my honeybunnies fishing at the Hopewell Optimist Fishing Tournament for  kids on May 19th. I dont know much about fishing and the thoughts of worms ugh or taking a fish off the hook doesnt do it for me but when it comes to children well the heart overrules the head thoughts and off you go.. We had to make a stop at the bait shop to pick up hooks, sinkers and bait before arriving on the banks of the Appomatox River in Hopewell to register our place there. Upon arriving they gave us gift certificates for McDs and a nice green Tshirt for each of the kids, told us where to go fish and what time to be back for other festivities. So off we went early on that Saturday morning, thru the dew on the grass which made for soggy shoes and down the big hill to the rivah. Perrin was so excited that he was going to do some fishing and he knew he was gonna catch his first fish on this day.
I am so thankful that we met up with Mr Rodney and his daughter Madison cuz I like I said know nothing about fishing. He helped the kids get their poles straight and gave us the correct size hooks, and sinkers and fixed the line correctly. It was soon apparent that I was not the only one who thought fishing was a great idea for the kids and knew nothing as Mr Rodney was busy with many kids fixing their poles etc . 
We shared our snacks and drinks with everyone and enjoyed making new friends on a nice day at the river, watching birds and seeing other kids catch fish and eels ewwww. I would have died on the spot if we had one of them on the end of the pole !!!
It was time to get ready to go up the hill for lunch but Perrin asked to throw his line in one more time please Nana please. So I told him he could while I gathered up the equipment and things we had brought along. 
Suddenly I hear him shout I got one Nana I got one !!! and he is reeling in his line like a pro with the pole bent and lo there is his first fish and a proud excited little boy showing everyone his first fish..
It was a 5 inch Perch with spiky fins and had a golden look, but it was honeybunnys best day ever he said. He carried that fish on its hook all the way up the hill and across the lot til he seen our neighbor and running to him to show him his first fish with his little eyes twinkling and his chest thrown out like he had grown up in just a few minutes. 
We took the fish off the hook and placed him in our bag in the car. Off to eat our lunch on the grass of the National Park there that the Optimist had bbqd for us, then came the prize moments !

Perrin won a skateboard, Hallie and Alyssa won basketballs but some boy asked to trade Alyssa her basketball for a fishing pole so they were happy. Perrin though really wanted a fishing pole so that was a heartbreaking moment for him. But it was ok after awhile and he really had a great time and now wants to fish forever..