FFF

Today is Favorite Photo (Foto) Friday and the theme this week is Black & White photos. I sure don't have very many black & white, but I found this one...from our cruise.

May 10, 2008

Rob's Home

Rob made it back from Chicago last night....YEAH!!He said the Reunion was GREAT and he was happy he went and enjoyed seeing his family and old friends. Rob didn't really take any pictures but the one below I copied from his cousin Julia's myspace page, it's a group photo of the whole gang. Looks like it was a good turnout. Thanks for taking such good pictures Julia!! (can you find Rob in the photo?)

August 2008 - Family Reunion - South Beloit, IL

Baby Boy Turns 15

This good looking young man is Rob's oldest son and he turns 15 today!!!

Happy Birthday Ian!!! We hope you have the BEST Birthday ever and all your Birthday wishes come true!! We Miss You SOOOOOOOOO Much and we can't wait to see you....just a few more weeks.
WE LOVE YOU XOXOXOXOXO
Dad & Pattie

On his way.......

Rob is in flight, on his way to Chicago. I miss him already.
Rob is the opposite of me, he likes to fly. I get butterfly's just dropping someone off at the airport, even if I'm not flying. I dropped him at 6:30 am and I got to work an hour early. I wasn't sure how early to leave because you never know with the morning traffic.
He had a carry on bag but the plane filled up all the carry on space by the time he got on the plane and they made him in check in his bag. He changes in Charlotte, so hopefully his bag will make it to Chicago too. One more reason flying sucks!!!
And guess what, he forgot the camera. But he claims his cell phone takes just as good pictures, we'll see. So I'm not sure what kind of photos he'll get from the weekend. Stayed tuned....

Family Reunion

This Friday Rob will be flying to Chicago to attend a Family Reunion. Thanks to his Mom & Step Dad!!!!

He's very excited. It'll be a quick trip, just a long weekend but he'll get to see a lot of his family and friends he hasn't seen in years. I'll miss him and I can't wait to hear all about his adventures to the Windy City.

I am sending him with the camera and he is under strict orders to take lots of pictures!! If not, I know is sister Jenny (photographer extraordinaire) will have plenty to share.

I hope you guys (all Rob's Family) have the BEST time ever!! I'll be thinking about you!!

XOXOX

Pattie

Worried

UPDATE: We got LUCKY and didn't get a hurricane this time!!!! YEAH, just some bad weather and we never lost power either. One good thing is our office was closed on Tuesday. So I guess that's South Florida's version of a snow day!!!

Are we seriously getting a hurricane????????
Nooooooooooo, please pray we do NOT get a hurricane. As of right now Tropical Storm Fay is not yet a hurricane but we all know what happens once the storm crosses over land and hits the hot water, it can change very fast.
Do you remember a few years ago the Hurricane that hit Tampa that went from a Cat 1 to 4 in just a few hours? I'm sure all the West Coasters remember that one. It can change very quickly once it gets over the warm waters. And we are still in the middle of repairs from the last direct hit hurricane we had. I don't think our condo could stand another one.
Currently the path shows the storm towards the West side, which means we are on the bad side of the storm. GREAT. But that could change to because a day ago it wasn't even hitting Florida...so who knows.
They are evacuating the Keys for all non-residents. My Dad lives in the Keys and he is heading up North, thank goodness. He usually stays but I think after the last one, no one is taking chances.
I'm sure by Tuesday all the airports will be closed, which will cause havoc at work, as most of my group is scheduled to fly out on Monday & Tuesday.
In South Florida a normal storm causes thousands of power outages for people, and if it's a really bad storm, we're in for some serious power outages.

We'll be glued to the Weather Channel all day.

Bear Attack

Evan - One Brave Little Boy

We are so happy that my good friend Kelly's son Evan (8 years old) is safe and doing well today.
On Monday Evan was attacked by a black bear while on a hiking trail in Tennessee with his Father and brother.
Evan is okay, he was scratched and bitten by the bear but his wounds, thank the LORD were not life threatening. He had to get 35 stitches. The picture above is Evan showing some of his stiches. He is one lucky kid and we know he was being watched over that day by a guardian angel.
Even lives in South Florida with his Mom Kelly, his brother Alex (10) and his Step dad Hans. We are all very close friends and I've know Kelly since the 5th grade and was present for the birth of both her boys. These boys have a special place in my heart. I was so scared when I first heard the news, I didn't think I was hearing correctly.
The boys were on a summer vacation with their Dad (John) in Tennessee and taking pictures near a creek off the nature trail. Luckily the boys Dad was able to pull the bear off long enough for Evan to get free and run. The bear went for Evan a second time before John and his older brother Alex scared the bear off by throwing rocks and sticks at the bear. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to see a bear attacking your child. Thank the Lord for John's quick reactions by pulling the bear off of Evan.
You may have seen the story on the news, if not you can read about it and see some video clips on cnn.com or sun-sentinel.com.

We Love you Evan and we are so thankful you are okay and we can't wait to see you when you get back home.
XOXO

The Boys

When we took the kids home, the first thing the boys did once they hugged everyone was run and get their dirt bikes out. Nathan and Ian both have dirt bikes (Thanks to their Grandpa) and since they live in the country, it's perfect for them. Here are a few pictures I took

Getting ready to ride

There goes Nathan
Ian was to fast so I had to snap him once he was done

We Miss these boys!!!

Happy Birthday JESSICA!!!

Today the beautiful Miss Jessica turns 9 years old!!! We had a birthday celebration yesterday at Jessica's house.
Happy Birthday Jessica, we hope you have the BEST Birthday ever and may all your Birthday Wishes come true!!!
I can't believe she is 9 already, I remember when she turned 1 we all sang Happy Birthday to her, with her little princess hat on (she was so cute) and she busted out crying as soon as we finished...so sweet. She loves it now!!!

WE LOVE YOU SWEET JESSICA!!!
XOXOXO

Happy Birthday Matthew!!!!

Today my nephew Matthew (we call him Beau) turns 20!!! Man I feel old. Beau was the cutest little baby and boy, and the appple of my eye. I could not get enough of him. There is a special place in my heart just for my litte Beau. Although he's a Man now. I am very proud of the young man he has grown into. I Love Matthew and may all your Birthday wishes come true!!
XOXOXOX

Happy Birthday Kate!!

Yesterday was Rob's little Sister Kate's Birthday. We had some computer issues yesterday and could not post yesterday.

Kate - We hope you had the BEST Birthday ever and we hope you have the BEST Year ahead!!

We Love You & We Miss You!!

Missing the Kids.....

We are sooo missing the kids this week.
They started school on Wednesday and Megan said it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, Nathan said he wasn't embarrassed to walk into his class this year (not sure why he would be) and Ian (Mr. Big 10th grader) said it was great, but he didn't like the classes he got. Welcome to high school.
Then Nathan and Megan both got sick this week, poor babies and had to miss school thier first week. Both have fevers. Hopefully they will be better by the weekend.

So Quite

It's so quite around the house without the kids, we just don't know what to do with ourselves. Actually there is a lot to do but we are just to sad to get started, like cleaning up all the kids stuff and putting away the surf boards and puzzles and remote control boats and coloring books, etc.

Our trip up was pretty good, the kids were very well behaved. It took us almost 10 hours, I guess because of all the potty stops we had to make and we stopped for breakfast and lunch and we had to stop once because Nathan wasn't feeling so good, but once he tossed his cookies, he was fine. To much milk at breakfast I guess.
The kids were happy to see their Mom, Grandparents and cousins and check out their new digs. Their Mom moved them over the summer.

The kids start school tomorrow, so they are getting ready...no more sleeping in, they have to catch the bus by 6:25am. poor things.

We'll see the kids again in about 8 weeks for their Fall break. We can't wait!!

Sad Faces

We all have our sad faces on today............

Tonight we're packing up the kiddies and tomorrow morning we are on our way to drop them off in Alabama.......boo hoo.

None of us are looking forward to the 8 hour trip, then Rob & I turn around drive 8 hours back home. It's not so bad.

All in all I think the kids had a Great Summer and did lots of fun things and more importantly spent some quality time with their Dad.

Rockers

Here are Rob & Ian on their way to the Mayhem Concert. They had some fun with the spray-in hair color. Notice Rob's Red beard or whatever you call that thing on his chin and Ian's Red Streaks.
They had a great night and Ian love love loved his first concert.
Rob said Ian couldn't stop smiling and hugging him saying Thank you for bringing me Dad.
(The pics are a little blurry sorry, they were rushing to get out the door).

Rob & his Baby Boy....

look how tall he is, he'll be taller than Rob by Christmas