The Exploits of Sharona and JT!

JT's Kindergarten Classroom!

2009-08-11T05:58:00.001-07:00

Signing in for the first time
The Cafeteria

Three of his four teachers

The front door to his room

My little buddy!

Yeah! He's growing up!

He loves his Grammy!

and who's the best Papa?!

I think JT will help them get organized . . . . hehe

The entrance to his classroom. His is the door on the right!

The Media Center

Right inside the front door of the school. He Loved the bunny rock!! :)-

The "Thrilling" Carpet Ride!

2009-03-03T18:22:00.000-08:00

JT Rollerskating!

2009-03-03T18:06:00.001-08:00

JT went roller skating for the first time last weekend and he had a blast! Now he is begging for a pair of roller skates that have wheels that light up on them. I told him he had to be able to do more than just "skate-run" on the carpet first and then we'll talk! (of course I can stretch that talk out for a couple of years so who knows what he'll want by then!!)

Not up on his feet yet but has developed a flair for falling!

Now he's a little steadier standing on the carpet. . .

Why does that song "Slip slidin' away, slip slidin' away" keep running through my head?!

He was actually letting me help for about 2 seconds?!?! Holy Cowly!

And down he goes again. . . .

After about an hour of frustration he decided he would take a break and play some games!

What is foosball anyway if it's not played on rollerskates!?!? I mean c'mon. . . .

The Circus!!!

2009-02-18T19:52:00.000-08:00

Life is not complete until you have your very own Barnum and Bailey circus sword!!
JT and Helen enthralled by clowns and bubbles!

Jonathan's favorite elephant "Dottie" is in there somewhere . . . .

JT protecting Grandmama and Grandpapa

Smiles under the Big Top!

Can you tell who the unenthralled almost 10 year old is in this picture???? :)

Notice that JT is still in protector mode!

Dancing and fun was had by all. . . . including Grammy and Papa!!!

Christmas Eve at Grandmama's and Grandpapa's!

2009-01-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

Watching diligently while Grandmama opens her present is neat . . .

Helping Grandpapa open His present is even better . . .

But getting a gun like he's been wanting for weeks is the BEST!!!!

Stone Mt. Christmas

2009-01-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

We went to St. Mt. Christmas during the month of December. While we were there a few of us decided to go up to the top of the mountain. These are views from the cable car on the way up.

Here are some of us crazies braving the cold and the wind!!

These two decided the saner choice was to stay down below and check out the toys!

Look what I found! A cute little boy in the Christmas trees . . . .

Life is always good when you're waiting on a train to arrive!

Here we are on the train ride to see the Christmas lights along the route

Ahhhh . . . Christmas lights!!

Okay, what's with the glasses?!?!

Seriously . . . what's with the glasses?!?!

Okay, the glasses must be getting contagious . . . . . .

Alright, you got me. The glasses were really for the 4-D Polar Express movie we were about to watch and man was that awesome!!!! :)And we ended it all in a large pile of fake, fluffy snow! How cool!!!!!!!

Christmas at Grammy's House!

2009-01-07T16:28:00.000-08:00

Can you say excitement abounds??

for both of the Stadler boys . . . .
Now that's what Christmas is all about. A wonderful Grammy surrounded by tons of presents
and grandchildren looking at her expectantly!!!!!

Chillin' on the couch watching the melee of presents being opened everywhere!

Okay, now everyone has to know this is the perfect image of Christmas!!! :)

Followed by two of the cutest smiles you could ever hope to see!!

I think these were successful Christmas present purchases.

Okay, no explanation for a man who is holding a stuffed beaver and smiling?!?!

SUCCESS!!!! Transformers make every Christmas totally awesome!

Kes and Woodbadge

2008-12-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

I know this is a blog about myself and Jonathan but I had to brag about my brother Kes

Kes is involved with "Woodbadge" which is a type of scouting for adults

He has worked very hard and went through their leadership program

In November he received one of their great honors and JT and I were there cheering him on

Needless to say I am very proud of my 'big' brother and know that he truly deserves this award!! Love ya bro!

(those are his three little rugrats by the way, Hayden, Harrison and Helen)

Fun, Fun, Fun!!

2008-12-01T17:47:00.000-08:00

Jonathan and I went to my brother's house to visit for a couple of days over the holiday

and of course we had to start out with a visit from

Darth Vader, a Storm Trooper and a Fireman!

(can you tell the fireman just woke up from a nap??)

They decided they needed to race around the yard on the 'motor' on a search for bad guys!?

I think Darth Vader was playing "secret service agent" and ran along beside the motorcade . . .
After a brief intermission and quick costume change we now have a normal looking Daniel,
a storm trooper once more and the transformer 'Optimus Prime'

We then decided to take a quick trip up to the playground for a little relaxing bike ride
I don't know quite what to say about this picture so . . . .
(maybe Jonah's taking football practice to a whole new level??)

JT succesfully found a playground and was happy for about 3 minutes off his bike!

Then he was off and racing again like a maniac!!!!

(please notice what is missing on the back wheel . . . )

Way to go little buddy!!

Uh, Houston, I think someone is trying to make off with one of our bikes . . . .
(actually that's my sister-in-law Troye and I know where she lives so . . . )

Chris (my brother) managed to secure his 'bike holder thingy' to the ceiling of his garage

so now he can hoist it up the safety and actually get his car in where it belongs! :)

And finally we have a shot of 3 little boys getting squeaky clean after a full day of mayhem!

Thanksgiving Feast!!

2008-11-30T20:08:00.000-08:00

Fun was had by all at our annual Thanksgiving Feast!!!

Of course much of the action happened outside in the driveway and garage

(that's where most of the toys are located) :)

We even provided our very own grumpy bear!!!

We actually attempted to take a family photo. I think this was the best of the lot . . .

Of course didn't the original Pilgrims invite Spiderman and Skeletor along for some turkey???

I think he was trying to say McDonald's but was too stuffed to get it out!

Needless to say a good time was had by all! Until next year . . . .

Halloween 2008!

2008-11-08T19:35:00.001-08:00

Hi all! Well, another Halloween has come and gone and once again a fun time was had by all!

Lexi and Jonathan were able to go trick or treating together again. I think they made a smashing couple!!
Grammy had to come and witness the fierce 'Clone Tropper' we had at our house!

Aunt Jenny was here from Wisconsin and came over for pizza and festivities!

Papa even got into the spirit when he allowed the Auburn 'Rocker' wig to be put on him . . .

Ms. Libby even made him stand still while she decorated him up as
'Sheet man clone tropper with an attitude'!!!!!!

We ran into one of his 'best friends' Emily from Pre-K
They were so excited it was like they hadn't seen each other in years!!

We ended the night at the Fall Festival Fair at Mt. Paran Church
(yes, that's me with the dark wig!)

Of course they had a stage with Praise & Worship music playing

so JT had to get up there to dance and sing!!!

The evening ended with two tired children and some VERY tired adults

All with big smiles and full buckets of candy!!!! :)

Fall Festival at Pre-K!

2008-10-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

JT and his best friend Austin!!

This is JT hamming it up for the cameras before the corn eating contest!

(now, before I get a ton of phone calls concerning the corn on his plate I must inform you

that as soon as he realized he was actually going to have to EAT the corn he immediately got up

from his chair and refused to sit back down. . . . . is that MY son or what?!?! haha)

JT with some fellow students and his two teachers

Mrs. Dominique (the lion) and Mrs. Miley (the Cat)

Jonathan and some of his classmates getting ready to perform the infamous
TOOTY TOP!!!!!

Disney on Ice!

2008-10-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

Alright, he doesnt' know exactly what he's about to see but he's excited!!!!
(check out the Tinkerbell spinning toy he picked out as a souvenir . . . )

JT and Grammy have Disney stuff and are ready to go see some skating!

C'mon now, how much better can this get for a 4 year old!?!? How awesome were our seats!

Go Tinkerbell Go!!!!!!!!

(it's like he's at a rock concert and he's holding up a lighter. . . ) hahaha

Awww . . . can you tell he's my child???? haha

Lightning McQueen rocks!!! (and apparently he skates as well . . . )

The Grand Finale was Fairyland Springtime

and this is what happened in the carseat on the way home. . . .

Pumpkin Carving Mania!

2008-10-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

He is starting out with such determination!

(just keep in mind that his MOMMY had to scoop all of the guts out because that was the gross part and he refused to get his hands yucky!!)

Now he has a plan of attack as to what his pumpkin is going to look like

He started to make some of the women nervous with his knife wielding and they decided he needed some supervision (his MOM was too busy taking pictures to worry about things like fingers being cut off I mean C'mon now!!)

Finally we have the finished pumpkin (I mean Jack'o'lantern)
With two victorious carvers smiling with pride!
(notice that there are two different women in these pictures)
he is already good at conning women into doing the tough jobs for him :)

Thank you Mrs. Ellie and Ms. Margaret for a superb job of helping bring our pumpkin to life!

The One Man Band!!!

2008-10-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

Just in case you're wondering, Yes, he is playing his guitar like a cello.

Also, that is a harmonica in his mouth in case you cannot make it out!! :)

At Last . . . the TROPHY is here!!!

2008-10-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

Well, he started out in full Beckham mode complete with the "cool" leg curl ball throw!

Then about halfway through the game he started losing interest. Doesn't that face just scream "I'm over this soccer stuff, bring on the stinkin' trophy already"?!?!

Here we have pizza and AHA, see what's on the table behind us . . .

EUREKA!!! We now have accomplished what we have worked 8 weeks for! (a little metal man on top of a small wooden box) I am happiest about that HUGE smile, how awesome is that?!?!
I'm getting ready for the college sporting offers to start rolling in . . . . am I getting a little too ahead of myself?? isn't 4 year old soccer where Beckham started out??

Darth Vader!!!

2008-10-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

At last, I found a picture of the menacing Darth Vader!!

Southern Tree Plantation

2008-10-14T17:56:00.001-07:00

Ahhh . . . my main little man surrounded by Fall Harvest stuff for sale. Is anything sweeter???

Fish anyone???

Nothing better than a good hayride with his Aunt Troye!

Unless it's sitting waiting for a ponyride with his Grandpapapapa!!!

And here is the long awaited for Pony ride!

Hey Uncle Chris, how the heck do we get out of this crazy maze???
Mr. Daniel the Scarecrow man, seen a yellow brick road lately???

If you can't "pick" them up, JT found years ago that you can "roll" them up!

Ahhh. . . two cousins!

Hey, where's this tractor headin? Can we help??????

Burt's Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

Just two wild and crazy kids . . .

Holy Loads of Pumpkins!

Anyone need a field plowed???
Like I've said before, a boy and his Grammy . . . ahhh, the love!!
Those two big smiles are from Aunt Andrea and Uncle Kes!

What do you think they're wishing for??????

Two girls in hot pink! :)

Who are those three handsome young gentlemen???

They must be pondering how to get out of this 'sea' of pumpkins!!!

Our First Costume Party!

2008-10-14T17:09:00.001-07:00

I had to start our Costume Party pictures off with this one. Nobody at the party could convince Jonathan that the little doohicky on the guitar wasn't a microphone. He was convinced he was singing to the masses! :)

Okay, I'm a bad Mom. I don't have a single picture of JT in full Darth Vader Costume.

Go ahead and yell at me the next time you talk with me, I fully expect it!!!!

I do have this one with me wearing his mask!!!

This is my main little man sporting his trophy for awesome costume!

Preston, Kim and myself being 'halloweeny'

JT and Lexi being silly! (notice the 'mummy' being made in the background.)

Guitar Hero and JT drumming out man!!!

Sparkle, Sparkle!!!!

2008-10-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

Can you tell . . .

He is very serious . . .

about oral hygiene????!!!

(please also note that he is using MY toothbrush because he says it gets his teeth cleaner!!)

Kathleen's first trip to Old Time Pottery!!

2008-09-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is us starting into the store. Look how 'happy' she looks about going shopping for scarecrows!!??

Uh, notice what is missing??

Ahh . . . . . happiness is being with Mommy!!

The immense amount of physical exertion that goes into shopping has clearly worn baby Kathleen out. She has decided to go ahead and get a jumpstart on her afternoon nap!! :)

Pioneer Woman website (click here to go visit!)

2008-09-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've been forced to come clean about something! The picture of the apple dumplings is not mine.

I know, a moment of pause for all of you to consider the fact that something I baked wasn't good enough for a picture so I had to 'borrow' one from somebody else!? haha
The truth is that I am just slack and never thought to take a picture before destroying it with a very dedicated fork to mouth hand gesture!!

Well, with that being said I have to tell you about this website. It's totally awesome and I encourage all of you to go check it out. The recipes are totally awesome and the laughs are just an added bonus! Hope you like it.

Help. . . Martians (Robots) are Invading!!!

2008-09-13T07:42:00.001-07:00

For some reason, we're not quite sure why, JT was insistent on me making him a robot hat

(I think Caillou has something to do with it!!)

This robot apparently has vision problems because he was also very adamant about

us making a pair of glasses to accompany the hat

Personally I think the gardening gloves complete the outfit!!?? Ahhhh, the joys of being 4~

Love this Unique Recipe!!

2008-09-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

Country Apple Dumplings

"Oh my Goodness!! Who knew that fresh apples, crescent roll dough, and Mt. Dew could make such a wonderful treat!"

PREP TIME
20 Min
COOK TIME
45 Min
READY IN
1 Hr 5 Min
Original recipe yield 16 dumplings

INGREDIENTS
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
2 (10 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle Mountain Dew ™

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Cut each apple into 8 wedges and set aside. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in crescent roll dough starting at the smallest end. Pinch to seal and place in the baking dish.
Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Pour over the apple dumplings. Pour Mountain Dew™ over the dumplings.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown

This dessert is totally awesome!! You can serve it plain, with homemade whipped topping or french vanilla icecream. YUM!!!!!!!!

TAKE TIME TO REMEMBER TODAY!!!

2008-09-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I just wanted to put this up here so hopefully anyone who reads it will take a pause and remember what this county went through 7 years ago today. I cannot speak for each of you but I know personally it is a day I will never be able to put from my mind. There was so much tragedy in this one day that I hope God will give us the opportunity to learn from it to never let it happen again. I am so proud of our country and what we have managed to accomplish that I implore each of you to put your political views aside and just take a few moments today to talk with God and just remember . . .

September 11th, 2001

8:45 am American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower 92 people on board

9:03 am United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower 65 people on board

9:43 am American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon in Washington 64 people on board

10:05 am the South Tower falls

10:13 am United Airlines Flight 93 crashes into a field in Somerset, Penn. 40 people on board

10:28 am the North Tower falls

2,976 people died that day

Please pray for their friends, their family and our country

JT's First Soccer Game!

2008-09-08T18:12:00.001-07:00

Who's the crazy soccer player?????!!!!!!

Jonathan had his first soccer game this past Saturday. I'm so proud, my little boy is growing up.

When his coach asked for a volunteer to play goalie, Jonathan stuck his hand up and was picked.

Keep in mind that Jonathan has absolutely no idea what a goalie is or what he does!!
He does look pretty tough after 5 minutes of instruction though doesn't he??!!

I hope he is going to learn to be a little bit more masculine by doing this sport. Here he is (my little precious darling) applauding for the other team scoring a goal!! (isn't that just too cute?!)

I have to be honest and say that while you are looking at these next two pictures that my son actually only played in the game for about 3 minutes before running off the field in a temper tantrum.

He (number 3 there in the middle) was happy as long as he could chase the ball with the option of kicking it but as soon as another child "stole" the ball away from him he was VERY upset!!!

Needless to say we are hoping for better results at next weekends game.

They did decide on a name for their team however:

KUNG FU PANDAS!!!!!!!!!

Our Fabulous Beach Gustave Free Getaway!!

2008-09-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

Li'ly libbered land lubbers, Beware there be Pirates afoot!!!

~~ How beautiful ~~

It's a hard job being the lone carrier of such beachly burdens!

Feelin' a little crabby . . . okay, bad pun I know!

Apparently you have to run away from the waves . . .

and then scream at them for scaring you!!!

He kind of developed his own technique on the putt putt course . . .

Which eventually earned him more than one Hole in one!!!

Okay everybody watch out, the great green snorkeler may show up at a pool near you!!

Part of the Berlin wall at a museum down there. Feeling very grateful that we live in a country where we can worship HIM without fear of persecution!!!

Nothing comes between a boy and his Grammy!!

How did I get such a handsome young boy sitting on my lap????

Do you see God's image talking in the clouds? Notice the nice calm seas and remember that there's something a'brewin . . .

Here comes Gustave!!!

The beach has been closed and the winds and water have gone crazy!!!

For anyone who is interested may I say that I think I may have a problem. I think I may be slightly addicted to the weather channel. We (and of course by we I mean "me") may have turned off the weather channel once or twice while we were down there.

(are there 12 step programs for "weatherchannel addicts anonymous"??????)

JT starts Pre-K!!!

2008-08-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well everyone, the day has arrived. My baby is now in school.

Okay, okay, I know it's just pre-K but it feels a little like the real thing so just give me a hanky.

We actually had a little heart to heart Monday morning before we left for school and I told him that this was a big step and that I was both sad and happy that he was growing up.

He looked right at me and said "That's okay Mommy, I'm still going to be your baby bear"!!!

How amazing is my child?!?!

Little Miss Kathleen Suzanne!!

2008-08-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

Hi all, just wanted to introduce you to the newest member of our family. Her name is Kathleen Suzanne and she is Jonathan's beautiful new cousin. She is 3 weeks old today and from what I can tell she is absolutely adorable! So far she excels at crying, pooping, stretching, eating, staring, and all other things infantile.

She has not driven her parents and grandparents crazy yet so she is way ahead of the curve. JT approves of her and cannot wait to show her the ropes (and all of his toys). He wants her to go ahead and get big really quickly so they can go on rides together at the fair this fall! :)

We look forward to watching her grow both in strength and in love. We are also praying for Mommy PamPam and Daddy Franklin. She will start sleeping through the night soon, I promise!!!

American Adventures!!!!!!

2008-07-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

We went to American Adventures today and had a blast. The group consisted of Kes and his trio (Hayden, Harrison and Helen), myself and JT.

There was plenty to do for everyone to do but Hayden and Harrison's favorites were the go-karts by far!!

I don't know who won officially but after about 50 times around the track I'm pretty sure Kes was ready to get off!

As you can probably guess, JT and Helen were "American Adventure Buddies". They stayed together pretty much the entire time and rode almost every ride together. They were tearin' up Cobb Parkway on their 'rice burners'!! hahahaha

Harrison was trying to take it easy in the shade during some down time and I caught him! Maybe he was perfecting his job skills and was scoping out the possibility of a new line of employment for next summer? He will be 6 you know, about time to get out there and start making a living for himself don't ya think???

At the end of the day JT and Helen were ready to set sail for the caribbean and try their hands at being pirates! I wonder what they will try to pillage, plunder and steal? Animal crackers????

Lake water!! Yuck!

2008-07-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

Nothing like wallowing in gallons upon gallons of lake water. (Otherwise known by the less popular latin as fishpoopius, turtlepoopius, snakepoopius, duckpoopius, goospoopius, etc. . . . )

Other than that we had a great time at our church picnic up at Lake Allatoona!

The Incredible "Headless" Hero!

2008-07-28T14:13:00.001-07:00

Okay, I know I saw that head around here somewhere. Did it go down here?????

Okay, now everyone has heard of the normal super heroes like Batman and Spiderman, but has anyone ever heard of the lesser known "We only need our underwear on" heroes?? Apparently they are all the rage up in Hoschton and we saw the evidence much in abundance a couple of weeks ago. For some reason these heroes dress up in their underwear and attack invisible dinosaurs such as the fierce T-Rex! (somebody has to defend the house from attacking monsters who have been extinct for like say a million years or so????!!!)

Watch out Julliard, here they come!

2008-07-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of a playdate we had with some friends of ours who have two children slightly older than Jonathan. He and their son (Eddie) put on a lovely concert for us consisting of many colorful and very well staged musical numbers!! The only instruments they had were their hands, feet, two maracas and a very large microphone. Let me tell you it was a toe tapping event.

4th of July!!!!

2008-07-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

For the 2nd year in a row we went to the Marietta 4th of July parade.

Grammy found us an excellent spot on the wall between the National cemetery and the street. We had an excellent view of the entire parade. JT especially enjoyed the firetrucks and the soldiers.

He also informed me that he really wants to start taking clogging lessons?!?!

Once evening came around we joined the rest of our church family at Acworth Beach Park for music, food, play and fireworks. JT experienced his first sparkler. Notice the look of absolute joy on his face. This was quickly followed by lots of frowns as the police man came barreling over to tell us we weren't allowed to light sparklers in the area. I assume this is because they were about to set off $1000's of dollars of highly flamable pyrotechincs about 100 yards away and didn't want the program to be anticlimactic??? haha

Anyway, we had a great 4th and hope you and yours did as well!!!

(Notice we actually were able to fire off many sparklers before being caught!!)

Finally, a new posting!!!

2008-06-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hello all! This is going to be a quick post and will consist mainly of pictures. We are all doing well. Summer is here and with it many hot and humid days. I once again promise to try to do better but as you can see by the date of my last blog I am not holding my breath. :)

JT had surgery this past spring to remove his tonsils, adnoids and put ear tubes in and I cannot tell you how much better he is already!! There are times when I have to actually put my ear to his little mouth to make sure he is breathing he is so quiet. I used to be able to hear him all the way across the house. Amazing!! He is growing up so fast and I am trying to hold him all I can.

He is still crazy about trains and now we usually have a battle every night. He builds these extravagant train tracks during the day and wants to leave them up for days at a time. He is actually not interested in playing with the trains on the tracks at all, merely building the tracks! Maybe he's going to be an engineer? He still loves music though and puts on daily concerts as well!

I hope all of you have a Great summer and I will try to do better about updating this thing

2007-09-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Just wanted to enter a quick update as to our lives. I hope everyone had a great summer. Me, I'm just glad it's almost over. I am definitely one southern girl who does not like the weather in the south. The heat and bugs do not win me over!!

Well, I will carry on with my update. Jonathan and I have had a great summer. We have not been swimming as much as he would like but we have managed to get in the water many times. He now will jump off the diving board as long as there's someone to catch him. He will jump into the shallow end by himself as long as it is only 3 feet deep. He likes to walk around by himself and show off how tall he is already!

We have been to small fairs, carnivals, touring train shows, and more other things than I can remember at the moment. We are looking forward to a Very busy fall and a wonderful Holiday season. He already has a list going of what he wants Santa Calus to bring him for Christmas. The top of the list is a small red fire truck that he found a picture of in a catalogue. We ripped the page out and he put a piece of tape on the top. That picture now adorns whichever wall he feels will give Santa the best vantage point to see it and ensure its timely delivery. He has informed me that Christmas is too far away and that he thinks Santa should go ahead and bring it for him to play with now instead of waiting. I haven't told him but Santa already delivered it and it now resides on the upper shelf of my closet hiding for a few months!

I went to Baltimore for my friend Julia's wedding and left Jonathan for a very long three days. I had a great time and the wedding was almost picture perfect. Chuck and Julia both looked amazing and I am looking forward to seeing the pictures when they come out. My mother and his Aunt Pam and Uncle Franklin helped to take care of JT for me and to this date I don't know who was busier over the weekend. He had a great time with both households but I was grateful to see him when I returned and I think he was just as happy to see me. I gave him a small disposable camera to take pictures of his adventures over his "sleepover" weekend and when I returned he somehow had "3" cameras full of pictures. I heard he was such a paparazzi that his camera had to be continually replinished due to his desperate need to capture that one perfect shot. I haven't had those developed yet but when I do I am sure we will sit down and look over all of the pictures together so he can tell me all about his Grand Adventure away from home! Thank you to Grammy, Aunt Pam and Uncle Franklin for helping me out!

I am becoming very involved in my church. I go to North Star church in Kennesaw and I absolutely love it! I first started to go because I love the way our Senior Pastor delivers his message but have become involved in the Surviving Divorce ministry there and now a leader in the Singles Ministry. There are a lot of really great people there and Jonathan has made lots of friends in his Preschool class on Sundays. He just graduated to an older room and he made the transition smoothly. This new room has a huge train set and train table so needless to say, he is very happy to go to church on Sundays!!!

Speaking of trains, we just returned from a trip to Nashville, Tennessee where we saw and rode Thomas the Train! Jonathan was thrilled. My mother, Jonathan and I went and made a long weekend/mini vacation out of it. We went to the Adventure Science Center where they had a Dinosaur presentation as well as tons of inventive and creative hands on activities for children and adults. We went to two very cool restaurants. "Rainforest Cafe" was a tropical rain forest themed restaurant that had gorillas, elephants, zebras and lots of other touristy type things running throughout. Then we went to an "Aquarium" restaurant that was all decked out to make you feel like you were in the middle of the aquarium. We had to take an 8pm reservation but luckily they gave us a booth so JT just fell asleep with his head in my lap about half way through dinner. That was fine by me because that meant I actually was able to eat my dinner in piece and quiet for a change. Mom sat outside on a bench with him asleep in her lap while I walked about two hundred yards away to get the car. She said that he behaved better than he every had while I was gone. hahaha. We drove around Nashville and saw things like the original Grand Ole Opry and The Hermitage house. On the way back we stopped at the Chattanooga Aquarium to round out the vacation! Over all I think it was an unquailified success!!

Jonathan is starting to ask a lot of questions about where his Dad is but I am very grateful to both my father and Gerald for helping me out in that area. Charlotte and Gerald have let us spend the night on more than one occasion at their house up in Blairsville to ensure they get some bonding time with him. (Thank you by the way!!!) Jonathan loves his Papa (my father) and his Grandpapapapa (Craig's father) and just craves masculine attention. They both have really helped out by trying to spend as much time as possible with him. I also try to get him around my two brothers as often as I can as well so he has some men to rough house with and just in general be a 'boy'!!

He started Mother's Day Out at Marietta First Baptist church a couple of weeks ago again for this year and I just want to say a big Thank you to my mother for helping out so much with him! She watches him for me a lot of the time while I work and she is definitely a Godsend.

Well, that's all for now. I will try to post again soon with lots of fall news. He already has a Superman costume that I cannot wait to see him wearing. We will be trick or treating with Whitney and Lexi again this year and I promise to take tons of pictures!

Hope everyone is well and feel free to send along any comments!!

Love to everyone,
Sharona and the Baby Bear (Jonathan)

Our Latest Adventures

2007-05-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well, my mother reminded me that I haven't updated this in awhile and that was good because I tend to forget all about it and end up apologizing to everyone months later for not letting you all know what's going on in our lives. [how was that for a run on sentence!!:) ]

First off, Jonathan was invited to his first birthday party for a friend from Mother's Day Out. We went to Kangaroo Bob's (an indoor inflatable/jumping playground area) and he had a Great time. The birthday boy was crying at the beginning and the next thing I knew J.T. was walking around with him, holding his hand and telling him it was going to be okay. That's my boy!!

My Mother, Father, Jonathan and I all put together a new swing set for my mother's house and J.T. loves it! He spends a lot of time there b/c my mother helps me out immensely with watching him while I work and he calls the new swingset 'Grammy's special, special playground'!

We had my mother's birthday party there and combined it with a 40th anniversary of owning the house. Everyone came over and we looked at old pictures and slides and just had a great time being together! Boy, talk about some 80's hair and I have to say that my 2 brothers definitely looked a little like a band member for the flock of seagulls! hahahaha

Other than that J.T. and I went to "All Aboard Days" in Kennesaw and spent a few hours riding trains, trains and more trains. We went to the local train museum and saw 'The General'. That's a locomotive that was in comission during the civil war and now resides there in the museum. Man, that train is huge and J.T. just loved it. He got a Thomas the tank engine painted on his arm and we saw 4 actual trains go through the center of town. Speaking of the center of town, My mother, J.T. and I have found a new favorite mexican restaurant right in downtown Kennesaw. We can sit outside on the patio and about 60 feet from the railroad tracks. Jonathan spends the entire time looking for trains! I think the boy has an obsession!!!

Well, that's all I can think of right now. I'll post more later when new things happen!

We love you all,

Sharona and Jonathan

I know, I know, where have we been???

2007-04-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have to go ahead and so that I am sorry and ashamed for not having updated my blog in so long! There's absolutely no way I could include everything that has happened so I will give the cliffnotes version!

Jonathan is now 3 years old!!! Yeah! He had a wonderful (albeit a little cold) birthday party at East Marietta park. We grilled out hotdogs, played on the playground and had lots of bubbles. We waited until we were home before we opened presents because the wind tried to keep blowing them away. It actually took us 2 weeks to open all of the presents but needless to say he enjoyed everything. I think I'm the one who enjoyed the clothes the most but hey, he's only three! :)

Backing up a bit, Jonthan has been attending Mother's Day Out at Marietta First Baptist Church. His grammy is a member and he just loves going each week. He goes Tuesday and Friday mornings and has made lots of friends. He's going to go this summer for 4 weeks in July and hopefully those friends will be there as well. We're both looking forward to it!

Some of his favorite play spots are Kangaroo Bob's and Monkey Joe's. Those are indoor inflatable playgrounds where he can run and get crazy for as long as we hold out. There are couches, tables, computers with internet access, tv's and other things to keep the adults entertained while kids expend 'some' of their energy. If all other children are like Jonathan they very rarely ever run out of it!!!

He also loves to go to the Georgia Aquarium with his Grammy. Before he turned three they would go every few weeks b/c she has a season pass and he got in for free. He loves the whales and little worm like things that come up from the sand. He now likes to 'play' whale while he takes a bath and you can surmise for yourself what kind of mess that makes!

As far as this summer goes we are possibly planning a trip to the beach so I will definitely let you know if that happens. In September his Grammy and I are all headed to Nashville to see Thomas the tank engine at the train station there. We will actually get to ride him and he's going to be Thrilled!!!! We are also going to check out the zoo and others things and just make a fun weekend out of it.

As for me, I am doing great! I'm very busy some weeks and not so busy others and loving every minute of it. We've been in our little house now for almost a year and Jonathan now calls it home. I made him his first 'big boy' loft bed and he scrambles up the ladder every night to go to sleep. Right now he's scared of big monsters and big robots so he likes sleeping up very high.

He is still infatuated with trains and I don't see that coming to a conclusion anytime soon but who knows. His Grammy and I find ourselves doing outrageous things with an automobile just to be able to see a train drive by and sometimes have to just laugh at the absurdity of it all. I think he has us very well 'trained'!! hahaha

Well, that's all for now. Hope this fills you in a little on our lives and I promise I will try to be better about updating in the future!!

Love to all,

Sharona and JT

Halloween pics

2006-11-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, I published that last blog without Halloween pics so here goes a couple. The one with the pink wig was taken the day we went to a Pumpkin carving party with my church group. I wore the wig as my costume and Jonathan saw it and decided he just had to try it on. Once it was on he proceeded to spin and twirl around like a crazy man in a beauty pageant. You know me, I had to get the camera and voila!!

Talk to all of you soon!

Autumn has arrived!!!

2006-11-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

Hi there all! I hope everyone is having a great fall so far. This is absolutely my favorite time of year. The leaves are gorgeous, the wind is blowing, the air is crisp and there's a need for socks and jackets. If only it could stay like this for more than a month I would be in heaven!!

Jonathan and I have been very busy these past few weeks. We went to Tennessee and had a wonderful time. Two weekends ago we went up to Blairsville, Ga. and spent some time with Gerald and Charlotte (J.T.'s grandsparents). We went to a pumpkin patch and had all kinds of fun! J.T. rode a pony, we all went on a hay ride, we rode a little train, went to a petting zoo, found our way through a maze, (we only g0t lost once due to J.T.'s expert navigational skills) and in general had a blast. Then we went to a 'trading post' and Jonathan got to chase a chicken around the parking lot. I don't know why that chicken didn't want to stop??? He got over the trauma when he spotted the large fire truck! Needless to say he can't stop talking about going back to papapapapapapa's and mamamamamama's house. (That's how he's saying Grandpa and Grandma now!)

Then on Tuesday we went trick or treating! He dressed as 'Noddy' from the PBS children's tv show "Make Way for Noddy". If you're not familiar with it you can look it up on line at www.sproutletsgrow.com. He was absolutely the most adorable little trick or treater on the planet!!! The group of us was Me, J.T., Pam, Mary Ellen (my sister-in-law), Whitney (my friend) and her 10 year old daughter Alexus. Needless to say Jonathan was the envy of the neighborhood walking around with all girls!!! After we walked around to all of the houses J.T., Whitney, Lexi and I all went to a Harvest fest at a very large local church and Jonathan and Lexi got to ride a carousel and play all kinds of games. A fun time was had by all!

I hope this finds everyone well and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible during the upcoming holiday season!

Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS to Pam, our brand new addition to the nursing profession!!!
I cannot possibly tell you how very proud I am of you and please know that I never doubted for a second how well you would do in school and how grateful I am to know that you'll now be out there taking care of us!!! J.T. and I love you very much!!!!

2006-10-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Hi there all! We just got back from a few days in the Smoky Mts. with the family. We had a great time and only wished it could have been longer. Since I've returned I'm more determined than ever to make some good homemade fudge. I now only have to find a way to make it without calories!!!

Here are a few cute pictures of the most adorable little boy in the world. You may have already seen them but just thought you could never see too many! There's also an older gentleman in one of the pictures. You'll notice that he's containing a 2 1/2 year old bundle of energy from running into the street and getting squashed!!!

This weekend we're off to Blairsville to a SugarGum festival and a romp in a pumpkin patch. I'll post more pictures next week.

Until then have a great weekend!!!!

2006-10-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

Trying this thing out to see how it works. Once I get it down I will keep everyone updated on our lives.

Hope everyone is doing well!!!