Spring Band Concert

Great concert Serena, Kelsey and Sebastian. Ya'll have really been working hard and the concert was great!

Kids Playing after Days of Rain

The Tennessee River is overflowing its banks near downtown Florence. Here are some photos of Haley, Shepherd, and Sascha enjoying the sunshine after so much rain.

First Snow of Fall 2008

The following photos are from December 1st, 2008 and our first snow fall at our new house in Florence, AL. (The house isn't new- but it is new to us.) The kids loved the snowfall (as did Jenise and I). The flakes were huge and wet- and even though the temp was closer to 40 degrees, the snow "stuck" for a few minutes as it was coming down so fast.

One comment about the photos- there is nothing like the first snow of the season to bring out the broad smiles and unmitigated joy in the faces of children. (And ahem, the parents, ahem.)

Spectacular Birding Day at our House

This is our first year in our new home in the woods. So, we have been in for a few surprises as the seasons have approached and then left. We were pleasantly surprised this past week when, many different species of birds stopped by our yard in Florence, AL. We saw many different kinds of birds, including many, that we haven't seen in the yard before: the list for that Wednesday, November 12th included:

• Cedar Waxwing
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Northern Flicker
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Carolina Wren
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• American Robin
• American Goldfinch

It was our first time to see most of those birds at this location- I was especially excited to see the Pileated Woodpecker at a closer range than I have before, and also the Cedar Waxwings- as a flock had stopped by to eat the Black Gum seeds.

Below is a slideshow of photos of the birds from that day.

Sascha, the not so fierce pirate girl, on Halloween night.

The Kids Love this Sign

We pass by this Hardee's restaurant when we are going to Wednesday night meeting. We usually get stuck at the light at the intersection- so the kids get to look at it for awhile. Too long in fact as they usually start giggling and laughing because the sign says "Now Hiring Porkchop and Gravy Biscuit". (Click on the photo for a better view.)

A few weeks ago it had said, "Now Hiring Strawberry Biscuit". I guess they filled that position. :)

Musicians at Work

Junior Explorers

It is still warm enough to go creek walking. . . my junior explorers don't seem to mind the cooler weather. :)

Fosters 2008 and Fosters 2001

Fosters 2008


Fosters 2001

Adoption Day!

October 1st was the official adoption day!

Cell Phone Pics from July and August

The following slideshow shows various photos taken with my camera cell phone during the months of July and August.

A Nice Saturday

We met up with the Grandparent Johnson's this morning and then drove on to Huntsville, AL where we met Ms. Ruth Mouzon, Susan Henderson, and Hazel and Roman Borys at the Early Works Museum. It was great to catch up on the news with all the folks, as well as watch the kids have a lot of fun at the museum.

After we had a great lunch at Cracker Barrel, we stopped at the Grandparent Johnson's lakehouse. The kids enjoyed casting the cast net- and caught a few Bluegill as well as a large rock and some sticks. It was a great Saturday!

A Hummingbird Banding

Today, Sebastian, Kelsey and I drove out into the country to observe a hummingbird banding. It was pretty interesting. The banding took place at someone's house out in the country- they had lovely gardens, grape arbors, as well as nice landscaping throughout. They also had lots and lots of hummingbird feeders and hummingbirds. A local professor comes out and bands hummingbirds every year and reports the results to the U.S. Department of the Interior. The hummingbirds are caught in traps, put into a little bag and brought back to the banding table where the professor would tag them, weigh them, determine the sex and size (all the information is recorded into a database) and then the hummingbirds are released back into the wild. Below is a slide show of the photos from today. Sebastian and Kelsey took many of the pictures- they got many good close-ups of the birds.

Visit from the Solomon Family

Live from the Sheffield Swim Banquet

Fun with Pool Portraits

Trying to take someone's picture underwater isn't as easy as I thought it might be. For one- once the person goes underwater- they tend to float back up- as do I as am trying to frame the shot- typically we are both moving. But, it is fun and we didn't take it too seriously.

Another School Year Is Here

Today was the first day of school for the kids. They got changed yesterday to a school nearer our house- so even though it was at the last second- that was good news. They seemed to like their first day of school- so that should help make it a little easier to get them up early in the morning. :)

Typical Saturday of the Summer

The video shows how the kids spent most of the summer. It was hot and humid here on Saturday (what you would expect of Alabama weather in August). This was the kids last Saturday before school starts again this week.

Kids Ordering their Lunch

Scene from our lunch today at Cracker Barrel. After we ordered, and were waiting on our food, a HUGE storm blew through. It really looked like a hurricane outside. Shepherd almost started to cry- but I patted him on the back and told him that everything was "OK" (although secretly, I wasn't so sure) . No one in the restaurant knew what to do except look out the window. But I am sure that everyone was thinking the same thing- "tornado". Fortunately, the wind quickly died down and everything returned to normal. When we left we saw a couple of snapped trees across the road, as well as a large shed blown over and away from the Lowes store that was near the Cracker Barrel.

I mainly take videos like that (this was with the cell phone) so that I will be able to remember how they talked later on when the years pass by. Especially Shepherd, he has his own unique way of speaking at the moment.

Sascha pretending to be a Sea Lion

Sascha was pretending to be a Sea Lion in this video. Sascha is almost 3. She swims pretty well for her age. She is also a very particular swimmer. She has to have her goggles on before she will dive into the water.

Sea Lions are currently her favorite animal. In this video she is imitating a Sea Lion performing. The hoop is the garden hose held by Jenise. The video quality isn't the best- but not bad for a cell phone video. I was also able to upload it straight to this blog from the phone.