• Posts Tagged ‘Family’

    Bike Riding Anyone?

    by  • July 23, 2011 • Commerical Break

    I told James the other night that I wanted us to all get bikes as soon as Sawyer is old enough to ride with us. It would be a great family activity and would definitely help us get in shape. However, since then, I was thinking that we could actually get them a lot sooner and just attach one of those baby bike seats on the back of one of our bikes. I haven’t owned a bike since I was about 12, but it sounds so much better than walking or jogging all the time. We have a pretty quiet, low traffic neighborhood, so we could just ride around the area. If we decided to go elsewhere, we could look into getting a yakima bike rack for the car. That way, we could go to the park or up on the mountain to ride.

    My Son vs the Swimming Pool

    by  • May 15, 2011 • Parenthood

    Yesterday, Sawyer had his first visit to my step-dad’s mom’s pool. He loves bath time, so we were sure he’d love the pool as well. After being 90 degrees every day this week, we were hoping it would be warm enough for him. It was still a bit cold, but he didn’t seem to care about the temperature. His lips never quivered or anything to suggest it was too cold for him, but he didn’t stay in more than 15 minutes.

    He would whine a little when we tried to pull him away from our chest or hip, and he refused to ride in his little covered float we got him. However, we got him to splash his hands in the water and he was fine as long as he felt safe against whomever was holding him. Overall, I think he really enjoyed it, but he didn’t nap good yesterday, so part of the whining could probably be contributed to him being tired.

    Along with swimming yesterday, we had a fish fry at the swimming pool. There were at least 50 people there, and I had never seen half of them. My third grade teacher was there (her husband is friends with my step-dad), and labor and delivery nurse showed up as well (again, her husband and my step-dad are friends). I kept thinking “what a small world,” but that’s how my town is. It’s like Cheers here…”everybody knows your name” :P My step-dad knows more than half of the county, so you never know who will be showing up to the pool during the summer.

    It’s been 5 years…

    by  • April 11, 2011 • Family

    Yesterday marked 5 years since one of my most favorite people in the world passed away. My papa passed away on April 20, 2006 from lung cancer. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him and wish he were still here. He was technically my step-grandfather, but he was the man my granny was married to when I was born, and I was closer to him than my real grandfather who lived in South Ga for most of my life.

    I was like Papa’s shadow when I was little. I wanted to do everything like them. I watched the Atlanta Braves and NASCAR with him. I would steal sips of his coffee, even though I never liked the taste. I would go golfing with him, and I even played golf for my middle school because I knew it made him proud. He would pick me up from school 1-2 days a week and we would swing by McDonald’s for a happy meal before going to his house. Every couple weeks, he would send me home with a “poke” (bag) full of change to put in my piggy bank. He used to let me mow the yard, and at 11, I felt like a queen getting to “drive” :blush: He even let me drive his little green S-10 when I was like 13, though I did it from the passenger side by just holding onto the steering wheel.

    These are the memories I choose to hold onto, rather than the ones that I have from the last couple years of his life. He had smoked most of his life, and the lack of oxygen his lungs gave him made him forget things easily toward the end. His life ended so quickly, though we knew it would happen eventually due to the baseball size tumor in his lung. He was up and moving around on Friday, and passed away the following Monday. I was so sad to see him go, but so glad that I was able to say good bye and that he is no longer suffering. I hate that he didn’t get to see me getting married or meet his great-grandson before he passed, but I know that he’s in a much better place and watching down on me and Sawyer.

    I love and miss you Papa!