Solar Powered Family Fun

 When you all have the same solar eclipse experience but are all in different places - fun can still be possible!

BIRTHDAY TAKE 47!

 

FRIDAY

The weather these days can't seem to make up it's mind, and somewhere in the mix I managed to turn a whole year older.  This birthday was extra special, and I felt especially loved and spoiled by everyone. I generally celebrate with my dad since our birthdays are close.  It's double the cake and double the fun.  Since it was also Easter weekend, everyone was home which made it even more special!

SATURDAY

We took a little family outing to Nashville.  I got us a reservation at Maggiano's where we stuffed ourselves.  Afterwards, we drove around Vanderbilt University/Medical to see the hospitals.  Karson has considered a future career there and wanted to see it.  We capped our night in the Gulch walking around and looking at shops.

SUNDAY

I got spoiled again by my in-laws at a birthday lunch and an amazing cake!  I felt celebrated all weekend long and am thankful for such a wonderful family!

No I'm Not Crying

 I don't know what it is about this spring season, but my allergies are out of whack and sinuses are out of control.  I'm sneezing LOUD multiple times a day and running out of tissues.  I think I've woken up at least three separate times with swollen eyes.  Once the weather starts feeling pleasant, the first thing I want to do is get outside, do yardwork, and take some walks.   A co-worker/friend and I have been walking almost weekly at Russell Sims after work, but I've had to put a pause on that because of these allergies.  I do love all the blooming trees, greening grass, and signs of life popping up!  Ugh, why does nature torture me?

Nothing too exciting to report in the ol' blog!  Our days used to be filled with so many of the kids activities, events, and celebrations.  I felt like there was always something to document or write about.  I'm not sure any of my readers out there would care if I got a new crown on my molar or our taxes filed this week, binge watched Love is Blind Season 6, went to my nieces volleyball game, or that Matt got some new golf clubs.  Work is work.  Life is routine.  Part of having two college kids, who have both moved out, is an extra quiet house.  Miles, of course, is still at home but stays pretty active with school, the gym, hanging out with his friends or girlfriend, going to the golf course, and working at Southern Lanes.  

These THREE sweet faces!

Earlier this month, both college kids came home for the week.  Oddly, both of their Spring Breaks lined up at the same time.  Isaac had considered going to Ft. Lauderdale with his fraternity, but I am super thankful he chose us instead, especially if anyone was following the Riley Strain case.  Outside of Life 360, there is part of you that feels helpless with your college-aged children. You hope they are safe and have a good support group around them. It's much easier for my heart/mind to feel calm and peaceful when both of them are at home.  

Matt and I attended South Warren High School's production of Guys and Dolls this month on opening night.  Let me say, this performance was phenomenal.  Not only was the cast amazing, you could tell extra elements were added to make the experience more "theatrical" at the school.  They had assigned seats that could be purchased ahead of time with price points.  During intermission, there were special drinks and concessions for the audience along with a merchant table.  There was a lot of effort put into those details making it a special for the show kick-off!

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Women's Leadership Conference at the Corvette Museum.  It was a treat getting out the office and listening to some incredible speakers which included former SWHS Spartan and Miss Kentucky, Mallory Hudson along with Governor Beshear's wife Britainy who was poised, elegant, and incredibly humble in her delivery and message.

The SWHS Bowling Team hosted a banquet last Saturday honoring the players this season.  Miles was welcomed with open arms by Coach Radford and Coach Goodwin and made to feel part of this extra special team of talented bowlers.  While his efforts were no where near some of these players, he was a contributor making small improvements throughout the season, earning a 200+ game twice and having some competitive scores posted.  For someone that has never bowled at this level and has spent all of his free time on the golf course, I was a proud parent!

 

Coach Radford awarded him with the Most Improved Spartan bowler award at the banquet.  He also earned a bowling patch for his jacketless letter.  Miles is a hoodie sort of guy and has never wanted a letterman jacket.  I've asked him multiple times, and his reply is always, "nope, I won't ever wear it."  I'm thinking about having the insets and bars sewn onto the letter and maybe doing a shadow box or something as a keepsake.

Both college students plan to come home this weekend for Easter and to celebrate my birthday along with my dads!  Looking forward to another fun Deaton family of 5 reunion!  I've already began working on adult Easter baskets, hah!

Little Life Updates

 The BG snowpocalypse shut everything down for about a week.  These flurries spitting out today need to go away!  

Miles has always been our snow kid.  On snow days, he was always the first one up and ready for action.  The white stuff came on Monday, January 15 - MLK day which meant we were out of school.  We grabbed all the layering gear and ventured out, lasting a whoppin' 10 minutes.  It was frigid!  One day of snow turned into an entire week of NTI school.  I don't remember at what point during this blizzard-y week that Miles wanted to go and work out, but when he went to start his car, it was completely dead.  Because he also had to work later that afternoon, it needed to be fixed quickly.  Matt and I both assumed it was the battery.  His car had been acting a little funny at start up in recent days, so it made the most sense.  We have a jump box in our garage so after Miles left for the gym in my car, we moved his inside to take a look.  Like any older, high mileage vehicle, there was lots of build up around the battery terminals.  In the process of fiddling with it, one of the battery pieces broke off.  Thankfully, our Pap Colvin knows a lot about cars.   Guess what fun fact we learned after Matt's conversation with his dad over the phone:  Dr. Pepper fixes corrosion?!?  I'm not sure if that is a good thing since it's Isaac's beverage of choice. No telling what corroding pieces are being fixed in his body - hah!

After getting his car over to Batteries Plus, we got him all ready to go!  What a lovely day to have a break-down.  Fortunately, it was at home, and all was fixed within a matter of a few hours.

We're almost ONE month into 2024.  Our son Isaac turned 19 on the 25th.  Before he left for Eastern, we held a little gathering for him to celebrate at Kyoto Gardens, his favorite place to eat.  He's looked high and low for an equal establishment in Richmond with NO luck.  He's always been a fan of cookie cakes too.  I decided to branch out and order an Insomnia cookie cake this go around.  Insomnia cookies are also his favorites.  Since the cakes aren't designed to feed very many, I also ordered a dozen cookies.  Those went over much better than the cake sadly.  He wasn't crazy about the fondant addition or the taste in general.  Guess we'll either go with cookies in the future or stick with our other favorite cake maker The Cookie Store.

An extra birthday bonus arrived in the mail from the Dean of Business at EKU. Isaac received notification of being on the Dean's list for his academic achievements.  We're very proud of his confidence, character, and courage to leave home and pursue something that he is naturally gifted at - business is the perfect fit for his personality.  Excited to see what his future holds!

Speaking of proud, our UofL Nursing student just completed the two hardest weeks of her semester.  I know she's relieved to get that out of the way.  We're looking forward to seeing her this weekend!

She continues to excel as a Dean's Scholar and is an advocate for students in the nursing program as VP of Nursing Student Council!  The future of healthcare looks bright for our girl.  She has a heart of gold and is loved by those she's around most often.

Our bowling season came to an end last week at Region.  It was bittersweet for our seniors who have contributed SO much to the program.  Miles did his very best, but other seasoned bowlers just had the upper hand on our team that day.  The thing that I like about bowling though is that the competition/events for team and individual are completely separate.  Only your very best bowlers compete in individuals, and that is generally your top four.  Thankfully TWO of our members made it to the overall top four (out of 74 bowlers) and can go on to compete at the state level.  We're extra proud of them and excited they get to represent SWHS!

The team had an early morning breakfast at Melissa's Cafe before a LONG day of bowling.

Miles was welcomed with open arms and treated kindly by his teammates, coaches, and the families involved.  It's been an incredible experience for him.  He's made new friends and improved a great deal at the sport.

 

One fundamental difference between raising daughters and raising sons is prepping for events and all the humdrum surrounding high school dances.  I never know if my sons are going to dances or not or need anything.  It's all new territory.  Me taking pictures is annoying to them.  Coordinating an outfit seems like a larger task than it should be.  It's not that fun.  

Miles decided to take a friend to Winter Formal.  My first thought is, what color is her dress?  You want to compliment, not clash!  My second thought is, what is in Isaac's closet that might work?  

1.  Dress shoes, two sizes too small, ugh!  

2.  Shirts, nothing!  

3.   Black dress slacks, SCORE! 

With a photo of the dress on hand, we ventured out to Shoe Carnival last weekend and found a nice pair of black dress shoes.  Afterwards, we headed over to Kohl's, the headquarters for my shopping these days.  We found a black shirt there and almost bought a red tie.  Glad we decided to Facetime Matt who told us he had an identical one at home.

He went with a group of his dates friends to Olive Garden before heading to the dance.  Matt had asked me if I wanted to help chaperone.  It was nice seeing all the students dressed up.  Maybe I'll just go to PROM this year too.  Ugh, when do I need to get Miles fitted for a tux?  And, does he plan to go?  Stay tuned.

Less is More in 2024

 Got a text this morning from Matt basically saying one of his goals for 2024 is "waste less."  For everyone this sort of means something different.  Waste less money.  Waste less food.  Waste less time on a wide variety of things.  The list goes on, but I like the idea.  I've tried to be fully engaged over the holiday break.  I don't want to waste any time.  When your grown children leave for college and are gone for months at a time, you cherish the moments when they are home. The house is louder and more alive.  The laundry is always going.  Grocery runs are more frequent.  The pace is different.  I'm fortunate having a job where I am off for two weeks during the break.  What a treat.  We binged lots of television, went to some bowling matches, watched the SWHS girls basketball tournament, worked lots of puzzles, and enjoyed our time together.

I didn't take as many (less) pictures as I probably should have, but the memory of the time is planted in my brain.  

My favorite memory was taking a road trip to Lexington to visit my Mamaw Pogue.  She lives with my Aunt Linda and Uncle Ronnie and is absolutely precious.  It was a treat seeing her, and my aunt fixed us a wonderful lunch when we arrived.  Mamaw gave us a house tour of her bedroom and sewing room for all her quilts.  She makes the most beautiful quilts and is so proud of them.  For Christmas, my aunt Linda asked everyone (back in October) to send her pictures of all the quilts Mamaw had made for our respective families.  She grouped and printed all the pictures together in a large album and gifted it to her for Christmas.  

The quilt above is my childhood Strawberry Shortcake blanket.  It's truly my most prized possession from my Mamaw.  It's barely hanging in there and something I could never replace.  This blanket got me through lots of times in my life - sad, happy, scared, etc.  Blankey was there for me.  Karson, being the first everything, had TONS of blankets gifted to her as a baby.  Guess which one she chose as her favorite and has accompanied her the last 21 years, MY BLANKEY!!!!!  At one point, Mamaw had to re-sew the ribbon border back around it. We're extra careful with it these days and try not to wash it very often.

 

I didn't include all of her baby quilts, but these are the larger quilts she has made through the years.  I also have a few that my great-grandmother made as well.  

 

We ate, visited, played cards, and left with some of Mamaw's treasures she wanted to give us from her curio cabinet.  I came home with a cardinal music box, two magnolia flowers and some smaller ceramic flower baskets.  I also have a couple of things from Matt's late Granny and Mamaw.  It's special for them to share their things with their grandkids.

 

Karson finished up her junior year in nursing continuing to maintain her 4.0 GPA.  This semester she begins her senior year with graduation on Friday, December 13th!!!!  It will be here before we know it.  She is still sorting through ideas and plans for her journey after nursing school.  Whatever she decides, and wherever she lands, I know they'll be grateful having her.  I got these special pictures (below) yesterday as she kicked off the first semester of her SENIOR year!

 

To start the holidays off right, we had a friends dinner at Garcia's Restaurant downtown.  It was our first time there but will not be our last.  What a beautiful venue and delicious food.  We ran into lots of friends while we were there too, guess they've been keeping the place a secret!  HAH!

My dad and his barbershop group had a Christmas show at Greenwood Park.  It's always a festive event that gets you into the holiday spirit.

Because Christmas landed on a Monday this year, we decided to celebrate with the Deaton family a little earlier with Debbie hosting on Saturday, the 23rd.  The picture below is literally the only one I got that day.  Seth gave all the kids cozy house slippers which they immediately put on.

Christmas Eve (Sunday), we celebrated with my parents that morning.  I don't think any of our parents are hard to buy for, but it's sometimes challenging thinking of something they might like.  When trying to figure out what to get my mom, Karson and I wandered into Barnes and Noble one afternoon.  I know mom likes to read and thought maybe a new book or two.  It was like a lightbulb came on when we walked in, and Karson suggested getting her some new reading glasses and board games.  She said they always like playing games with Meme when they go over to her house.  There is a game called Telestrations which we settled on and Karson had played before.  We also purchased the game Mind the Gap.  We had a blast playing Telestrations and quickly realized that some of us are better artists than others.  If you ever get the chance to play it, do it!  Mind the Gap is a fun generational trivia game too.

Christmas Day - we relaxed most of the day at home.  Seems like it was the first time that the kids slept in later than normal.  Have I mentioned our youngest son has been working at the bowling alley since early November?  Over the break, one week he clocked 33 hours and the next 22.  Needless to say, he's been tired mainly because of the late night shifts (not so much the actual hours).

 

Both Miles and Isaac got new guitars.  Miles wanted a new electric Harley Benton, and Isaac liked a 12-string Takamine at Kentucky Music.  I love that our boys are musical and know how to play an instrument. Karson wanted a handful of different things for Christmas this year.

 

The kids surprised us with some thoughtful gifts including an engraved journal for Matt and a hand-painted ornament for me.

Miles is such a goof ball, and I love this picture of him wearing some of his gifts.

  

 

Our tradition of constructing clearance Gingerbread Houses continued this year.  Karson and I scored some Wilton brand houses for $6 at Bargain Hunt.  Oddly, these houses were already constructed so the only task was to decorate.  I'm not sure these are "true" GB houses.  The kids didn't complain and had fun icing and decorating them.

Who are these grown children?  Love them both very much!

New Years Eve was spent with our friends Weston and Larie eating at Novo Pub and winning a few extra dollars at The Mint.  Afterwards, we went over to Southern Lanes since Miles got off work and he, Isaac, Evan and Elizabeth were there ringing in the New Year bowling.

The grind began last Tuesday for me and Wednesday for Matt and Miles.  Bowling started back up, and we had our Spartan Invitational on Saturday.  It was a special day as Miles and the team managed to make it to the final round but came up short winning the runner-up spot.  I was extra proud of Miles and his performance.  He did very well.

Karson left for Louisville on Sunday, and Isaac will leave next Sunday.  Ugh.  We plan to celebrate Isaac's birthday later this week at Kyoto!  Hard to believe he is already 19.