Goodson Gang

Here's to next year!

2011-11-20T19:19:00.005-05:00

2011 is almost over, and not a DAY too soon. The ole blog has been quiet lately. Mostly due to the fact that no one wants to hear a whiny person vent. I won't lie, this hasn't been an easy year. And we started it off with such high hopes! The house didn't sell, but the inside contents did, on CraigsList, because we thought the house had sold. And we gave away all our warm winter clothes, thinking we'd never need a coat again. And it just spiraled from there. But you know what, we are all together again, and that my friends is priceless. Whether it be here in SC or where we thought we'd be in FL, we are together. Valuable lessons learned. But I won't say I wouldn't change a thing, because (here it comes again) this has been a HARD year. So, marching on to a better 2012, using our best manners as we go!

One bright spot was this past weekend. We were blessed to be able to fly up to Boston to attend Robbie's sister's wedding. Jennifer married Tyson at the Boston Temple on Friday. It was so beautiful and we are so happy for them.

I think everyone gets a little wistful thinking back about their weddings when they attend one. But then you think of all that ground you've covered already and decide going back would be so much work to redo! I have never really wanted to go back and start over. As fun as it was, as much as we've accomplished, I just like moving forward. And since you can't go back anyway, that is just as well, huh?

At the reception that night they had a tv in the corner with photos of the bride and groom growing up scrolling by. Then the groom's father invited Tyson and his mom up for a special collection of photos. I don't even know these people and I was crying! I love to take pictures and I take a ton of them. And when I saw those pictures of Tyson and his mom, I really didn't see them, I saw us, Key and me. My oldest hitting all those milestones. I could already do at least a 1/3 of the pictures. I can see the ones in my mind that I would use!!! And how can it be that he will be ten next year? I am sure he just came home from the hospital in a baby blanket. And it hit me, hard, how all those pictures I am taking of him (and his siblings) are for a future tv, to be broadcast at a future wedding reception, for a future bride/groom to watch. I told Robbie to not do this to me, because I would not be able to stop crying. I was crying watching a mom I don't even know! But she was just smiling and hugging her son. Will the next decade prepare me to let go? Will the teen years make it seem not so bad that he is moving on? I guess time will tell.

So, we wish the happy couple the very best life has to offer! We love you both and think you are the luckiest people to have found each other. You are just perfect together. And you'll have so many wonderful years. And like 2011 was to us, you'll have some years you'll wish you could forget. But if you have each other it will be just fine, and you'll come out wiser and better off for it. And you'll wonder where the time went and who those young, fresh faces were as you look at your wedding photos. Take lots of pictures - you'll need them for a tv in a reception hall one day.....

A Dark and Stormy Night

2011-08-18T19:44:00.002-04:00

It all started with a phone call from my friend Wendy. We are kindred souls when it comes to wildlife. We share bird sighting stories and love/hate relationship with small dogs. Her more the love part, me more the hate. Anyway, she called one day while we were in Florida (she lives there) and told me about the coolest experience and she knew I'd want to do it too. Her husband knew a guy, who knew a guy....who took them to Casperson Beach to watch the sea turtles lay their eggs. She told me how the County had volunteers out there with red flashlights (to not confuse the turtles) and they would let you touch the turtles if they rested on the sand during their return to the Gulf. She told me how their shells glowed with phosphorescence and how your hand would too after you touched one. And she got to see FIVE turtles that night! FIVE! Wow, that was about the coolest thing I'd ever heard! Resisting the urge to strangle her through the phone for not calling me to join her, I thanked her for the info.

I knew I'd have a willing partner in Andy and I was right. The other two looked at me like I'd invited them to walk on broken glass. Robbie, a former Police Officer who covered the area where Casperson Beach is located, didn't like the idea of us going out there so late at night. But we couldn't be discouraged and left the condo about 10pm.

We were surprised to find only one other car parked in the sand lot at the end of the island. Where were these County people with all those red flashlights? We pressed on. We met a shady character on the boardwalk and the idea that Robbie might be right did enter my mind. We pressed on. We got to the beach and ditched our flip flops by the steps. We realized there were large rocks on the shoreline for at least a half a mile. No turtle can come over those. We pressed on. We got to the end of the rocks. Still, not a soul on the beach but us. And heat lightning was the only source of light we could see. It was PITCH BLACK out there! Civilization seemed very far away. And the reality was that we were pretty remote. We pressed on. I called Wendy and reported our location and situation. She was baffled at the lack of red flashlights too. She assured me we'd see a turtle soon though. So, again, we pressed on.

And then there was a raindrop. And the 'heat' lightning was directly overhead. Oh yeah, the skies opened UP. Buckets. That is what rained down on us. Buckets of rain. Accompanied by strong, gusty winds and lightning. Yes, lightning was cracking all around us, electrifying the air. We were in the middle of nowhere in a Florida thunderstorm. We were at least a mile from our car. (If it seems you've heard me talk about being in the middle of nowhere before, you are correct. I get caught there more often than the average human.)

Mom guilt set in big time as I grabbed Andy's hand. Who takes their 7 year old out in this? We started to run. Andy started to scream, "I can't see! I can't see!" He was referring to the fact that his glasses had rain all over them. It wouldn't have helped that I could have honestly screamed the same thing because the rain was just...thick...so I didn't panic him anymore than I already had. The white foam on the edge of the water was the only thing I could see as we raced down the beach. Then the rocks came into view. Then the boardwalk appeared and next we saw our flip flops! Oh, they were a sight for sore eyes! We jumped in the car no more wet than if we'd swam back. I still don't know how we weren't struck by lightning.

I was sure Robbie was worried sick about us. This terrible storm and we still weren't back? He must be panicked, I thought. So we drove back towards civilization and I tried to use my phone, which was also dripping. And then an amazing thing happened. A half mile from the parking lot the rain stopped. You could see a line on the road. By the time we got to Sharkey's Pier you would have never known that it had rained. Amazing!

We got back to the condo and went directly to the pool. We were covered with sand, head to toe. We washed off under the pool shower and Andy swam for a bit. Then we went back to the condo to admit, we were sure, temporary defeat in seeing a sea turtle lay eggs on the beach. We got, again, the walk on glass kinda stares from the more civilized Goodsons as they ate ice cream and watched Storage Wars on TV. They found it hard to believe we'd just survived a lightning storm a few miles down the island. I am sure they don't really think it was as bad as it was.

Unfortunately, we were never able to catch sight of a sea turtle. We made several other trips down to the beach, late at night, but to no avail. The most disheartening morning was when we found a brand new nest in a spot we passed on our way back at 1am. So between 1am and 9am we missed it.

I guess the best part is, there is always next year.

A Girls Day Out

2011-07-30T19:00:00.003-04:00

We had a Girls Day today. The boys went with dad to swim and canoe at Table Rock. Natalie was feeling a bit left out. Then she remembered me telling her that when the boys went away for camping, scouting, etc. we'd have a girls only day. So she asked if today qualified and I thought it probably did.

I had the idea of making a small quilt for one of her baby dolls. But before I gave her my idea she said, "I want to get my ears pierced today!" Wow, didn't see that coming. We've asked her about getting her ears pierced before and she was vehemently opposed. She must have been thinking it over. Or maybe you just get braver once you turn 6 years old, which she did this month. Or perhaps rising first graders are just more brave than kindergarteners. Whatever the reason, she was ready today.

We hit the mall and the Piercing Pagoda lickety split. We looked at every single pair of earrings available and I thought the pink 'diamonds' would be perfect. She thought the pink hearts filled the bill. So, pink hearts it is! I was a little hesitant to pay the lady before the earrings were actually in her ears but that seemed to be the way it is done. Natalie didn't hesitate when it came time to hop in the chair, though. She sat through the alcohol wipes and the dot placement. Then she watched the gun and on the count of three she had one earring in place. There was a few seconds delay and a tiny, "Ouch!" but she sat still and now has a matching earring in the other ear.

We celebrated with a chocolate chip cookie because she did so well. Or, from my point of view, the cookie filled up her hands and she couldn't twirl her new earrings around.

You are a brave and beautiful girl, Natalie! I loved spending time with you today.

East Coast Vs. West Coast: A slightly biased comparative analysis

2011-07-24T21:54:00.002-04:00

I've been blessed. More blessed than I deserve, to quote Dave (Ramsey). And I've run into my fair share of good luck too. One of those lucky moments happened at Payless Shoe Store two Fridays ago. Robbie called to say that my mom had called and offered us a free week on Hilton Head Island. And although I had just left a five week vacation in Florida that same week, I was more than happy to accept her gracious offer.

So, with two coasts fresh in my mind, I offer you my opinions on who offered the better experience.

Best diving pelicans: Hilton Head
Best sunsets: Venice, FL (well, being the west coast, you get to watch the sun set over the water so that is a no brainer)
Best sunrises: I suppose I'll have to give this to Hilton Head. I don't get up early enough to know.
Best sand for riding a bike: Hilton Head
Best bike trails: Hilton Head

Although, I have to throw Venice a bone here. Riding bikes around Venice was more fun. But we visit in the off season and the place is deserted. Summer in SW FL means no traffic! Summer in Hilton Head means no parking spots, anywhere!

Best food: Just from looking around at all the cool restaurants, I'll give this one to Hilton Head. We didn't eat out much.

Best snorkeling: Venice, FL
Best beach water color: Venice, FL
Best pier: Venice, FL (that isn't exactly fair since I didn't see one in Hilton Head)
Best light house: Hilton Head (this counteracts the above, because there is no lighthouse in Venice!)
Best man singing at the Marina: Hilton Head
Best Marina: Venice, FL
Best shells: Venice, FL (no shells in Hilton Head!)
Best Sharks teeth: Venice, FL (shark tooth capital of the world)
Best marsh: Hilton Head
Best deserted beach: Venice, FL (I go for solitary beach experiences)
Best party beach: Hilton Head

And I have to comment on that. When you go to the beach in Venice you take a towel (or not), maybe a chair, possibly an umbrella, snorkel and mask. Done.

When you go to the beach in Hilton Head, to do it properly you must have the following:
fancy stroller thingy
four sided tent with either Gamecocks, Tigers or Georgia Bulldogs printed on it
eight coolers packed with food and cold beverages
heavy, wooden armed beach chairs
mats
boom box to play Jimmy Buffet
badmitton set
bikes
buckets
shovels (garden type, industrial shovels, plastic doesn't work in this sand)
33 beach towels to hang from inside your four-sided tent
bogey boards
pink and green monogrammed bags full of other stuff
all your friends and your extended family

Hilton Head people don't go to the beach so much as they tailgate on it. It is quite the sight! They gather in large groups with many tents side by side. They start to resemble a Bombay trinket shop after a while. And they don't go down to the beach for an hour or so- this is an all day event. I guess with so many people there you can just come and go throughout the day, but somebody is always there to hold down the spot. (I bet if you go up to a tent on a game day it will have salt and sand on it somewhere, probably from Hilton Head.)

So, you have my take on how the east coast differs from the west coast. I'll take either, whenever I can get it. But you know my heart really does love it the most in little Venice, FL.

Florida 2011

2011-06-28T09:53:00.018-04:00

We are having a great time here in sunny SW Florida. Here are some snippets of our trip so far:
Floating in the pool after dark, staring up at the big dipper.

Smelling cocoplum, especially at night.

Crab hunting after sunset.

Learning to surf.

Riding bikes all over the island.

Catching lizards, Andy still has it!

Finding all the spots where we take pictures and updating 2011 style.

Pasta salad from the Publix deli. Why don't all Publix have this? Hint: If you eat it out of the plastic container, there is no dish to wash.

PB&J sandwiches, almost everyday.

Still wearing the SCUBA masks we bought before we were married. What a great investment!

Swimming with a manatee!! A - MAZ - ING! Also exhausting, they are faster than they look!

Posing with a woody surf wagon

Key's birthday dinner at Mi Pueblo. I love the shrimp avacado salad.

Balloon animals (or princesses, take your pick.)

Ice cream every evening.

Wi Fi at the pool.

Military-like pelican formations.

Cold tap water does not exist here. I knew that, but had forgotten.

The smell of sunscreen, even after a shower. Robbie can really coat us good.

Those darn turtles laying eggs in the middle of the night when I am not looking. (Update, I did start looking...it was a dark and stormy night. No, really, it was. And I took Andy with me. I'll save the rest for another time.)

Seeing pool friends, year after year. Meeting new ones too.

Beach umbrellas as backdrops for cool pictures, and they second as a shady spot on the beach.

Three thousand shades of blue, no chance of picking they most beautiful. They all win.

Watching the old lady, straw hat society do water aerobics in the pool. (I almost snapped a picture. You're glad I didn't!)

Enjoying the interesting art downtown Sarasota. Some recognizable, some not.

Sun kissed highlights in our hair.

Tans so deep they make our teeth glow.

Reading the Sarasota Herald Tribune. I miss it.

Reading a so-so paperback til 1am, knowing I'll get those sleep hours back in the form of an afternoon nap.

Gallons of pink lemonade, gallons of ice cream, gallons of chilled peanut M&M's. Seriously, we've been buying M&M's in the party sized bags - and there is no party!!!

Sea slugs in a bucket. (Temporarily, of course)

Sporadic sightings of the resident black snake, although Andy swears it is a cobra.

CraigsList iPod Touches for the boys. They paid!

Free apps, free apps, free apps!

Foxtail ferns, unusual succlents..

Pink cheeks, peeling shoulders.

Getting lost underwater in a huge school of jacks. Awesome experience.

Diving for fighting conchs and assorted hermit crabs to live (for at least ten minutes) in the seaside castle built especially for them.

Forgotten flip flops means burned feet, and carrying children along with beach bags.

Dinner at The Columbia! Love Cuban food. Boliche!

Watching the meandering bike formation ahead of me. Robbie leads, Natalie right behind. Me in cow's tail position.

Dodging skittering lizards as they cross in front of the bike. "Oh, look Mom! Those lizards are hugging!" (Yes. Yes they are!)

Stopping the bikes to talk to anyone walking a dachshund. Robbie's idea.

Boat rides with friends.

Robbie's first attempt at wake boarding. He did great.

BOGO popsicles. Key almost died of happiness. They are his primary source of nourishment, year round.

Knives that wouldn't slice hot butter. We keep 'em sharp at Casa Goodson.

Sunsets almost every night that would knock your socks off, if you wore them here.

Drum circle on Casey Key and a five year old girl who shook her bootie til the sun went down - all while wearing a belly dancing scarf around her waist.

Getting a picture of a manatee sticking his snout out of the water. This is nearly impossible.
You'll just have to trust me on this one. I promise that is a manatee snout. I have a better shot of a dolphin fin, but you get the idea of how good a photographer I am when it comes to mammals who live in the sea.

Opti sailboats and a new sailor in our house. He is a veteran of Roberts and Dona bays, running slightly aground around Rattlesnake island, but nothing raising his daggerboard couldn't fix.

Nautical knot tying. Practice makes perfect.

Neon green pool pass bracelets that a 'blue hair' insisted we should all wear in the pool. Don't sweat the small stuff, lady.

Digging for sharks teeth at 'the property' (our old house). Didn't find much but the old man who lives there knew Andy would be back this year and saved him a two inch whopper of a tooth. Thanks, Harold, you made his day!

Pulling a kitchen chair up to an outlet at 11:30pm so you can play on your new (used) iPod Touch as it recharges.

Jayyyyy Leno

Storage Wars. Glad we don't have A&E back home, I could get used to that. Dave, you are a JERK!

Laughing at an anhinga who caught a fish too big to swallow.

People watching at Sharkey's Pier.

Slowing down to envy houses with for sale signs out front. Thinking either one of two things:

1) we could never afford that house

2) we could afford that one, but would we all fit inside at the same time?

Tropical Thai - won ton soup and pineapple fried rice with chicken. Throw in a summary of the life of Thailand's fifth president, because Natalie noticed his picture on the wall and asked if he owned the place. Fascinating character, actually. Google him.

Really expensive watermelons. We aren't buying many. Did they grow with golden seeds this year and nobody told us?

Being genuinely disappointed that the Eastern Screech Owl we found in that Pongam tree last year wasn't in there this year. Yeah, we looked. Twice. Duh!

This vacation is far from over so I'll just leave it at............to be continued.

Accutane

2011-05-08T21:57:00.004-04:00

I get that it is Mother's Day. And I get that I should probably be writing about how great a day it was and that my children were angels and how incredible every single second of motherhood is. I get that. But you know what, I hate to break it to anyone who isn't a mother yet (because if you are a mother, you already know this)......it ain't always rose petals and pretty background music and sunshine. Sometimes it is just hard and frustrating and thankless. So when Natalie huffed and slung my Mother's Day card at me, birds were not chirping. I was more 'angry bird' at that point and that is the truth of it all. Seriously, who SLINGS a Mother's Day card!? But I felt like writing tonight and wasn't going to let the fact that it was Mother's Day get in my way. I have had this subject on my mind lately, for whatever reason, so I am going to write about it.

Have you ever heard of Accutane? It's that medicine that is mostly used for very severe acne. It also became famous for suicidal side effects, mostly in teenagers, the target patient of Accutane, one would guess.

Well, I took it once, but not for acne. I had roseacea, which is when you have a very red face, mostly across your nose and cheeks. After a hundred, "Wow, you sure got sunburned!" comments I decided to find out what was really going on with my face. The dermatologist took one look at me and declared I has roseacea. We tried multiple rounds of tetracycline which didn't help and then we pulled out the big gun, Accutane! I didn't realize what I was in for. Accutane shuts down the oil production in your body. Now, on the surface, this sounds pretty harmless. Trust me, you don't have a clue what grease can do for you until you don't have any!

The first thing that started happening was my skin started to crack. Under each fingernail, I started getting cracks. Then my ears, where they attached to my head, started to crack. Then my lips started to peel. I mean PEEL, like...OFF. As in one huge piece. As in I could hand you my lips! I remember being on a business trip and standing in the bathroom at the hotel HOLDING MY LIPS IN MY HAND. And the lips still on my face were raw and burning like fire. And then this started happening every second day for a few weeks. It got intense, to say the least.

And then I got sticky. I couldn't pet the cats without yanking out handfuls of fur. And then I'd have to wash my hands to get it off. I couldn't put pieces of paper down. I simply couldn't turn them loose. I had to have someone take them from me. I couldn't cross my bare arms or legs without getting fused to myself. Oil is a lubricant, folks! When you don't have any you stick to everything, including yourself. I would have to slowly peel my arms and legs apart or my skin would rip. I still have scars from cat scratches during that time. I guess you don't heal well without oil.

But the strangest part of having no oil production is the way I perceived smells. Quite simply, humans stink. I never realized that until then. I don't guess you would ever know that sort of thing unless you were in my situation. People smell like grease balls, and it is not pleasant! Robbie made the bed up one night and unknowingly switched our pillows. I really insulted him when I gagged at the smell of his pillow. It was amazing the difference it made to not be amongst the greasy population. I had to leave a meeting once when a lady with greasy hair sat down next to me. I couldn't stand being near her! Even just entering a room full of people overwhelmed me.

Thankfully, I was only in the sticky, peely, stinky phase for a few weeks. Then I was able to slowly decrease my dose and return to the land of oily and self stinky. You would think you'd want to remain in the non-stinky category, but life would be very difficult that way. The old saying is true in this case, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em".

And the doctor was right about the Accutane. It cured my roseacea. And it gave me lasting insights into how important oil production by our bodies really is. Who'd of thunk it, eh?

It was a Great Week

2011-04-24T22:14:00.003-04:00

We had such a great spring break week. I can't believe it is ending. Tomorrow will be an early morning. Showers, bagels, backpacks, lunches packed and out the door five minutes later than I wanted. Yes, back to the grind. School, work, violin, dinner, bedtime. Routines are important, but breaking them, for a few days, is too. It is too easy to go on auto-pilot in our routines and miss the bigger picture.

I'm grateful for the break that let us be together as a family and slow down. We picked Robbie up from the airport on Thursday. The kids weren't expecting him until Saturday, and they thought he'd be driving home. So they didn't suspect a thing when I explained I had to check out a tree at the airport. (Having a Arborist for a mom makes "going to look at a tree" normal and boring.) When we pulled up, I asked, "Hey, who's that?". Key, who couldn't wrap his brain around what his eyes were seeing, sputtered and finally exclaimed, "He won't be here til Saturday!!!". Natalie flung her tiny arms around his neck and refused to let go. Tender hearted Andy had silent tears stream down his cheeks. Dad was home, back with us, and all seemed right with the world.

I could turn this into a travel log. We did get out and about during our week, but I think I'll just focus on the things that made it so special.

Watching Robbie cut the grass, with Andy riding on his lap. Hearing the made up verses of "Hush Little Baby" coming from Natalie's room each night. Hearing him criss cross the hall fulfilling back scratching requests. Watching him make pancakes and bacon for dinner. Hearing the gentle encouragement he gave each child as they showed him all the new things they'd learned when he was gone.

That was what our week was really about. The backdrop being the trips downtown for ice cream, our walking tour of the Clemson campus, etc. On his last day he made sure all of bike tires were filled and that the seats were at the right height and he appeared happy and positive to the kids when he explained it wouldn't be long until we finish school and join him for our summer vacation. But I could tell he was missing us already. And that is just one of the reasons he is such a great dad (and husband). We are truly blessed to have him in our lives. And sometimes it takes having someone out of your life to fully grasp how important it is to have them in your life.

And speaking of life, we are still in the midst of deciding where we will be living out the next decade or so. We have lots of possibilities (or, as Natalie would say, possumbilities) and all of them are good things. It is an exciting time to be a Goodson, plus a bit stressful if you really like knowing where you'll soon call home. But I'll take it, because I know where ever we land we'll be together. And THAT is home.

He is still here

2011-04-23T14:06:00.002-04:00

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Robbie has been here all week but has to go back to FL tomorrow. I'll post more soon about of wonderful week together.

He is still home

2011-04-23T13:44:00.000-04:00

Andy

2011-03-25T17:02:00.003-04:00

Well, here is the last installment of the Goodson kids. Andrew Dean is our middle child and the most gentle soul I've ever met. He is so much like his father he is routinely referred to as 'Little Robbie'. He even sees it in himself and will giggle after a particularly 'Robbie' action or saying.

Andy was the miracle we never thought we'd have. We found out he was on the way when Key was ten months old. Stunned would be an understatement. Joy would also not do it justice. A 'free' child, out of the blue, not the result of testing and shots and endless waiting. A blessing we didn't dare hope for nor even deserve. All of his brother's firsts were going to be repeated, and it was just too good to be true.

We didn't find out the gender, yet again, but we were somehow convinced that Andy was a girl. He was so different, in utero. His brother slept for nine months. Andy kick boxed. He could literally throw me off balance as I walked. He kept his father awake at night with his constant motion. We were a bit scared at what this all might mean. We named him Natalie.

And then HE was here. And we couldn't call him Natalie anymore. We threw names at him until the nurse insisted that we pick one and stick with it. We gazed at him and he gazed back with eyes that seemed to say he'd been here for a long time. We called him a little old man and named him after Andy Griffith and his grandfather, Harold Dean. Andrew Dean it was, but don't dare call him Andrew now. He can't stand it.

From the start he was my shadow. He needed me, and only me, for at least the first year of his life. If there is a picture of us together, he is smiling. If I took the picture, meaning I was an arms length away, he is crying. Many, many, many nights he slept right beside me, my pinky finger as his pacifier. When dad isn't home, he still sleeps with me. Thankfully, I get to keep all of my fingers now!

Andy is the sweetest child I've ever met. And I am not just saying that because I am his mother. Any adult who spends time with Andy eventually finds me to tell me the same thing. As we walk together down the halls at his school, teachers I don't know stop to tell me what a special child he is.

Andy is helpful. He can sweep the house like nobody's business. He volunteers to help with anything I am doing. He is an extremely hard worker, never gives up. We spread mulch one day for hours and hours and he never left my side. His siblings abandoned us within a half hour, but not my Andy. When he has pulled all of the weeds in the garden he sits on the railroad ties waiting for a new one to pop up.

Andy loves to read. He learned to read within just a few days of starting kindergarten. It was as if they just flipped a switch and he knew. He read the first Harry Potter book to me before he turned seven. Every. Single. Word.

Andy is an expert lizard catcher. He loves all living creatures and has a shelf of reference books on fish, reptiles, shells, snakes, etc. He can name almost every vertebrate just by looking at it's skeleton. He is like a sponge when animal knowledge is available. His plan is to be an animal dentist when he grows up.

Andy started asking us if he could play the violin when he was three. We finally found a teacher, and a tiny violin, when he was four. He just turned seven in February so this is his 3rd year of lessons. He won an honorable mention from South Carolina in the Reflections contest recently. He composed and performed a song. Actually, he wrote over ten songs and chose one of his favorites to perform. The wobbly little notes he drew were adorable!

Andy isn't perfect. He has no use for napkins nor underwear and avoids using both. If he has eaten since his last bath, you'll know exactly what it was by looking at his cheeks. And you can tell where he sat to eat it. The underwear thing....not sure what is so offensive about them. He also couldn't keep his shoes tied if his life depended on it. We have a stash of new shoe strings just waiting to go in his shoes. He also routinely clashes with his little sister. Those two are like oil and water.

I wish I had more words to describe Andy. He is so much more than I can adequately portray here. But I hope you have enjoyed getting to know him a little through my thoughts. The boy is pure joy to his dad and me.

Scarves

2011-02-03T13:06:00.003-05:00

I'm hardly fashion conscious but I have noticed a winter trend - SCARVES. Cute, cute, cute scarves. Which are also quite utilitarian right now because it is beyond cold this winter. But there is a problem with all these cute, colorful scarves. Well, I shouldn't blame the scarves. Really, it's just my problem. I can't wear the things! I am just not scarf material. There doesn't appear to be a body type that can't 'do' scarves. I've seen them on just about every body type. So it must be a mental block at work here. First off, I think I'd suffocate having that thing wrapped around my neck all day. Secondly, I'd be fiddling with it constantly which would be distracting to me and everyone else. Third, I think I'd look as if I tried tying a sofa cushion around my throat and left the house like that. I'm not too bummed about this mental inability to carry a fashion trend. I'm so rarely dressed to impress that it barely matters. But I do love seeing all of you wearing those scarves. You look GREAT!

Next Up - Thomas Key

2011-01-15T19:13:00.004-05:00

CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from stylish Modern dining room furniture to cute cookware to chic lighting pieces! And they are letting you in on the action. Leave a comment below and I'll pick a winner on Friday, January 21st for a $25 gift card to any one of their online stores. Thanks again to CSN Stores for asking the Goodson Gang to sponsor a giveaway. You've been awesome to work with.

Now, on to another child of mine. Tonight I think I'll talk about the oldest, Mr. Thomas Key. Key is now an eight year old third grader, which seems impossible. But, on the other hand, I can't really remember life without him, either. Robbie and I had been married for almost nine years when we became parents, through the modern miracle of IVF (in vitro fertilization). We are eternally grateful for the miracle that Key truly is to us.

Key has always been an easy child. For the first year or so of his life he slept approximately 23.5 hours a day. He was like one of those baby dolls that close their eyes when you lay them down. If you ever needed a break all you'd have to do is lay him down. He'd close his eyes and nap for hours. I went from working full time to staring at a sleeping baby full time. I've actually never slept so much in my life as I did when Key was an infant. I didn't really understand that this wasn't normal at the time. (Andy changed all that, don't be too mad at me.)

Key is always on the look out for the big payday. He always has a money angle on his ideas and plans. He can instantly think up a really good reason for his brother or sister to part with their money, and give it to him. He is quite convincing, and usually takes their allowance, until we inquire and make him give it back. He sets up stores and sells his wares all the time. He behaves at school so that he'll earn 'Gator bucks' and then buys things he knows Andy or Nat will like so he can convert the Gator bucks into cold, hard cash. In short, the boy could sell ice to an Eskimo!

Which leads to the dilemma of school. School takes up way too much of Key's day. How is he supposed to be out there earning a living while he is trapped at school? He is convinced he could make it on his own right here, right now. If only his parents didn't insist on wasting his time at school.

He heard about stocks and asked us a million questions about how they work. He asked if he bought some shares of Walmart, thus becoming part owner, if they would give him a discount.

We feel that Key has sufficient motivation to either be a multi-millionaire by the time he reaches age 25 - OR - he'll be in jail! Our goal in life, for Key, is to steer him in the right way to make a buck.

Key is also loathe to spend his own money, of which he has a lot. He has a lot because he rarely ever parts with any of it. In fact, he hounded me until I took him to the local bank and opened a savings account in his name. He funnels every dime into that account and then claims, in the middle of Walmart, that he has no money on him and asks if we can spot him. Knowing full well he won't ever pay you back!

Key is also a gadget man. He craves the latest and greatest the world has to offer electronically. He owns a Nintendo DSI-XL, a Wii and a spy watch. Oh, and with his Toys R Us gift card he bought a Paper Jamz electric guitar. (I had to spot him the money for the neck strap. I'll never see that $6 again!) For Christmas this year he begged for an iPhone. No, not kidding, he wanted an iPhone. He did not receive one, much to his dismay. He is still relentlessly begging for one though. (Not happening!)

Key is also a talented artist. From the earliest time he could pick up a crayon, he has impressed us with his ability to draw. We've rarely seen one of his drawings and asked, "What's that?" He's been featured in the local paper and enjoys after school art lessons.

One plan for his future career is to be a Navy pilot. He chose this profession because the Navy will feed you, house you and provide you clothes to wear. Due to his inability to spend his own money, he feels this will suit him well.

Key is quick to say 'Thank You'. He is always the one to mention how grateful he is to us for taking him somewhere, or buying him something.

We couldn't be more grateful for such a wonderful son!! Bubby, we sure do love you!!!

50 Random Facts About Me

2011-01-08T16:01:00.006-05:00

My mind has raced in a thousand different directions lately, as has my body, so I haven't finished writing about the boys yet. I saw another blog with 50 random facts and thought that I could at least garner enough brain power to do that.

1) I don't like snow. It is supposed to start snowing tomorrow. I dread it.

2) I could not have found a better job than the one I have now as a part-time Arborist. I love what I do.

3) The more I ask around, the more convinced I am that I'm a speed reader. How do you know if you qualify?

4) I only have a few dear friends. I'd go to the mat for them. They keep me sane. I probably drive them crazy.

5) I would love to travel more. I'd even go to cold climates if I knew I wouldn't have to stay long.

6) If I can't be on time, I'd rather not go.

7) An organized home is extremely important to me.

8) When I am stressed, I clean. My house is spotless right now.

9) I can ride a unicycle. We live on a hill so I don't ride much right now. I rode a good bit in FL.

10) I love, love, love my front loading washer and dryer.

11) I love taking pictures and wish I were a better photographer.

12) I'd eat Mexican food for every meal if I could.

13) Well, I'd also have to throw in some Puerto Rican mofongo every once in a while too. That stuff is delicious! If you've never tried it you don't know what you are missing!

14) I wish I could wear flip flops every day of the year.

15) I need a haircut.

16) I hate the sound of non-residential toilets and flush with my foot so I can have my fingers in my ears.

17) I do not like dark chocolate.

18) I don't own any make-up, and haven't in over 15 years.

19) I don't like cows, they scare me. I have cow nightmares.

20) I drive a minivan but I can't wait to get rid of it once the kids get older. It's not a swagger wagon to me.

21) I'm discovering how far I am willing to go with my 'less is more' idea. It's getting extreme!

22) I think I need more sleep than the average person. I never get it, though.

23) I'd like to think I could hike the Appalachain Trail, but I bet I'd give up early on.

24) I keep journals for each of my kids to record the funny things they've said. I treasure them!

25) I've come to appreciate the violin by sitting in weekly lessons with my son.

26) I don't like dogs. Any dogs. I used to love them all. Then I got our dog. She turned me against the entire canine species.

27) I am even beginning to wonder if cats are worth all the effort I put into them. I do still love a cat though.

28) I still hope to learn Spanish one day.

29) I love palms.

30) I don't enjoy being in large crowds.

31) Heights scare me now. I used to not mind them so much.

32) My favorite color is sunny yellow.

33) I wish my legs weren't quite so long. I'd have a lot more choices in pants if this were so.

34) I wish I had the patience to homeschool my children.

35) I'm glad I don't bite my fingernails anymore.

36) One of my favorite authors is Rick Bragg. I've read everything I can find by him. I wish he would write more!

37) I don't enjoy talking on the phone.

38) I love to quilt. So many patterns, so little time.

39) I wish I didn't have chronic neck and back pain.

40) I hope we can get a swimming pool at our next house.

41) I drive way too fast.

42) Bonaire is my favorite island so far. I can't wait to check out more.

43) I love talk radio.

44) I think one of the smartest people on the planet is Thomas Sowell. I am so sad he is in his 80's. He has so much common sense that the world needs to hear. I look forward to every one of his columns.

45) I'll be glad when my children are too old for Candy Land. Ack.

46) I love sparkling grape juice that is always available at the holidays. I'm regretting I didn't stock up.

47) I enjoy helping out in my children's classrooms.

48) I am a terrible at ironing.

49) I have no pain tolerance.

50) I love listing things for sale on CraigsList and Ebay. (See #21)

My Daughter

2010-12-21T19:18:00.003-05:00

I've been meaning to do this for a while now. I would like to end the year with descriptions of each of the kids. You are welcome to learn more about them, and I hope you enjoy a more in depth knowledge of each, but this is mostly for documenting them at the end of 2010. I hope they will enjoy looking back one day to this point in time.

I'm starting with my youngest, Miss Natalie. She is five and a half years old and some days I still wake up and am surprised to realize that I have a daughter. After having two boys, I still find it amazing that she is mine. And she is night and day different than her brothers, that is for certain. She came into this world with a clear vision of who she is, and what was acceptable to her. There is little grey in her world, black and white seems to sum up how her opinions are split. Her pointer finger wags at us daily as a reminder of her decisiveness.

She is random, if you can even say that after saying she is decisive. Random as in, say, nailing jello to a tree. You just can't pigeon hole her. I get the feeling that if she were asked the same question, by ten different people, she would give ten different answers. And I wouldn't have been able to have guessed any of them. When I am asked questions about her, I really have to think, and I am never certain that what I say will be right. I try to defer to her and let her speak for herself, whoever that is on a particular day. The decisiveness comes in her answer. For whatever she says, she is absolutely sure of it.

She is particular about her 'look'. She knows how her hair should be styled and will know it is right only when the last brush of the morning is pulled through. She also knows what she should wear to school and who will like it and who will make fun of her if she is forced to wear it and who she will look better than and who she will not look as good as. She is keenly aware of fashion and how it influences her day. This is new to our house because none of the rest of us have any where near this kind of perception.

She doesn't care if she is smart. She is, quite frankly, in many ways an airhead. Flighty, even. She doesn't aim to please in academia. It is okay with her if she doesn't know all of her letters and it concerns her not that her teacher knows it. She is much more concerned that her classmates like her and that she can get a tray lunch instead of carrying a lunch box. She prefers to just 'chit chat' instead of listen. Her track to the water fountain in class is long and winding. Her teacher has banned her from getting water. Her goal in life is to stay on the green card and not get knocked down to yellow, but only because that means she will have to sit on her bed. If there were no consequences at home she'd be fine with living on the yellow card.

She is hilarious. She can describe the most crazy events in her day and have us in stitches. She says off the wall things regularly. People she barely knows come up to us and say, "I just have to share what your daughter just told me....." This scares me and her dad every single time. Because we can't even begin to guess what we are about to hear. Once she told her Sunday school teacher that she and her family lived at Wal-Mart with Jesus. See? Could that be any more random?

She loves cats, which she gets honestly, because her mother is also a cat lover. She carries them like babies, or slung over a shoulder. She pesters them until they hide. She talks to them like they are people, almost as if she thinks they might answer her back. The only thing she doesn't allow is for them to sleep with her, lest they step on her eyeballs.

She is way more domestic than her brothers. She can make her bed well, even though her bed has two pillows and theirs only have one. She gets out her own clothes and dresses herself much better than them. She is the first one up every morning and wants to be in the shower first too. She knows that if she gets in first she can pick a song to listen to on the way to school. Right now her favorite is "Lips are Sealed" by the Go Go's.

She thinks she can sing. She tries to sing every song as an opera singer would. She closes her eyes and wavers her voice. Sometimes it works (hymns), sometimes it doesn't (Beach Boys). She practices singing and takes it very seriously. If asked what she does well, she mentions singing.

She is a cuddle bug at the end of the day. She wants someone to scratch her back and she wants dad to sing "Hush Little Baby" while lying in bed each night. Dad is good about that because he knows it is important to her. She and dad have a special bond. She goes to him first if he is home. She passes my side of the bed and goes around to his side when she comes in our room, usually too early for either of us. He can calm her better than I can. He can reason with her better than me, too. I think she and I are just a tad too much alike, actually. Like matching magnets, we repel.

But I love that little girl to the moon and back, and I know she loves me just as much. So we deal with the 5:45am, Saturday wake ups because no matter how many times we ask her not to do it, we know we are wasting our breath. She will be there. And that is a good thing.

So. Natalie Caroline, we love you so much!!! Even though we never use the name Natalie or Caroline. You will always be our Missy.

What Happened to TV?

2010-12-04T14:55:00.002-05:00

I can't even believe I am typing this. I don't watch TV anymore. How did this happen? Because I'm not boycotting TV, I just can't find anything to watch. We still have cable, but I am not sure why. I guess because the kids like the Disney Channel. I even called to cancel Dish last week but we are under contract until October. Unless something drastic happens we are done with cable TV in October. Rabbit ears, here we come. Can you even attach rabbit ears to a flat screen?

I am amazed that you can flip through 100+ channels of NOTHING. Have I changed or is it TV programming? I've always been able to find something to watch. Now? The only thing we watch as a family is America's Funniest Videos on Sunday evening. If it weren't for that show (and the fact that we watch it as a family) I wouldn't turn the TV on. I do not like reality TV. I don't care if you can sing, dance, survive on a deserted island or get along with a bunch of crazy people trapped in a house. I don't want to know about the drama of housewives all over the country. I would go on but I am too clueless to even know what else is out there not to like!

Just this week both grandma's called to say there was a tornado headed our way. They knew our TV wouldn't be on so they wanted us to be safe. We turned it on and got a two minute update til the dish went out. So even in an emergency the TV was not useful.

I have watched the Clemson Tigers play football a few times this season. But I find that I can't even sit still long enough to watch TV anymore. Even if I am interested I just have more important things to do than sit on the couch and stare at the TV. I'm just not used to it anymore. Commercials are especially irritating and loud. I get sensory overload about ten minutes in.

I've even banned TV for the kids Mon-Thurs. I thought there would be major fits over the new rule. Only for a day or two. Now they don't even ask. I think that is awesome! They read more now, play outside more often, and play the Wii. At least the Wii keeps them active. I think by October they'll be ready to go cold turkey.

Do you watch TV?

Thank You Shutterfly

2010-11-30T19:03:00.006-05:00

If you know me, you know I love Christmas cards! My cards always have a picture of the kids on it. ALWAYS! So, when Shutterfly offered to send me the first 50 free I jumped at the chance. It took me forever to find the perfect card because there are tons of great ones to choose from. But again, if you know me, my favorite place to be is the beach. Most of my past cards have beach pictures on them. Key riding a radio flyer down a snow white sand hill, Key and Andy in red trunks with red buckets full of sand, etc. I tried to get Robbie to make us a sand snowman and he said it couldn't be done. Now that I've actually seen one I realized he was just being lazy!!! Maybe this summer... Anyway, as I was saying, I found the perfect card for us. Because a perfect Christmas would be a tropical one.

Christmas Photo Cards: Photo Christmas Cards & Personalized Christmas Cards Shutterfly

Check out the dozens of different designs. I know you'll find one pefect for you.

And if you have already decided upon your cards and have them in the mail I'll try not to be jealous. You might want to check out Shutterfly's great selection of birthday invitations: Birthday Cards and Birthday Photo Cards, Birthday Party Cards, Birthday Note Cards Shutterfly

And don't forget to order your 2011 calendars. If you add great pictures of the kids the grandparents would love to get one for Christmas!

Photo Calendars & Custom Wall Calendars, Personalized Desk Calendars Shutterfly They are super easy to customize. You can add all of your own events so you'll never forget a birthday.

Merry Christmas friends!!!

In the News

2010-11-13T18:45:00.002-05:00

So cruise ships are in the news again. Usually they make the front page due to a rotovirus or a norovirus. This time, fire in the engine room. My sister, who lives in California, was on a cruise this past week. Thankfully, not the disabled ship though. She sailed out of Florida.

I've been on a cruise. It was my first, last and only. I cruised with some friends, who discovered just what a stick in the mud I really am. They were great, and had lots of fun. Me? Not so much. Cruising is, most decidedly, NOT for me.

We went on a cheap cruise, for just four days (thankfully!). Maybe that was it? But it was awful, just awful. First of all, the whole ship's decor was tacky. Swirling red and purple designs on all the carpet. Carpet that didn't just cover the floor but all the walls too. It was enough to make you sick in dry dock, much less out on the open seas.

Our room was approximately 3 feet wide by 5 feet long. Three of us shared this room. I included the bathroom in the above measurements. I'd never seen a combo sink/shower/toilet until I arrived. I slept (fitfully) on the top bunk. And when I wanted to roll over, I climbed out and flipped over and then slid back into place. My suitcase was at the bottom of my bed so my legs could never fully extend. Lovely. One good thing about our room though, was that we had a tiny window to let in some light. The rooms across the hall looked like caves and I am seriously not sure I would have survived in one of those. If we paid extra for that window it was money well spent!

Most of our time on board was spent waiting. We waited in the hall to get to the elevator. We waited outside the elevator to get on it. We waited on another floor to eat. We waited to disembark. We waited to get back on the ship. And every single cough I heard or railing I touched screamed ROTOVIRUS.

Because there were SO MANY people on this ship. A virus smorgasbord - no wonder you hear so much about this on cruise ships! I can only describe it like this: think of Black Friday at the mall, about 10am. Then, imagine someone locking the doors and sending the mall out to sea. That is what if felt like on that ship. People were everywhere!

Things to do on the ship were limited if you are a stick in the mud. The main activity was drinking large quantities of alcohol. I don't drink. It helped if you smoked and gambled too. Neither for me, thankyouverymuch. Oh, if you were a soccer fan you could watch it on TV, but you'd have to know Spanish to understand the announcers. In fact, I didn't find any English speaking channels at all. I felt very disconnected on board. No current news was available unless you paid some crazy amount of money per MINUTE to get online. I decided to remain uninformed of current events.

One day I signed up for an excursion. I decided to go feed the sting rays. I am a diver and had seen pictures of a place called Sting Ray City where you go out and swim among them and feed them bread and are able to pet them in the wild. I was really excited. Well, let me tell ya, this wasn't even close! The excursion was to start at 11:30am. I got up bright and early so I could get some shopping done in town before I joined my group. When I opened the room door I realized I was trapped. Hordes of people jamming the hall, waiting for an elevator to get off the ship. Uggh! I barely made it off in time to get to my excursion. Seriously! And what took so long to get off the boat? We were all forced to have our pictures taken with a fake parrot sitting on our shoulders! I am NOT KIDDING.

Then we took a small boat over to Carnival's private island. We were fenced in on a small portion of the island. The sting rays were fenced in as well. We were required to wear old life jackets and stood in waist deep water while the trained sting rays swam in a line past us, grabbing pieces of fish from our hands. Not the brush with nature I had envisioned. Then it was lunch time. I ate a $6 hot dog. Then I sat on the beach until it was time to go back to the ship.

The next day was our 'free day at sea', which basically meant - we have no plans to stop anywhere and you are completely at our mercy. I ran around their jogging track until I just couldn't take it anymore. Then I showered and headed to breakfast. There were 100 tables open. But you couldn't sit at those. You had to sit with the other folks who came down at the same time you did. So, here I am at a table with a honeymoon couple, several middle aged couples and one REALLY old couple. The old lady had on this low cut moo-moo dress that showed everything she had. The honeymoon couple laughed every time they glanced in her direction. Would it have killed them to give me a newspaper from the day we set sail and let me sit at my own table? Jeesh.

Then it was time to hit the pool. Okay, the pool was about twice the size of our room. No, I'm not joking. Twenty people in that pool and it would have been crowded. And it was a suspicious green color. Not appealing at all. So, I decided to just grab a lounge chair and catch some rays. Well, there were so many lounge chairs on deck that they were all touching each other. You had to start at the bottom, crawl up the chair and then flip over. And you had better like your neighbor really well. It was really hot, but I was hanging in there. Then, the reggae band started. Oh my. I bet folks on the nearest island heard them! I lasted about 30 seconds after they got started. I scootched right off the end of my chair and went back to my room.

The next day was the best day of all. The cruise ended. I have never been so glad to end a vacation in my LIFE. You know that feeling you get when you don't have your car with you, maybe y0u rode with someone else, and you aren't having fun but you don't have the option to leave? That is a terrible feeling. And it started the minute we got on board. I was terribly claustrophobic the whole time. If a helicopter had landed and offered to take the highest bidder off the ship I hate to think how much it would have cost me but I would have won that auction!

So, that is my only cruise experience. I know, I know, I'm the weird one, not you. You had tons of fun on your multiple cruises and can't wait to book your next one. I'll just find a deserted island somewhere (with NO fences or hot dogs!) and live happily ever after.

Food

2010-11-02T08:43:00.004-04:00

Dear Goodson Children,
On Saturday night, at the annual Chili cook off, I took 2nd place. 2nd place! And I didn't even try all that hard. I flipped through my homemade cookbook Saturday morning and picked up the ingredients that afternoon. By 5:30pm the house smelled good and we had award winning chili. Viola! Now, don't get me wrong, I am no Julia Childs. But I CAN cook. Decent, edible meals are possible from my kitchen.

One day, dear children, YOU will be the one faced with cooking for YOUR children. And I hate to do it to you but I wish with every fiber of my being that they are as picky as each of you. More so, if that is even possible.

I hope they ask what's for dinner and then cut you off mid-sentence wailing, "Ohhhhhhhhh NO! I HATE THAT!!!!!!" Even if it is something that they have never heard of until that very moment and can't have a CLUE as to what is in it or what it might taste like.

I hope you stand in the middle of the grocery store, surrounded by food, and wonder what you can buy that they will eat.

I hope that when you do find something that two of them will eat that the third gags on it, every single time.

I hope they sit at the table and cry over perfectly good food.

I hope they are eventually sent to their beds with empty stomachs because they refused to try anything on their plates.

I hope your 6 six year old sons weigh 35 lbs.

I hope you have to beg your friends for food ideas. Then realize after the second suggestion that your children are not normal eaters and nothing you are hearing would interest them in the least.

I hope your 4Ker comes out of class at noon SO excited because at snack time he had banana pudding and he LOVED it. And you are SO excited that he ate something and loved it that you drive directly to the grocery store, find the 'Nilla Wafers, buy all the ingredients on the back of the box, rush home and make it for him. Then, as he hesitantly takes a bite, he declares it awful. And you ask his teacher the next day and she says they made instant vanilla pudding, not banana pudding. And it turns out that your son only liked the 'shaking' part of this snack, not the 'eating' part.

I hope your toddlers put one piece of food in their mouth and hold it there, without swallowing. Thus preventing you from adding the next bite. I hope they get up from their nap 2 hours later with that same bite still in their mouth, apparently afraid you'd try to feed them as they slept.

I hope you have to report at every doctor visit that your children do not eat, they live off air. You are not sure how they poop, because pooping would require eating at some point. And the pediatrician, like your friends, tries to give you suggestions. Suggestions that aren't even close to something your child would eat.

I hope that before you leave on vacation you spend a week making a very short list of foods that the grandparents MIGHT sneak into your children while you are gone.

I hope that you are embarrassed when well meaning friends say, "Ah, just let them eat with us tonight, we're just having xxxxxx." Because you KNOW your child would never eat that. So you just say you'd better be getting home.

I hope you go to bed at night wondering if they took ONE bite of anything that day.

My dear children, I will continue to cook good food for you. It is my job. I love you and want you to EAT. Something. Anything! But I am so very frustrated with you right now. I don't want to eat the entire bowl of vegetable beef soup. It starts to get old after the 4th day in a row. And I am leaving your father out of this entirely because if I got started on his picky-ness it would be even less cheerful of a post than it is now. (But seriously, who doesn't eat pasta?)

Anyway, BON APPETIT!

Love, Mom

Alone

2010-10-24T20:22:00.003-04:00

Do you like being alone? I really enjoy alone time. I lived alone for a while in college and I LOVED it. Every single day of it. I had my share of rotten roommates, but that wasn't it. I just really liked being alone. I used to go out to eat alone and then catch a movie. Felt great!

A couple of years ago I spent my birthday alone and I have to say it was one of my favorite birthdays in memory. I went to a two day seminar in order to renew my Arborist's license in Winston Salem, NC. I dropped off the two little ones with my mom in Gaffney and Robbie and Key batch'ed it here in Greenville. I was on my OWN for a night. Just so happened it was my birthday. Bonus. So I went to check into my cheap-o hotel, because I am cheap-o. BUT, they were overbooked. My immediate thought was that this wasn't going to end well. Well, cheap-o hotel sent me to a VERY nice hotel nearby - FOR FREE. It was an old, renovated factory. My room had really cool brick walls and super high ceilings. My bed was a 4 poster with a nice down comforter. They served warm cookies and milk in the lobby. I walked next door to a fabulous restaurant and spent more than I normally would have because my room was FREE. I got a big slice of cheesecake and brought it back to my room. Ate it in bed and didn't share a crumb with anybody! Ahhh! Happy birthday to me.

Lately, for some reason, I've been picturing a nice, darkened room. It is a hotel with a bed turned down. It looks so comfy. Nice crisp, white sheets. No one is there but me and I can just lay there and not move. No dog that whines in the middle of the night. No cats that jump onto the bed and land on my head at 3am. No snoring husband. No little girl to wake me at 6am on a Saturday morning (but who must be dragged to the shower on a weekday). No alarm clock to wake me. Nothing to have to get up and do.

Don't get me wrong. I love my snoring husband (he doesn't even snore than much anymore!). I also love my princess girl who wakes me up on Saturdays. But the rare chance I get to be alone, or just dream about being alone, is such a treat!

Writing Spiders

2010-09-28T20:36:00.003-04:00

When I was growing up writing spiders lived in the camellia bushes surrounding our front porch. I have no idea who started this rumor but it was believed at our house that if the writing spider saw your teeth he'd be able to write your name in his web. Then, when it got dark, he'd come and get you. So that is why I sat in the swing on our front porch and talked with my lips stretched over my teeth. I must have done a great job because he never did come for me during the night.

And this memory jogged another. Every night before bed my Papa would tell me this little....diddy/nursery rhyme...not sure what it is:

To bed to bed said sleepy head
Wait awhile said slow
Put on the pot said greedy gut
Let's eat before we go!

Three O'Clock

2010-09-28T17:42:00.003-04:00

Three o'clock is HARD. Three o'clock means:

Three kids who are hungry

Three lunchboxes to unpack and clean

Three sandwich containers to wash

Three thermoses to empty and wash

Three backpacks open with contents strewn all over the floor

Three kids who don't want to do homework

Three cats who think it is time to play

Three snacks to figure out

Three pencils to find and sharpen

And I am supposed to be there for all of it. Even if that means I am supposed to be reading the kindergartener a book, helping the 1st grader find his three lined paper AND calling out spelling words to the 3rd grader - ALL AT THE SAME TIME!

How do you do it? Do you stagger homework amongst them all? Do you just dive into the insanity? After they have dumped it all on the table, how do you know who's permission slip goes where? How do you know who needs a dollar for hat day and who doesn't? Do you always sign the folders, notebooks, and homework sheets so they don't get dinged on the behaviour chart the next day? Do you always remember when it is your turn for snacks? Do you stand in the middle of Walmart and try to figure out something that ALL 23 students would eat? Do you remember that nothing can contain peanuts?

My mind is just goo by 3:30! How do you do it?

I Hate Carpet

2010-09-21T18:21:00.008-04:00

Before I go off on carpet I have good news. CSN Stores has given me another opportunity to spread the love. So, respond to this post for a chance to win a $35 gift card. CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from cheap bedroom furniture to fantastic fitness equipment to cookware! And who couldn't use more of any of those things?

First of all, I have carpet. Thankfully, not everywhere - but we are too frugal (cheap) to take it out so when I rail on carpet it comes from personal, everyday use. Our carpet is confined to the bedrooms. We even chose to have it in our last house upstairs because we thought it would help keep the house quieter. And it probably did, but it also kept it dirtier and I'll take loud over dirt any day of the week. Who decided it would be a good idea to tack a semi-permanent rug to the floor and have everyone (pets included) walk on it every day? It can't be sanitary. Sure, you can vacuum, but that only gets up the loose stuff. When your two year old squirts cold medicine from the dropper onto her beige carpet and it is still visible 3 years later you know that is just nasty! And litter training two kittens resulted in a few permanent spots too. (GAG!) The absolute WORST feeling on earth is walking on wet carpet. (I seriously just shuddered thinking about it.) The kids walk out of my bathroom every morning, dripping wet, to their clothes on the floor in our bedroom. They leave wet foot prints. I leave the shower behind them and no matter how hard I try I end up stepping on a carpet wet spot. Gives me the heebie jeebies every single time! Then I go into my closet muttering about how when we build our next house it won't even contain a floor rug, much less wall to wall carpet.

My ideal floor was in our house in Englewood, FL. Terrazzo, baby! Totally the way to go! You could have spilled a bowl of salsa on that floor and nobody would have noticed. It hid spots, was cool on your feet, swept up like a dream and mopping it took 2 minutes with a damp Swiffer. Dream floor! Like tile with no grout lines. That house was built in 1969 when Terrazzo was all the rage. I've heard it is making a comeback but is rather expensive now. Lucky for us, the lady we bought the house from never liked it so we yanked out her old, gold shag carpet to uncover our shiny Terrazzo for the first time since 1969. Can you even imagine? I will admit to one drawback. SLICK AS GLASS! Don't jump out of the shower and run for the phone. You WON'T make it. But if Robbie had had the video camera going we could have won $10,000 that day.

Right now we have mostly hardwood floors. Eh. They are pretty, and warm (although I'd take a tropical climate and cool floors in a skinny minute) and pretty low maintenance. They do scratch though, and if you drop something on them they'll dent. Terrazzo doesn't dent, it just shatters what you drop, which I guess is drawback #2.

I like the look of tile, but sweeping out grout lines is a pain. We've got that in our bathrooms and laundry. Kitty litter in grout lines is frustrating. Grout stains too.

Something else that sounds nice, if you have to live in a place with winter, is radiant floor heating. Walking on a warm floor on a cold morning would be a nice perk, especially in the bathroom. I've heard it is pricy too. Why do I always crave the pricy? My mom used to say she could line up 20 items of clothing and I'd always ask for the most expensive without even looking at the tags. It's a gift, I suppose! LOL

So, what are your ideal floors? Mine would be the self cleaning type, if they existed. I do think those toe kick vacuum systems would be a great idea when building. I do NOT like my central vac though. If I weren't so cheap I'd spring for a regular vacuum. But I just KNOW the next time around I won't be needing one. Oh PLEASE let the day come when I only need a broom!!!!

Brought to You by the Number 3

2010-09-16T20:09:00.003-04:00

Bert and Ernie. Batman and Robin. Scooby and Shaggy. When you think of best friends who get along you usually end up with two people in mind. I know. I know. There were the Three Musketeers, way back when. But three usually doesn't work out nearly so well. That whole 'two's company, three's a crowd' thing is real, folks. I've known this for a long time, practically my whole life. But the daily grind kind of put it on a back burner until the perfect example entered our lives lately. We had TWO cats. Now we have THREE. And three just does NOT work here. The third cat is obviously hated by the other two, that is a given . But now the first two are picking on each other. The new cat has thrown our whole pet equilibrium into chaos. And it reminds me of my children and my childhood. The reason I've known the phenomenon of three not working is because my mom has bemoaned the fact my whole life. She had three girls. And we fought. Constantly. And the day I brought Natalie home from the hospital she said, ever so gently, "You know you have to have another one, right?" And I ignored her and denied the same dynamics were at play because I had two boys who would surely love their new baby sister. It HAD to be different in our situation, I was sure of it. And I was WRONG!

Forget the Three Musketeers, we are more like the Three Stooges! (This is not going where you think, there will not be a fourth!) The Stooges will have to make do until someone moves out but the dynamics of trying to get three children to cooperate is FUTILE. Sometimes it is the boys who get along great. But as soon as you add sister, it all falls apart. Sometimes Key and little sister can work on a puzzle together and talk like old pals. But as soon as Andy enters the room the gig is up. And I don't think I even remember a time when Andy and Natalie ever got along!

So, mom, you were right. How you survived three girls, with all the drama that must have entailed, is beyond me. One drama queen here is quite enough, and probably the reason there isn't a fourth Goodson child anyway.

I gotta run. Doors are slamming and cats are hissing. No, really, that is what is happening RIGHT NOW. Arrrgggh.

Childhood Memories, Part 2

2010-09-01T17:12:00.003-04:00

I had such a good time strolling memory lane for my last post I thought I'd do it again. This time I am going WAY back. In fact, I've been meaning to write this down for a long time and it occurred to me I could do it here. I'm sure if I had written this years (ok, decades) ago it would be a much more comprehensive list but if I wait any longer my list will just shrink even more. I even had to do research, like a real writer. Okay, I called my dad. This post is all about my paternal grandfather, Addison Buford Crocker, and the memories I have of him. It won't be a narrative, because I remember him in short segments. So, that is how I'll share him now.

My first memories of him revolve around his chair. He had a brown recliner that we sat in together and watched TV. Then we'd request ice cream from my mom and she'd bring it to us. Normally we ate neopolitan. The strawberry part was my favorite. In fact, it still is.

Another good thing about his chair was that if I got in trouble with my mom, and could make it to his chair, I was out of trouble. I was always safe in his arms, he wouldn't let her punish me.

Once, my parents took me out to eat at the fish camp. When we got home I climbed in Papa's lap for my nightly ice cream treat. He told me that you should never eat fish and ice cream on the same day, it would make you sick. I insisted on the ice cream. I threw up all night long. I have NEVER had fish and ice cream on the same day again, and I never will.

Papa helped in potty training me, but not in a hands on type of way. He said I could start going places around town with him when I didn't wear a diaper anymore. My mom says it didn't take long before we were traveling companions.

Papa had an old, white Chevrolet truck. The bed of the truck had wood slats instead of a metal bottom like you see today. There were small pieces of wood missing and I enjoyed watching the road or the field beneath the truck as we flew along.

I learned a valuable lesson in the back of that truck. Never blow a bubble gum bubble when you have ponytails flapping all around, flying along in the wind.

Papa always dressed nicely. I remember him in overalls too, but for the most part I remember him in a nice white dress shirt and slacks. He also wore a belt with his initials. ABC. I assumed he put ABC on everything in order to honor the first three letters of the alphabet. It confused me to see others mix all those letters up on their monogrammed items.

Papa and I used to eat at Self's Cafe. He always ordered me a BLT and we always sat at the counter. It was off Main Street and you parked by the railroad tracks.

Papa always had a special treat in his pockets. If you were extra good you'd get your choice of a caramel square or a silver bell. Silver bells have since been renamed Hershey's kisses, but I think they tasted better when they were silver bells. He kept his stash on the second shelf of the china cabinet. For years it still smelled like caramel when you opened it. It might still.

Papa and I liked to get up early and have coffee and egg sandwiches. I drank my coffee from a plastic red mug with Scooby Doo on the front. (That mug was later repurposed as a toothbrush holder and served faithfully for years.) I've never drank coffee without him. Can't stand the stuff! Mama says I would eat livermush with him too. If I did, I only did he because he did first.

Papa and I liked to take walks across the road to visit my cousin Ron and Aunt Carolyn. I'm sure we'd have visited Uncle Ronnie too, but he was at work.

Papa hated prickly pears. He'd throw a shovel in the back of the truck and we'd go off looking for those tresspassers in the pasture. When we spotted one he'd dig it up and put it in the back with me. I don't really remember what we did with them but I am sure they didn't get the chance to spread.

Along those same lines, he also couldn't tolerate fall webworms in his pecan trees. They had to be removed and burned.

Papa's room is where our piano room is now. He had a high, four poster bed, if I remember right. And he had a bolero type, leather rope tie that hung on one of the posts. I liked to get it down and play with it. His bedspread was white.

He always bought me gifts for special occasions. Well, I thought he did anyway. Those were my favorite things, usually clothes. I learned much later that my mom bought it all and put his name on something.

Papa got me my first pet. I barely remember some dogs chained up down at the smoke house. I think they were brown. My dog, Scooby Doo (of course!), was a puppy to those dogs. We brought him in when he was tiny, and I was tiny too. Apparently he peed on the floor and was banished to the outside pretty quickly. Me and Scooby had about 12 good years together. He was a small white dog with a black tail. Eventually, as he aged, his tail turned white too.

To pass the time, because we both had a lot of it on our hands back then, we'd sit on the front porch swing. We played a game where one of us would pick cars and the other would have trucks. Then we'd count how many of each that passed by. We lived out pretty far and didn't get a whole lot of traffic so it wasn't a fast paced game. Trucks usually won.

We'd also sit out there at night a lot too. Remember, we didn't have air conditioning. He'd swing me til I fell asleep and then usually my dad would carry me up to bed. I remember wearing blue Raggedy Ann pajamas. He might have given them to me! ;)

I remember being at my maternal grandmother's house one night. She was babysitting us, which was EXTREMELY rare. My parents were at the hospital with Papa. It was August 1975 (I had to get that date from dad). Papa had a stroke and passed away. I remember lots of people coming to our house and it bothered me that they went in his room. He didn't let just anybody in his room. I was about to start 1st grade.

I may remember a few more tidbits, and if I do I'll add them here. But, for the most part, this is what I remember about Papa.

Childhood Memories

2010-08-24T17:57:00.003-04:00

I was talking to my boss today about something I've wondered about often as I raise my children. I also read an article about being frugal recently that reminded me of why I am the way I am. I was raised in a very frugal household. Truth be told, frugal is a nice way of saying my parents were CHEAP! I don't think I had a glimmer of understanding as a child or teenager growing up there. Sorry mama and daddy! I can now see the wisdom of your ways. Better late than never, eh?

So today my boss and I discussed 'then vs. now'. He killed a wild hog and made us all sausage biscuits for breakfast. That's the kind of boss I have! I mentioned that my dad killed hogs too, for food, and that I was paid a quarter per coffee can full of acorns, which we fed the hogs. I should have gotten rich but I bet I only made a few dollars worth. Then I told him that I worry about kids today, especially my kids, because they can't even understand the kinds of things I had to do growing up. Do all parents feel this way? Or is my case extreme? I don't know!

We didn't have air conditioning growing up. We did have an attic fan to pull in the cooler air at night but that was it. I moved away to college before I ever had central a/c. We gathered firewood all winter long to keep warm. We closed off our house and lived in the back half that had a fireplace and wood heater. One unlucky kid was picked every night to run up a half hour before bedtime to turn on every one's electric blanket so we wouldn't freeze solid overnight. You could see your breath up there! Our house was 100 years old and didn't have insulation.

The only way you could earn enough money to go to the skating rink on Saturday afternoons was to help get enough firewood for the week onto the side porch. I'd arrive bone tired and listen as my friends talked about the OTHER fun stuff they'd done that day.

The other extreme was to be set out in a hayfield and told to pick up rocks and put them to the side so the hay baler wouldn't pick them up. That has to be the hottest job on earth!

In the summer we tended our garden. We'd get up before daylight and head out with buckets and bags to pick so we could be back on the back porch steps when the sun got high and hot. I still remember my fingers getting raw snapping green beans. Once my sister had a little friend come visit as we shucked corn. She was a 'city kid'. I remember her eyes got really big and she exclaimed, "I didn't know you had to PEEL corn!" I admit, I was part envious that you could make it that far in life without knowing that. You couldn't escape garden patrol even if you went next door to your cousin's house. They had just as many bags of beans that needed snapping as your house did. At least Uncle Frankie made up silly songs though!

But you know, I really appreciate my upbringing now. I realize I wasn't being intentionally tortured. In fact, my parents did ten times more work than I did, working right along side me. My poor mother had to take all those snapped beans and combine them with the tomatoes, corn, okra, etc and can it all. We sure did eat a lot of homemade vegetable soup in the winter. Still a favorite of mine! And the soup had meat in it. Meat from our cows. When I say homemade, I mean all the way.

And don't even get me started about homemade clothes! Whew, some of the stuff we wore would itch a warthog to distraction! My dad worked in textiles and he brought home fabric remnants. Mostly knit, unfortunately. Then he'd size us up and start cutting. Then my mom would take over and, VIOLA, I'd have a new outfit. And both my sisters, too. And we'd all match and itch in our air condition-less house.

Which brings me to our family. My kids are clueless, and I regret that. But I am at a loss as to how I could do anything differently. We have a garden, on that fits into our subdivision yard. My kids didn't get to grow up on a 60 acre farm. Gardening is a hobby to them, not a way to eat through winter. And firewood? What's that? Just push the up arrow on the thermostat and the house warms up. Magically!

We are going to Myrtle Beach soon for a long weekend. Taking the kids out of school for a day. It is sort of our last hurrah for the summer season. Time to make our peace with the end of summer. Get a grip on ourselves and decide that fall really is upon us. It is hardly on the kid's radar screen that we are going, although we've mentioned it frequently.

Back in the day, first of all, you'd have had to have been on deaths doorstep to get out of school. I don't know of anybody who got out of school for FUN. That was blasphemy! And this weekend trip, that means hardly nothing to my kids was longer than our entire summer vacation when I was growing up. We went to the beach for three days. Yep, we all but passed ourselves on the road headed back! And the excitement was over the top. We had those paper chains counting down the days til we left for our HUGE SUMMER VACATION. My goodness. I remember seeing the ocean for the first time, between the shops along Ocean Blvd. It looked like a mountain, like it should just swallow us up as we got closer. And then the rides at the Pavillion would come into view and I wonder how they kept us from jumping out of the car! Probably the only reason was because it was daytime and no one was riding them yet. I remember eating all our own food, because just because you went on vacation didn't mean you had to eat out. I remember getting a few tickets for the rides and making what seemed like life and death decisions over what we'd ride that night. I remember water boggin' til I could barely make it back up the steps with that heavy mat. I remember renting a float, red on one side, blue on the other. I remember my dad's really white legs! (Gardens and hay fields required overalls, not shorts.)

My kids will float in the lazy river. Eat out every meal. Get a wrist band and ride every ride. Twice. And they'll grumble on the way down because it will take SO LONG to get there, as they play with their DSi XL's and feel sorry for themselves because they'll lose Wi-Fi when we pull out of the driveway.

How sad is that?

Mom Guilt

2010-08-13T22:30:00.002-04:00

Don't you just hate mom guilt? It is never logical and it surely wasn't today. I got up early to get a jump start. Had some breakfast, okay it was a piece of Aunt Peggy's pound cake, but it was breakfast. Then I painted Natalie's bathroom pink. It has always been a fine shade of tan but she wanted pink and, by cracky, it's PINK now. So, I did something for her today. Keep that in mind. Then, I went right to work on a Halloween quilt/wall hanging. Andy loves Halloween so that was something I was doing for him. Okay, that is a stretch, but still, he has asked for it to be left to him. So, two of my children had difficult projects done on their behalf, all before lunch today. However...today isn't any ole day. Today is the last. day. of. summer. vacation. So my husband calls to see what I have decided to do on this most special of days. Even though he heard about both of the above projects he was unimpressed and didn't see any real benefit for the children. That was annoying enough, but then he goes on to suggest I take them to the local state park to swim in. the. LAKE. Eh.

Lakes. Hmmm. Let's see....I am NOT a lake person. Not at all, not in the least. Do NOT see the appeal of getting wet in a lake. So sue me, I just don't get lakes. I don't want to wade into a slimy bottomed lake! I get the whole scenery thing, to a degree. And, if I had to pick between two home sites I'd pick the one with a lake view. I'm not opposed to looking out and seeing one, I just choose not to wade out and swim in it. And I know not all lakes are slimy bottomed. I am sure the one you are thinking of right now isn't. But it is my perception and I am sticking to it.

So I stewed about whether to ruin my children's lives by having them miss out on this opportunity. Knowing Robbie was going to be hurt on their behalf because they didn't get to go wade in a lake. And then the Halloween pattern I was working on got to be exponentially harder than I had anticipated. And then I decided to poll the children to see if they were even interested in doing such a thing. Two were for it, one against.

The two who were for it immediately ran for their swimsuits. I knew I was sunk. I grabbed a sandwich and put my suit on too - as I prayed I wouldn't have to get it wet. Then I got really cranky. This was such an impromptu, illogical, unnecessary intrusion on my day. Yes, I love my children. Yes, I always want them to have fun. No, lounging around the house for ONCE does not sound like Chinese water torture. Uggh.

Let's recap the summer, folks. Key and Andy get DSi XL's for Key's birthday and we added WiFi to our house so they could get on line. Natalie has a princess party one week before we leave for FL. We stay in FL, on vacation, for a MONTH. See post below to even begin to describe the things we did there. We've been swimming with friends multiple times upon our return. Just yesterday I took them to Gatti Town for lunch where they rode bumper cars and the Merry Go Round. Last week was spent with their relatives in Hartsville and Camden. That alone would have made it a good summer. They've seen Toy Story 3, Despicable Me and The Last Airbender. They've BTDT all summer long. Anyway, you get it.

So, what did we all do today but go to the state park. Key refuses to get in, wouldn't even put on his swim suit. Nat and Andy go for it, but Andy bails pretty early. Key begs to ride the paddle boats. We suit up in stinky life vests and climb onto an impossibly hot boat. I was, of course, the only one who had legs that would reach the pedals. So for 30 minutes I paddled the three of them around the lake. We saw two turtles who, upon seeing us, bailed from their downed tree trunks. Other than that excitement, they were completely unimpressed with my tour.

Back to the beach (I use the term lightly) for more lake fun. Natalie made friends with two other little girls so they had fun together for a while. And their bathing suits all matched. Wait, no, they didn't. They just all looked like they matched because they were all lake stained by then.

The point of the story is this: Mom guilt will make you do some really dumb things. The end.

We Have a Winner

2010-07-30T21:14:00.002-04:00

...........and her name is MISSTY! Congrats Missty. Look for your $40 gift card in your inbox soon. Thanks for reading. Come visit us again in SC too.

Random Funny Things

2010-07-28T21:04:00.002-04:00

I realized after my children started to talk that they were hilarious on a regular basis. I loved the way they expressed things and knew I'd never remember them all. I decided to start a notebook for each of them and put all of their funny comments, questions, etc together. They each have several notebooks now and they love for me to read them the funny things they've said and done. If my house caught fire I'd want to rescue these books first. Here is a very small sample of what I've captured:

Andy

A little boy pushed you on the playground today. You told me, "I thought he was a better man than that."

Natalie was screaming and you told me, "She is about to bust my drums!"

Deep thought for the day: I wonder why grown-ups read books on the toilet? I never see kids do that.

Andy: Opening a box of Oreo's... "know what that smell says? It says, 'I need a glass of milk'."

Complaining about your sister: "She's mean like a guard dog."

You hit Natalie in the shower this morning. When asked why you said she 'pushed me up on the side like a sucker fish'.

You laughed at how scared grandmommy was when you caught a lizard. You said, "She doesn't like my catchin' skills."

You always tell me to 'Shine and Rise, mom!"

You were so excited to see so many fish this year in Florida....herds and herds of them!

Natalie

Your favorite candy bar....Greasy Cup

For breakfast you want a waffle, with plain syrup, that has NOT been mapled!

Upon waking - my breath is dirty.

Am I larry-ous? (hilarious)

Seeing the full moon - "I think the moon has a light bulb in it."

Very sleepy girl before school one morning, not wanting to get dressed: "I can't take it anymore! How long do we live?"

Wearing a new princess gown for the first time: "Does the tag say, 'Natalie is a princess'?"

You don't feel so good tonight. You have 'sticks in your throat and your brain hurts'.

Hand sanitizer = Hanitizer

I tucked your hair behind your ears and you immediately looked in the mirror and declared, "Lisa Goodson, you have RUINED my afro!"

Key

Where do bubbles go when they pop?

I asked how you slept. "I sleeped and sleeped and sleeped. Then I woke up and opened my eyes. I saw a head. It had lots of hair on it. It was Andy."

Are pigs made out of bacon?

While watching fireworks you asked if Heavenly Father was shooting arrows at us.

After your first day of pre-K: I'm not learning ANYTHING! I can't write my name and I STILL can't read!

You got a friend-girlfriend at school. You couldn't remember her name but she has 'the cutest head'.

After I got a new haircut: Your eyes were huge and you stared at me for a long time then you asked, "Did you freak out when you saw that new haircut?"

You told us that Santa couldn't bring you the Thomas the Train set you wanted. When we asked why you replied, "Because Thomas the Train is only available at Toys R Us."

You were riding your bike really fast and told us you were 'flying like a chicken.'

Worms are 'bird pasta'.

You announced you had 'man fur' on your arms.

Seeing your sister in tights for the first time: Wow, Missy is wearing sock pants!

You: Where do they hide?
Me: Who?
You: Those people!
Me: What people?
You: Those people that change the lights from red to green. Where do they hide? I never see them!

Leaving the Y
You: Who did you wave to?
Me: Yoshi
You: That is a funny name.
Me: Yoshi is from Japan.
You: Wow, she sure has a long ride home!

Florida 2010

2010-07-26T10:32:00.008-04:00

We're back! Florida was so fun this year. Florida is fun EVERY year but this was the best so far. And, while I was away, CSN stores contacted me about another giveaway! How exciting is that? If you'd like to win a $40 gift certificate from any of their 200+ online stores just leave a comment about this post. At CSN Stores you can find everything from dinnerware to dog beds to sofas and suitcases! Good luck! I'll pick a winner on Friday.

I think one of the reasons we had so much fun in FL this year was because the kids are all getting older. Don't get me wrong, I loved my babies. I remember thinking everyone was envious of me when I had tiny newborns. A few might have been, but most were probably thanking their lucky stars that their kids were older. Sleeping through the night and everyone wearing real underwear has it's advantages. And I am enjoying this stage of life and appreciating the fact that they can get their own water from the fridge and tie their own shoes. In fact, newborns have taken on a whole new fear in me. I am eternally grateful for my three, and very glad the last one was born over 5 years ago. :)

Oh, having an 8 year old, a six year old and a five year old still has it's frustrating moments, but I think this is a much easier time than 5 years ago. For instance, this year I actually read books AT THE POOL. I glanced up often, but got a real thrill at my newly acquired freedom. Reading at the pool.....JOY! All three kids are great swimmers now and are much more independent. They don't need me to always get in with them now. One of their new skills is diving. All three can dive off the side now, which was fun to watch. There were lots of belly flops but by the end of our stay they were pros.

We also enjoyed the ocean so much this year. For most of our stay it was as flat as a lake and as clear as the pool. As far as you could swim out you could see the bottom. I had an amazing time diving down about 15 feet and collecting whole sand dollars. Andy even dubbed me the 'Sand Dollar King'. Eh, I'll take it. We also found lots of fighting conchs this year. As far as I know, we've never even seen one before. They were very interesting creatures. Along with those guys we found lots of hermit crabs as well. Again, can't remember ever finding them before. Everyone was curious as to why so many new creatures were popping up this year. Some of us are wondering if the oil spill has relocated lots of things further south. I don't know if that could even be true but it makes you wonder. Just picturing that beautiful beach covered in oil is so incredibly sad. I sure hope we find it like we left it next June.

Speaking of next June, Key will be nine years old and can take sailing lessons. He is so excited about being able to take the 2 week beginning sailing class. It will focus on water saftey , knot tying and sailing a sunfish. It was fun to watch all of the little sunfish sail around in the bay this year and realize next year one of the sailors would be Key. He plans to take his skateboard next year and skate down the sidewalk to the Marina alone. Mr. Independent, he is.

Well, this only scratches the surface of our wonderful vacation but I have to get moving this morning. That sounds like I haven't done anything yet but I have already scrubbed the screened in porch and sprayed it with bleach. That counts for something, right? And the kids just left with Aunt Nikki. (Another advantage to having older kids, people actually volunteer to take them somewhere!) They are going to see The Last Airbender today. I'm going to hit the paint store. Alone! :)

This is a short clip of Andy battling a fighting conch.

And the Winner Is.............

2010-05-28T15:07:00.003-04:00

............Natalie! :) Congrats Natalie!!! Your name was pulled from the hat. I'll be sending your email address to my contact at CSNStores and you'll get a code to use your $40 gift card soon. We all want to know what you pick!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2010-05-19T16:31:00.009-04:00

Do you like shopping?

For things like a bathroom vanity? Or Purses? Or adorable aprons?

I do. Especially when it's not my money I'm spending.

Well, good news: CSN Stores would like to help me say thanks for being a reader by offering one of you a $40 gift certificate to use in any of their 200+ stores!

All you have to do is leave a comment with your name. How cool is that!? By random drawing I'll chose a lucky reader on Friday.

Now, on to our changes!

School is almost over, which amazes me. In some ways it seems we just got started. In other ways it seems as if it were a lifetime ago that Andy cried because the cafeteria was too loud. One thing we could all agree on at the Goodson house is that we all changed a great deal this year.

Let's start with Robbie. His changes are easiest to pinpoint. He decided to get serious about his health and started going to the Y before coming home from work everyday. As a result we have 36 lbs. less of him. He looks better, feels better and has lots more energy. He also needs to buy new clothes, his are all too big now.

Next up.....Lisa! That's me. :) I've been working for the past year, which is an amazing turn of events. I wasn't looking for a job but one found me. I've loved every minute of it and learned so much from my co-workers. I've been involved in very interesting projects. For instance, did you know that certain trees are more routinely struck by lightning that others? Me either! Now we both know. I've also increased my ability to identify trees in SC again. When you live in South Florida for 13 years you tend to forget.

I've also had to learn how to manage my time better. That is necessary when you work and have children. My hat is off to those moms who work full-time. I don't know how you do it, really! I've also had to let some of the daily housework go and pick it up on the weekends. That is hard for me but I'm making my peace with it. I still make all the beds, even if it means doing the boy's beds while they are brushing their teeth and about to hop in for the night, but in other areas I've learned to let go.

Key was a second grader this year. He has never been a big fan of school, this year was no exception. He thinks school gets in the way of more important things that he needs to be doing. We can't get specifics as to what would be more important, but he thinks there must be something. Nevertheless, he has gotten much better at reading and writing stories. We don't have to interpret words or paragraphs nearly as much as we used to. He has also taken up T-ball and found that he loves to play. He loves to learn about the rules of baseball and I enjoy sharing my love of the game with him. He hit five homeruns this season! He also stands in the pitchers spot, which means something different in T-ball but is an important position anyway. Oh, and he is also sporting glasses now, which have changed his look a bit.

Andy-man, our sweet Andy-man. I hope that part never changes. He is truly the most caring, compassionate child you can even imagine. He tells me he loves me on an hourly basis. He had a rough start to kindergarten but after the first week he was ready to conquer K5. He learned to read overnight it seemed. He loves books and figuring out words all on his own. He can sound out anything! He was hoping to lose a tooth but still has a perfect little mouth for now. He also got glasses. His violin teacher noticed he was standing too close to his book. We took all three in for a check up and both boys ended up with glasses. Back to the violin. Andy has made amazing progress this year! He is playing so well and we are just in awe of his musical abilities. He even summoned the courage to play in the talent show at school. This was way out of his comfort zone but he did it. :)

Natalie, our princess and daily drama queen. Natalie became a formal student this year. She was in the 4K program at Furman Child Development Center. Her teacher, bless her heart, had her hands full with this one. There were days of sitting in the hall, fits to be ignored, friends to be seperated from, but it looks like she will survive! (Both Mrs. B and Natalie) My goal for her was to have her write her name. She is easily distracted and keenly aware of what we want her to accomplish. She likes to do the opposite. BUT, she IS writing her name. When she feels like she isn't being taken seriously though her name goes back to AANTIEL or some such combination just to see us get flustered. She has made friends, which to her are far more important than anything else she's learned this year. She even has a boyfriend who has proposed. :) He has no idea what he is in for!

Now you are all caught up with the Goodsons. We look forward to an upcoming weekend in Charleston, our annual time in Florida, and then back to the grindstone. We'll have a 3rd grader, 1st grader and a new 5Ker. Wow.

Do You Read?

2010-04-18T10:34:00.007-04:00

I love to read. From as far back as I can remember, I've always love to read. My mom can probably still recite The Little Red Hen from memory because that was my first very favorite book. I've loved reading since before I could read!

I've had many favorites through the years. I loved Judy Blume books in elementary school. I read all of Stephen King's books in Junior High and High School. I even read the required summer reading books and loved most of them as well. Jane Eyre was a favorite, as was To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men. Other favorites that come to mind are Don't Stop The Carnival by Herman Wouk and Wind From The Carolinas by Robert Wilder. Recently I've devoured Rick Bragg's books, I think I've read every single one. I also enjoy John Grisham, Pat Conroy and Michael Crichton.

With three small children I haven't read as much as I've wanted to in the last few years. But, I have made a renewed effort to begin again. Except for the Olympics I haven't watched an hour of TV in the past 6 months. I have also cut down my computer time quite a bit too. I'm using this time to read and it is SO much better than vegging on the couch! Last night I finished one of the latest books written by Randy Wayne White. He is a fishing guide in SW Florida and I love reading about the adventures of his characters in a setting familiar to me.

I've also tried to add educational books to my list. I am going to start Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell soon. I think Sowell is one of the most brilliant men on the planet. I loved reading his book Black Rednecks & White Liberals and expect his book on ecomomics will be amazing as well.

I am also committed to reading the Scriptures more this year as well. They are a feast to the soul.

So, do you read? What kinds of books? Who is your favorite author? I'd love to add to my list if you would share!

Dear Editor

2010-03-17T17:18:00.002-04:00

I have a guest writer on my blog today. My husband sent this to the editor of our local newspaper and it will be printed either over the weekend or first of next week. I am super proud of him, as always. :) (If you saw the first draft with an extra paragraph, it had to be removed to get it under 250 words.)

Dear Editor,

In the early 1840’s, when asked how he governed the pioneer residents of Nauvoo, Illinois in establishing a successful and vibrant city in almost perfect order, Joseph Smith, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was quoted as saying, “I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.”

True and correct principles have a great benefit – when practiced, over time, they always work! Historically, failures or lack of success, at every level can be linked to a departure from true principles by individuals, families and nations. Regardless of religious beliefs, political disposition, or personal philosophies, true ideas and understandings will prevail while false and contrived notions will always impede real progress, at the least, and more likely than not erode even the greatest talent, ability, and character.

In the past people seemed to subscribe to the idea that, “Life is not perfect, but I’ll make the best of it”. Today it is more like, “Life is not perfect, and somebody’s going to pay!”

A primary definition of welfare is a person’s state of well-being. It is a true principle that people are primarily responsible for their own well being. How much of today’s troubles are due to a reversal of this principle? Unlike some corporations, this country is not “too big to fail”. Individuals and families will collectively either learn and abide by correct principles and see our situation improve or continue to watch well intentioned, but misguided efforts deteriorate all that is right and good.

Robert Goodson

What is IT?

2010-03-02T19:46:00.003-05:00

I got an email today that said a homeowner in Maryland came home to find these two on her couch. It seems that the fawn followed the beagle in through the doggie door. How cool to find such a cutie on your couch!

It reminded me of what happened at our house, years ago when we lived in Englewood. We didn't have a dog door, we had a cat door. Actually two cat doors, one from the house into the garage and one from the garage to the outside. We had two cats, Punky and Ma. Ma was a stray calico we found in Orlando when we lived there. Punky was an 18 lb orange tabby. One night one of them caught something and brought it in our cat door. The first time it happened was one of the scariest expericences of my life.

There must have been a noise. A squeak, a thump....something unusual. Otherwise, how would I have opened my eyes, from a deep sleep, when I did? All I know is that when I opened them a small black creature was moving quickly towards my bed. A creature that did not move like a cat. I instantly knew that, whatever it was, it did not belong in my house. The only sound from this thing was the sinister click of claws on the terrazzo floor. Now, I'm typically not one to panic. I like animals. I'll hold just about any of them. So it still puzzles me to this day why my reaction was so extreme. Maybe because I was only half awake? Anyway, I lost it! Completely lost it! I went from horizontal to vertical in one move. I found myself standing up in bed shrieking. As you can imagine, this quickly got Robbie's attention. He assumed, as anyone would, that someONE must be in the house. Why else would I be acting this way, right? I'm screaming, "It's...........it's............it's............" but I don't know how to finish my sentence because I didn't know what IT is. But it was evil, of that I was sure. I suspected the devil himself had slipped in, in the form of a round dark blob with long toenails. I had just thwarted it's plans to attack us while we slept! I was not acquainted with reality at this point in time. So Robbie has sprung out of bed and is screaming, "GET OUT! GET. OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" This was even worse because now his feet were on the floor. That terrified me because IT was on the floor too! I can remember thinking that he was going to get shorter and shorter as this thing attacked him at foot level.

Have you ever seen a cartoon character get scared? Have you noticed how his eyes bulge and his lips curl back? I cannot attest to the eyes bulging but I can tell you that the lip thing is a real, physical response to extreme fright. My lips literally curled backwards towards my face! I can still remember how strange that sensation was.

I know I need to let Robbie know that there isn't a person in our house - that whatever it was was worse! But all I can think to say is, "No! It's.......it's.....it's...." I was being really helpful and informative. He runs for the light switch on the other side of the room. I was relieved because now he was further from IT and wasn't in as much danger of having his feet gnawed off. At this point I even had to wonder, did I see anything at all? IT wasn't really doing much. But I didn't have to wait long. As soon as the light came on, IT sprang into action. IT was a rather large rabbit. The poor creature had been dragged by the neck through two cat doors. He had a cut on his neck because, in his panic, he would run into the wall and blood would spray onto the wall.

At least we now knew what we were dealing with. And, thankfully, it wasn't the devil. Robbie screamed for me to grab a towel. And because I no longer feared having my feet gnawed off I got down and grabbed one. Robbie threw it over the rabbit and ran him outside. Problem solved, just like that! Not that I slept a wink for the rest of the night, but at least IT was gone.

Oh, I did do one more thing that night. I got MAD. Mad at those cats. I caught Punky by the front door. It was about 3:15am and I was in my gown. I was standing outside on the lawn at 3:15am beating my cat! It was not my finest moment.

Later on, after catching birds, midair, in my dining room, we realized that it wasn't Punky after all. It was Ma who brought all those creatures in. Sorry Punky!

Locked Out

2010-02-26T17:02:00.002-05:00

Most everyone who knows me has heard this story but I wanted to get it down on paper. I thought I did this once before but I can't find it. Not that it isn't seared into my memory forever!

It was a completely forgetable Sunday evening - the week between Christmas and New Years. I was 8 months pregnant with our second child. We lived on ten acres, smack dab in the middle of nowhere. My 17 month old has been in bed for a few hours and I was waiting on Robbie to get home from work. He was a police officer working the second shift. I waddled to the kitchen for a snack. When I opened the fridge I noticed the pack of ground beef I'd thawed and never used. I knew I needed to do something with it soon so I decided to make some chili for Robbie so he'd have a snack when he got off work in an hour or so. I started to cook it according to a recipe I had and turned the burner up so it would begin to boil. About this time I realized it was 10pm and the new puppy we had gotten earlier in the week needed to be taken outside. I was trying to take her out at regular intervals. I was wearing a huge grey t-shirt/gown and slip-on Keds. When Daisy finished wandering around the yard we headed back inside. Except, we couldn't get in. My heart froze when I realized we were locked out. Locked out in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! I desperately tried every door, every window, even lying on my back and reaching for the door knob through the cat door. Nothing worked. Panic set in, big time! On the next lot over, which was also ten acres, was a horse barn. I'd seen a travel trailer parked there earlier but had no idea if it was still there, or if someone might be in it. It was my only hope at this point. My baby was trapped inside with a boiling pot of chili on the stove! What if the fire alarms started to sound, terrifying him, and I was not there? What if the house actually caught fire? I started to run. Run, at 8 months pregnant, through the field to get to the horse barn. It was pitch black as soon as I got a few feet from my house. Suddenly, I was up-ended. Cartwheeling through the air, and then through wood shavings from the barn. The ground there was very uneven and the owners often dumped the old shavings in the low areas. Now I was lying in shavings and old hay and I smelled like horse poop. This is where I started to cry. But press on I must, so I struggled to my feet. Running again, as I spit out small pieces of wood and hay and probably some other stuff I don't want to think about. My luck was about to change. As I got closer to the barn I could see a tiny light. It was from the travel trailer. It appeared as someone might be IN the trailer! I started screaming. I can only imagine what I must have sounded like at this point. The door flew open and someone started screaming back. "Who's there? What do you want?", he asked. "Do you have a phone? I need a phone!!! I'm locked out and my house might be on fire!", I pant. He thrusts a cell phone into my hand and I dial 911. As soon as the dispatcher starts to speak I beg her to send Officer Goodson home ASAP. "EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I hang up. I give the phone back and order the shadow in the trailer to get a hammer and follow me to my house. "A hammer!?" He clearly thinks I've lost it. Yes, as my breath is finally catching up, I need a hammer to break into my house, I am locked out. He is on his way to the barn now and turns on the light. He takes one look at me and screams, "LADY, you're PREGNANT!" "I KNOW! Now get a hammer!", I say. Then I start running again. He is chasing me, trying to get me to slow down. He is wearing boxer shorts and flip flops. When he gets to my porch I am laying flat on my back gasping for air. I point to the kitchen window and get out the words, "Break it!" He assures me that he can see the chili and it is not in danger of bursting into flames, but if it does, he will gladly smash the window.

About this time we hear an engine, getting quickly closer to us. Robbie is FLYING down our driveway. He gets out of his patrol car as white as a sheet. He finds his wife lying on the porch gasping for breath and a man in boxer shorts holding a hammer. I can only imagine the thoughts that must have gone through his mind at that moment. I can still barely speak but explain that we need his keys to the house. I think he was a bit upset to find that all the panic he has just been through is because I locked myself out. We go in and turn off the chili. Man with hammer disappears, I guess. Baby #2 is on an adrenaline high, bouncing from one side of my belly to the other. We assume he/she is okay. Then my husband, who has only said a few words since he arrived asks, "What is that all over you and what is that SMELL?"

Learning is Fun

2010-01-23T19:26:00.014-05:00

Whew, did Christmas/New Year's/school vacation knock you for a loop too? We are finally settling back into a regular routine, for which I am grateful.

Just a few days after Christmas we received the World Floor Map from CSNStores.com. Fast shipping! I didn't realize that it was going to be made of that spongy floor mat material, probably because I'd never seen a puzzle made that way. I really liked that though because we were able to leave it together in the middle of the floor and study it instead of having to put it away all the time. I also liked that it came in a sturdy clear plastic bag, so when we did store it, it was easy to keep together. Quality wise, we were most pleased! It was easy to put together for my guys since they are all veteran puzzlers but that wasn't our purpose anyway. I did have to put some index cards over the names of the countries because 2 out of 3 are now readers. They have all learned some of the countries and can point them out now, which was our intent! :) And they had fun and didn't think of it as learning, also a good thing.

One misconception was that France was in the US! LOL Hey, he is only 7. So now we know where it is AND that the Eiffel Tower is there.

The kids got a giggle out of the Country named Turkey. :)

We are also facinated by the Panama Canal and are wondering what they did with all that dirt they dredged out.

The first time they heard about the earthquake in Haiti, they wanted to look it up on the map. We decided Haiti doesn't seem so far from SC. Now we are remembering Haiti in our prayers.

Key has a good friend living in Italy for a year. We looked her up and talked about Italy and how long it took her to fly there.

Robbie and I are going to Puerto Rico so we looked that up too. I love that they 'get it', that every place we mention can be found on a map. I've shown them all of the places I have visited and told them stories about my travels. Some of them Robbie hadn't even heard. Fun to remember back!

Now that we are able to find different countries on the map, we are going to learn something about each country. That should be fun too! Thanks CSNStores.com, this was a great opportunity for us!

Florida

2010-01-02T22:08:00.003-05:00

In the spring of 1989 I was attending a pre-Calculus class at Greenville Tech. There was a cute boy in my class, kind of surfer looking. He had a cool haircut, with a weight line, and he was blonde,which made him look like he spent lots of time in the sun. I enjoyed watching him each day as he went through his routine of taking out his pencil, then his big pink eraser, and then his notebook - always in that order. We eventually started to chat with each other. One day he asked me what my plans were. I was only 19, and really couldn't be too specific. All I knew was that I wanted to graduate from college and move to Florida. Those were my only two goals. And I only had the first goal because it seemed that it would help me accomplish the second. I guess that didn't seem too strange a thing to plan for because that surfer dude and I moved to Florida in the fall of 1993 as husband and wife.

I longed for Florida before I ever got there, and I miss it really bad today. It would be easy to miss Florida on a day like today. I don't think it got above the freezing mark, and if it did, I couldn't tell! But that would miss the larger point. I miss Florida everyday. So why am I here, back in SC? It was a once in a lifetime opportunity when real estate prices were skyrocketing. We were fortunate (I don't like the word lucky) and here we are. I don't regret it. There was really no choice as to the best path to take. We took it and life is good. But that doesn't make me miss Florida any less.

The sky is bluer in Florida. The weight of the air is better. Palm trees and anoles just give everything a laid back style. You never have to wear socks in Florida. You can find a good Cuban sandwich in every town. People don't care so much about who you know, where you came from, who you went to school with - you get a certain anonymity there. And that is freeing in many ways. But friends like to listen to the quirks you left behind. You get to describe what a boiled peanut tastes like, because no one knows. You can explain what a crocus is and how it is the first flower of spring, because spring in Florida is a lot like summer, fall and winter. They even indulge you the pleasure of describing how the Clemson Tigers take to the field during home games, even though they pull for the Gators or 'Noles.

So anyway, I'm just missing my life back in Florida. I plan on returning, for sure. In fact, here I sit, back in Greenville, just like I was back in 1989. I still tell my surfer dude how much I want to be there and that it is my plan to go. He listens, just like he did back then. And I think he wants that for me, and for him, again. To return to our old town on the Gulf. We've even got our children, who were all born as Crackers, ready to pack their bags. Key told us that his teacher asked each child in his second grade class to tell where they wanted to go to college. Key told them he was going to be a Florida Gator. And this Clemson Tiger just smiled when she heard the news. Because it will be perfect if we can all end up on the beautiful beaches again as a family.

Traveling the World

2009-12-15T15:43:00.005-05:00

I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to much of the world. I love, love, LOVE to travel and wish I could do more of it. I've always said that if I won the lottery (of course, first I'd have to actually purchase a ticket!) I wouldn't need a house. I'd never be in one spot long enough to bother.

I've seen Paris at night from the Eiffel Tower. I've had piping hot waffles off a waffle iron in Brussels. I've water skiied on the Mediterranean. Snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef. Cruised the Carribean. Toured Peter the Great's Summer Castle on the Gulf of Finland. Bought a cool ceramic sink in Mexico and convinced Robbie to bring it home. Watched a black bear scurry up a tree in Canada. Passed a sea turtle and octopus underwater near Venezuela. Swam in the Natural Pool in Aruba. Bought beautiful lace in Switzerland. To quote Joe Walsh, "Life's been good to me so far."

Now I want my children to have these same kinds of opportunities. They've already traveled way farther than I ever did as a child and done tons more things. So, we are off to a good start! One thing I realized when I started traveling is that schools here in the US do not teach much in the way of geography, especially world geography. When I began to see where France, Italy, Switzerland, etc fit into the world it was a bit embarrassing that I didn't already know that kind of thing.

Anyway, there is a reason for telling you all of this! My little blog has been discovered, dear readers! :) I have just partnered with CSNStores.com. I've agreed to test drive one of their toys from here: Online Toys. I chose to get the World Map Floor Puzzle, and now you know why! I'm going to promise to teach my kids at least 5 countries each and will be back to tell you about our experiences once we have had some time to play with it. I specifically used the word 'play' because I bought two huge world maps from Sam's years ago and they are still rolled up and in the plastic tubes! I couldn't figure out a way to make them fun. This map looks like lots of fun.

So, thank you CSNStores.com. We are all excited about this cool opportunity!

Did Someone Say Tree?

2009-12-13T17:38:00.002-05:00

I am an Arborist. Did you know that about me? And after a chance meeting with the secretary at STC I am a STC Arborist! How cool is that?! I never expected to be back in the working world of tree care and I couldn't be happier. I only work part time, when the kids are in school, but I just LOVE it. STC is an awesome place to work too. It just doesn't get any better than this. I get to soak up the knowledge of 15 or so other Arborists and they even ask ME questions. I didn't know what I was missing but I am glad I found it. I had always had the idea in the back of my mind that once the kids were in school that I'd want to find something part-time. But I kind of doubted that was a possibility. I haven't ever worked in the tree care industry in South Carolina. My experience was always in Florida. And there are very few trees that qualify to grow in both areas! The folks at STC didn't seem to mind - and have, so far, put up with me asking lots and lots of questions. Of course, the more I learn the more it occurs to me that I have a long way to go.

My official role at STC is Sales Arborist. I've never been in sales. I've worked with sales people in several other landscape jobs over the years but had no idea I'd have the good fortune to actually be one. I've only been on a handful of calls by myself but it is just the funnest thing ever!

So, anyway, just thought I'd share my good fortune this year. I'm grateful for that fateful meeting on the soccer field sidelines. Thanks Yvonne! :)

2009-11-28T18:44:00.004-05:00

I love my cats. We got new kittens a few months ago and I am just in love with these furry little things. I've always loved cats. I grew up on a farm and we had tons of outside/barn cats. I would pick out a favorite and sneak it in every once in a while. Nothing like a purring cat on your lap or curled up at the foot of your bed.

Our latest additions are Cindy Lou Who and Sir Smoky. I swore I wasn't going to get a female cat. Nor was I going to get a long haired cat. Well, guess what Cindy is! She melted my heart sitting in her little Humane Society cage. She wouldn't take her eyes off me, and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Even while my brain was screaming, "Don't do it! Cat hair will be EVERYWHERE!" Didn't matter, she was mine. Well, technically, she was Natalie's - which leads us to call her 'Poor Cindy' most of the time. Because 'Poor Cindy' gets dragged around on Nat's shoulder all day long. When 'Poor Cindy' is located she is immediately hoisted to Nat's shoulder and is expected to remain draped across it while Natalie does whatever it is that she does. 'Poor Cindy' is routinely woken from naps, pulled from under beds, picked up while eating, and she does it with hardly a complaint. She flops over that little shoulder and endures the ride she is taken on. Cindy is also the rare cat that is facinated with water. As soon as the shower comes on she is THERE. She likes to stick her paws in and bat at the water. And she usually sits on the edge and lets her tail fall in, leading to a soggy tail dripping on the bathroom floor. She is also a very good foot chaser. If she sees the slightest movement under the covers she will pounce and 'kill' the foot underneath, even in the pitch black of night.

Her brother is Sir Smoky. His full name would be Sir Smoky Poops A Lot. But we just call him Smoky. He is a very short haired cat, which kinda makes up for the long haired Cindy! He is white and smoky grey. He has big curious eyes and feels the need to walk when you pet him. He likes to pace back and forth across you and block the TV as much as possible. He loves to play and drags his toy mouse around. His favorite was the mouse with the bell but Daisy destroyed it. This is a happy blog entry so we shall refrain from speaking about Daisy. Smoky will get a new bell mouse for Christmas. (Take THAT Daisy!)

Smoky and Cindy love each other, which makes me so happy. Our other cat pair did not like each other at all and it was so hard to deal with. One had to be on my side of the bed and one on Robbie's or a huge catfight broke out. So to see my happy kittens all snuggled up or playing happily together is such a treat! I'm still not used to seeing cats who like each other.

So, there you have it, our newest family members. They are growing so fast and look like full grown cats already. But you can tell they are kittens by how much they play. I am so glad we finally got them.

My Take on Health Care

2009-10-14T19:20:00.002-04:00

My grandmother is 95 years old. For a woman her age, she still does remarkably well. But, as Father Time marches on, she is slowing down. A few years ago she sold her home and moved into a retirement community. For the first time in her life she became a social butterfly. New friends gave her a fresh start and she loved it there. My mom and her sisters, in an effort to make things as easy as possible for her, got her a lift chair. Now she didn't have to use up precious energy as she got up and down during the day. It seemed like a great thing for her. Soon enough, though, she wasn't walking as far anymore. She was having trouble getting around her apartment. She fell a few times. And we all thought, "She is getting too old to be alone. Old age is catching up with her." So, she moved to a nursing home. They got her into some physical therapy and she regained her strength and mobility. All of the sudden, she was back to her old self. So much so, the nursing home gave her the boot! She had to go. She was doing 'too well' to qualify for nursing home care. She is now back amongst her friends at the retirement community and loving life again. One old friend is noticably absent in her new/old apartment, however - her old lift chair. You see, it became a crutch. Sometimes we have to do the hard things in order to stay strong. We can't skip out on exercise and expect to keep fit. The nurses at the nursing home let us in on this little secret. They are the ones who told us NOT to give her the old lift chair again. They said it killed more old folks than you would ever guess. Who knew!?

As I processed this new information I likened it to the current health care crisis. It is on my mind a lot lately. I found so many parallels. It is human nature to take the easy way out. But is it the best path to choose? Rarely. It is easy to say, it is everyone's RIGHT to health care. But is it? I don't think there are very many things that we have a RIGHT to. Anything worth having is worth WORKING for. And if you are simply handed a lift chair, before long you won't be able to stand on your own. Accountability is also lost in this shuffle. Should your health care costs go up because your neighbor smokes/drinks/is obese/chooses to use the lift chair instead of their own power to stand? I don't want to go assigning Americans 'lift chairs'. When we give the government power over our health care, we are giving up rights that we will want later on, and they won't be there anymore. We will lose choices.

I actually happen to LIKE my health care coverage. You rarely hear that anymore, but poll after poll suggests that the majority of Americans agree. I don't want to things to change for me and my family. And I don't see how that can be avoided if we are forced into this new system. I lived in a very affluent area for over ten years. Many folks there are already signed up with private health care. They pay huge fees for the opportunity to see doctors who have gone off the 'insurance grid'. They won't opt to be in this new system. The middle class will bear the brunt of these new premium increases. We'll be paying for all those folks who chose a life of 'lift chair living'. We'll all lose quality of care if we can't afford a way out.

So anyway, those are my rambling thoughts on this big ole hairy mess!

Kindergarten - The First Day

2009-08-19T16:18:00.003-04:00

I left early to be near the front of the car line. I was excited to hear all of the wonderful things Andy experienced today. Here's the earful:

Andy arrived at the minivan in tears. A kid in his class (or not, this remains unclear) said he had a small head and big eyes. Or was it a big head and small eyes? Either way, it was a definite insult. Another kid overheard the insult being flung and told the teacher. Unfortunately, it was too late for the kid to move his pin. The next encounter with this kid will have Andy saying, "I would rather be ugly than rude like you."

Key told Andy (not while I was listening) that there was a volcano on the kindergarteners playground. Andy found that this was not true after searching every square inch. He was sorely disappointed. He also complained that there were way too many kids on this playground. "It was like somebody kicked an antpile and a bunch of kids came climbing out," a disgusted Andy reported.

Lunch, which seemed straightforward enough, was a bust. Andy was given two breads, a meat and a slice of cheese. "Was that supposed to be a hamburger?" he asked. He dropped this 'quasi' hamburger on the cafeteria floor but it did not fall apart and he was able to eat it. (gag!)

His milk was in a strange little box and tasted horrible.

He did not get fries. I pressed him on this because they were definitely on the menu. Key asked if he got those 'white round things with smiley faces'. Yes, he did get those. Well, Key explained, those were the fries. "Well, those things were horrible. I have never seen a fry like that in my whole life." (Have we not exposed him to enough?)

At least he recognized and appreciated the 'soft' chocolate chip cookie. There's somethin'!

He explained that he had 'a million of things' in his backpack and he had to bring it home everyday and he had to take it back to school the next day. He is fairly certain that that will never happen. He can't figure any of this stuff out! We discovered his folder in his backpack and found his homework sheet. He is supposed to take a picture of himself as a baby tomorrow and draw a picture of something he learned. One large and one small stick figure are gonna have to do on that part. I am not going to start helping with homework on the very first day ever! But we did find a cute picture of him in his yellow giraffe suit. Somedays I wonder if it weren't easier back then. Thankfully, back then, I didn't realize I would every say that.

Tubing the Green River

2009-08-15T23:19:00.002-04:00

Hmmm, so we went tubing today. It was.....interesting, to say the least. The Green River doesn't have a descriptive name. If it did have a descriptive name it would be the Red Murky River. Maybe Mr. Green found the river and named it after himself.

The general idea, upon getting to the outpost, was to pay and put your tube on the trailer. Then you got on the short bus attached to this trailer for a ride upstream. I have to tell ya, most of these people were probably remembering riding a short bus to school at one time. Whew! I am even thinking that some of them were using this as their weekly bath. The girl by me smelled of BO, cigarette smoke and peanut butter. ICK! You could have grown a garden under her fingernails!!!! We felt as if we had crashed a redneck convention. Speaking of cigarettes, I think we were the only ones who did NOT have a ziplock bag with a pack inside.

Okay, enough of that. We get in the river. It is moving very slow. Except for Andy. Andy is half a mile downstream before we can blink. Then it got faster, we hit some rapids. Key gets tangled in some brush by the side of the river and flips off his tube. Then Key is underwater rapid riding. I snatch him up and into my tube. His tube is gone and so is his shoe. We'd just gotten started. Now I am very concerned about the blonde speck that is Andy! Somehow we all get back together and Robbie finds Key's tube. He is still scared and wants to remain in my lap. I convince him that me having numb legs will not benefit us in the least, so he gets off them and lets the blood circulate once again. Any rapid after this point send him into mild hysteria. At one point I am holding his tube with one hand and Andy's tube with the other. I cannot steer at all, of course. We got hung up on a rock and as I am scootching back and forth, back and forth Andy is saying, "WOW, look at that HUGE snake! He is HUGE! Mom, can you see him?!!!!" SCOOTCH SCOOTCH SCOOTCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think my arms are at least an inch longer than when we started. While holding onto both boys tubes we would get hung up on rocks and at one such impasse I think my elbows actually touched behind my back. I went over the rapid and they did not!

One funny moment was when Andy said, "Well, I've seen a bunch of turtles and that huge snake. Key keeps seeing lots of rabbits (rapids!) and I haven't seen any." He also said, after a particularly rough 'rabbit' that the first man to ever float down this river must not have wanted to live anymore. LOL

I did end up seeing one snake in the water with my own eyes so Andy might really have seen his too. I would have thought it was too cold for a snake but there he was!

So, anyway, that was our last-Saturday-before-school-starts adventure. Wanna go with us next time? :)

Florida

2009-08-15T23:09:00.003-04:00

I can't believe I never posted about Florida. I think because we were gone so long and did so much that I felt overwhelmed with even beginning to describe it all. As always, it was awesome. We have so much fun there. We were either busy with old friends or not busy and pool/beach side. You really can't beat that.

Some firsts this year: all three kids flew on the trapeze. They all had a great time and were so brave! We also watched the 4th of July fireworks at the jetty. We are usually at a party at the Bay's house and watch the North Port fireworks. We took our beach chairs down just before dark and watched the whole show with our toes in the sand. Also, our Andy-man decided that snorkeling would be fun. He was underwater more than he was on top. He found a whole sand dollar, which is now in his collection. We also found a hermit crab and kept him for an afternoon. Oh, and Key got to drive his first boat! Our friend Jesse was gracious (and brave) enough to let Key take over the wheel. Key took everyone from snake island, out through the jetty and back. He still hasn't stopped talking about it. Thanks Jesse! Natalie got two new boyfriends at the pool. She is going to be trouble one day!

If you would like to view our pictures (there are way too many) you can see them here: www.GoodsonFL.winkflash.com.

Goodsons Head Toward Summer

2009-06-08T21:59:00.003-04:00

Lots going on this summer for the family. We've already visited family for a few days. Aunt Bobbie and Big Daddy's house was our first stop. We ate our very favorite Mandarin Orange cake, as always. Bobbie, you shouldn't have but we are so glad you did! And we went to Chuck E. Cheese, which is becoming sort of a tradition as well. Thanks for the birthday presents and the delicious meals.

Next stop was Jim and Peggy's. Thanks to Mrs. Adventurer, Peggy, we now know the difference between a llama and an alpaca (it's the EARS!). We also got to see a really cool street that had topiaries in every yard. Very interesting! We shopped, we ate, we rested. Loved the new garden areas too. Don't work too hard in this heat though!

Next was our end of the season soccer awards night. Congrats Andy on another great year. Go Purple Paladins!

This week is zoo camp. This is the second year and it is starting out as fun as last time. Keep your fingers out of the lion's cage kids!

Next week our firstborn turns SEVEN. Doesn't seem possible and yet, how could we have only known him for seven years? We've only been parents for seven years. I don't really remember what being kidless was like! Happy birthday, Key! We love ya!

At the end of next week we'll be off to Florida. We have a beach-front condo in Venice for one month. We will drag this month out as long as possible. We have looked forward to this trip since the day we left last year. So, a big shout out to our best-est Florida friends...WE ARE ON OUR WAY SOON! We like to think of it this way, we still live in FL - we just visit SC for 11 months of the year. Oh, and we have decided that this is the year we'll take the kids to Disney. Just one day for now, to the Magic Kingdom. They are gonna FLIP when they hear the news!

I don't think we have any plans when we return from Florida, thankfully. I want to do nothing! That won't happen, as you know, but I will try to do as close to nothing as possible. Because soon enough I'll be back in that carpool line picking up a 2nd grader and my new kindergartener. Welcome to Elementary School Andy!

Natalie will turn FOUR while we soak up the Florida sun. That also seems impossible. She is all set for 4K this year. She is very excited about being a Furman girl.

Me? Well, I have a new job to look forward to this fall. I am the newest Arborist at Schneider Tree Care. I am positively thrilled at being back in the workforce, albeit on a very part time basis. Watch out trees, here I come! LOL

Robbie is still working hard and being a good husband and dad. We look forward to seeing him pull in the driveway after work each day. Some days more so than others. (Hey, I have three kids to deal with!) He has just finished his third year as pee-wee soccer coach. Thanks Robbie/dad! We love you too.

Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-25T21:50:00.004-04:00

It started out misty, then rainy, and I had all but called it a day. But Robbie was more optimistic than me so he loaded us up and off we went to the mountains. Our first stop was the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education and the adjoining Fish Hatchery. The kids loved throwing fish food to all the trout. I used to work at the Walhalla Fish Hatchery and fed tons of that food to trout before. Fish food is not easy on the nose!

Then we made it up to Looking Glass Falls. Beautiful waterfall, probably the first one the kids have seen on that kind of scale. It is really high. We hiked to the bottom and everyone (except me) went for a walk in the creek below. Before long everyone had blue lips, blue feet and chattering teeth (except, of course, for smart ole ME). I was the photographer for the trip, you know, the one who'll scrapbook the memories to help them last. So I couldn't get in, really. I'm a peach like that! And with the mind-numbing cold, there is no telling if my gang will even remember this trip tomorrow. So, I had to document.

We finished off the afternoon with dinner at the Pisgah Fish Camp, that we found while looking for the Mexican place. Didn't see the Mexican place til we left the fish camp. But that was okay because it was a good meal and we eat Mexican so much that Natalie doesn't realize that the word 'restaurant' exists. We realized this as we were going in to the fish camp and she asked, "Do I have to eat the fish at the Mexican?" We typically head out on Friday nights saying, "Let's go eat Mexican." I guess we should branch out a bit more!

Then, dessert was enjoyed by all (except me) at Dolly's Ice Cream Shack. See, if you eat fish and ice cream on the same day you WILL throw up. Well, at least I will. My papa told me that when I was about 4 years old. I didn't believe him. So, after leaving the fish camp I insisted on ice cream. I threw up all night long. I have NEVER eaten fish and ice cream on the same day again. But I don't tell me kids that because I am pretty certain that this is a mental thing and not so much a physical thing - and I don't want to clean up ice cream from my van.

We are home now and my tired, happy people are all asleep. It was a great day! :)

I WON!

2009-03-05T13:21:00.002-05:00

I won a blog award! My friend Missty has bestowed upon me the "Let's Be Frank" award. Now I am supposed to tell 10 honest things about myself. I tend to be brutally honest so this shouldn't be hard.

1) I hate winter and I can't wait for warmer weather to arrive. Actually, I would really like to pack my bags and head back to Florida and never see another 50 degree day for as long as I live.

2) While I seem to be in a gripe-y mood, I also hate car lines at the elementary school. If the prize wasn't retrieving my cute 6 year old I would never agree to wait in my car again. (Yes, I know, I have literally YEARS of car lines in my future!)

3) Unlike Missty who likes her dog.... I dislike mine more and more as time goes on, which is kinda hard to do seeing as how I never really cared for her in the first place.

4) (Boy, I am on a roll, aren't I?) Let's get something positive down..... I do love cats and we are going to be adopting two this spring! :)

5) I think boys are much easier to raise than girls. In fact, it seems natural, to me, to raise boys and completely other-worldly to be picking away at trying to raise this daughter of mine! Her terrible twos (which definitely extended into her threes) are getting better but I still don't know what to do with her half the time.

6) I do not like to leave the upstairs of the house in the morning until each bed is made, the humidifiers have been refilled, all clothes have been collected into one hamper (and is ready to be carried downstairs and put in the washer) and trashcans have been emptied. Then if I don't get back up there again it is at least clean.

7) I don't like English peas nor the sound of piano music. At all.

8) Traveling to new places is one of my favorite things to do. The farther from home the better.

9) One of my favorite ways to de-stress is exercise, especially yoga, pilates and Zumba. I also like to run, but that is hard!

10) I would take a nap every single day if I could. I can't. LOL

SNOW

2009-03-01T01:20:00.003-05:00

The morning after we got home from sunny, warm Aruba we had a 20 minute snowfall. The kids didn't miss a single flake either. Andy said it looked like Santa's beard was falling down in pieces. I just love this picture of my pajamaed kiddos watching it fall. It was over as quickly as it started but it was fun to watch anyway. We are supposed to get more snow beginning tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned!

Natalie - Fashion Bug

2009-03-01T01:11:00.002-05:00

Natalie loves to get dressed up. So much so, she dresses up several times a day. The only thing she doesn't want is my input or suggestions. Those are always wrong and result in eye-rolling. Lately she is all about skirts. Dresses occasionally, but definitely NO PANTS! I've polled lots of moms and have decided to let her do this on her own terms. So, when she shows up in a frilly pink and black dress, lilac socks, neon pink rubber shoes and holding an orange ribbon for her hair I just exclaim, "Wow, don't you look beautiful today!" And she beams. Then we go to the Y to work out and the ladies there just look at me like I am insane. But, hey, that is probably closer to the truth than I want to admit anyway.

ANDY MAN

2009-02-28T23:33:00.002-05:00

Our Andy man wanted to take violin lessons. He was four when he first mentioned it and we thought he'd forget about it. But he didn't. He kept asking. So I started looking for someone to teach him. For a while there I wasn't having any luck but we finally found a teacher for him. We rented the tiniest violin available and now Andy is a new violin student. He and his new teacher seem to really click. They talk amongst themselves and figure out what the other is saying, eventually. His teacher has to relay notes and foreign concepts to a just turned 5 year old. That is tough enough. But then he also has to interpret what Andy is saying too. For instance, when Andy says G and when he says D, they sound a lot alike! Most importantly, he is having a great time and learning new things. Our sweet little Andy man. :)

ARUBA

2009-01-19T23:26:00.004-05:00

We just returned from a week in paradise. Oh, it was really heaven sent! For the first time since we became parents we left them behind and ventured off alone. For one week we didn't break up arguments, strap little people into car seats, stuff tiny feet into pj's, get anyone a juicy, put bows in anyone's hair or say a little too loudly, "BECAUSE I TOLD YOU SO!" That alone was worth the trip. Of course, by Wednesday we missed them like crazy. :)

Our friends Billy and Kristen invited us on this vacation, but the real people who made it happen are Uncle Jim and Aunt Peggy. J and P, if you are reading this, we can't thank you enough for what you did, what you even VOLUNTEERED to do, for us. Your generosity for our family will never be forgotten.

Okay, now to Aruba! We got there on Saturday afternoon. We were supposed to pick up a jeep but it wasn't ready yet so we took a car til the next day. Thankfully we did get the jeep because we headed out to the windward side of the island to explore. Made it to the Natural Bridge and the Natural Pool. Since 99.9% of those who visit Aruba never get to the Natural Pool, this was a big accomplishment. Just finding the right dirt road to take you there is an amazing thing. Arubians don't like street signs, or putting things on maps. Once we did start out for the pool it was easy to figure out why no one goes there. The ride was indescribably bumpy. I can't believe we actually made it the whole way in. The trails are not marked and are barely passable by 4x4 jeeps. I truly thought we were going to flip over a few times. Anyway, we made it and took a dip on the pool. Very cool experience, made even cooler by the trouble it took to find and navigate.

The next day we stayed by the pool and beach all day, just lounging and reading. I finished 5 books while we were there. LOVE that! Went out to dinner that night and the jeep died. Really, it just died! We hailed a cab and got a new jeep at the airport. The new jeep came with a clause that it was absolutely, positively NOT to be taken to the Natural Pool. The pool was also not even listed on the map that came with the jeep.

Wednesday was another exploring day. We found the caves and learned about them. We climbed Casibari rock. We snorkeled Baby Beach. We found a really cool snack shack and got delicious smoothies!

Thursday we snorkeled off a catamaran. Read some more by the pool and beach.

Friday I had a Swedish massage. Looked forward to it all week, by design.

The food in Aruba is delicious! We had Cuban at Cuba's Cookin' for Billy's birthday. Really neat place with a live band and interesting paintings all around. Too bad they were all out of Death By Chocolate, Billy!

We had dinner at El Gaucho, an Argentine Steakhouse. That was the best steak I have ever eaten in my life! I ate everything on my plate! The plantains were so good.

We went back to the smoothie shack for a platter one night. It had a bit of everything on it. Steak/chicken/fish over rice with a salad, yucca, plantains, bowtie pasta, french fries and a salad!

And we had Italian at Gianni's which was also just amazingly good. (I don't dare hop on the scales til I've hit the gym a few times!)

Anyway, it was a great trip! We are thinking Barbados for next year.

In case I can't get the pictures to post, you can visit them at www.GoodsonFL.winkflash.com.

Lisa's Latest 5K

2008-12-31T19:36:00.004-05:00

I now have followers! Ah, that is so exciting!!! :) Since I know one of my followers is also a runner I wanted to add that I finished a 5K recently with a time of 35:05. It isn't my best time but I was very happy with it. For starters, it was approximately 27 degrees when the race started. After standing in the cold for at least half an hour I was THIS close to calling it quits before the starting gun! But I thought of all those ladies in my Zumba class at the Y and how I knew they would ask about the race, so I stayed. Then, I took off way too fast for me. I always do that! Grrrr... I was trying to stay with the pack, and I was NOT in 'pack shape'! So my first mile was 10:27 but my lungs were so not happy with this pace. I finally settled down and got into a reasonable rhythm. I even got warm about 2.5 miles in and took off my hoodie.

So, a big thanks to all those who pulled for me and for those who, in my mind that day, cheered me on. Kelly, you are at the top of the list. I have stuck with running because of YOU! You are a true inspiration to me, in many ways. (Kelly helped - pushed/dragged - me to my best 5K ever back in November. My time was 33:24!)

The Recital

2008-12-31T19:16:00.004-05:00

Today was the BIG day. Natalie had her ballet recital. She was so excited to get all dressed up in her ballet suit again. It has been pretty cold lately so she has been wearing her pink sweatsuit and slippers. Today was sunny and kinda warm so she was all dressed up. The teacher asked them all to tell their names. Natalie was the only one to include all three of her names, "Natalie Caroline Goodson" she said. We were all there to see her shine. Robbie had the day off work and the boys came along because we forced them to. :) A little girl was leaving the Y as we were going in and she stopped and looked at Natalie and exclaimed, "That girl is a PRINCESS!" Natalie just BEAMED! Oh, she is alllllll girl, I tell ya!

Getting Crafty Again

2008-11-30T21:29:00.004-05:00

I can't get the picture to move so I'll show you this first! Here is my version of a Christmas card holder. Yes, if you are a good friend, I could be letting the cat out of the bag too soon. Try and act surprised, okay?

This is the tree skirt I gave my mom at Thanksgiving. I almost added a picture of it with my quilt. Then I realized mom would see it even sooner than Thanksgiving. :) So, now that it is safely under her tree, I can share it with all of you. Mom, you HAVE put up the tree, right?

Tumbling Block Quilt

2008-11-23T20:44:00.002-05:00

It is almost finished.....and it only took about 15 years! Aunt Peggy gave me the fabric, book, thread, needles, etc to make this quilt when I graduated from college in 1992. Partially in my defense, I hand quilted it. But, I did finish that at least 7 years ago, because the top was done before we had children. I had planned to hand quilt it as well, but since having three kids I have learned that my spare time is severely restricted. So, I had it machine quilted and am thrilled that it is almost complete! I have to bind it and then I'll decide whether to hang it on the wall or use it on the bed.

Our Second Camping Trip

2008-11-02T22:35:00.004-05:00

We did it again! We went camping on Friday night. It was a beautiful day to camp. The weather was so nice and we enjoyed the beautiful leaves, especially the maples. Robbie set up the tents and the kids played at the playground nearby. We were camping in a group area at the local state park. Our Church rented it for the night so we could all hang out. We got a nice campfire going and others showed up. We had yummy tinfoil dinners. Eating outside is always fun. We also had smores and hot chocolate. As long as you were by the fire you couldn't have asked for a better place to be. However, once you got ten feet from the fire, it started getting COLD. It was definitely a good thing to be wearing fuzzy footie pajamas on this campout! I had wisely invested in a double decker air mattress earlier in the day. I am thinking I wouldn't have survived without it. Natalie had insisted on the cute princess sleeping bag, which is probably best used inside the house. She got cold right away and ended up with dad in his bag. He didn't sleep much after that. I didn't sleep either because I was absolutely freezing!!!!! It got down to about 35 degrees up there in the mountains. BRRRRRR! I'd chosen mummy bags for the boys and they were grateful. They said they weren't cold at all, which is hard to believe! (It is probably a good thing we only took one vehicle. Because about 3am I am pretty sure I would have bolted if I'd had a way to leave!)

When we did get up our friends had set up an omelet buffet and we boiled them in ziplock bags. Really cool and they sure hit the spot.

So, now we have survived beach camping and mountain camping. Bring it on, the Goodsons can handle anything! :) (.....except the realllllly cold stuff!)

Family Photos

2008-10-27T12:23:00.008-04:00

Photobucket Album (Click on pic to go to the slideshow)

The Goodsons Try Camping

2008-09-28T22:58:00.003-04:00

This weekend the Goodsons embarked on their first family camping trip. There are lots of good things to report, along with some not so great experiences as well. First, the good things! The weather was FANTASTIC. If you are ever going to spend time in a tent you should have weather like this. It was in the 70's and not a cloud in the sky. The beach was beautiful and just a very short walk from our camp site. The water was cool but there were lots of people swimming. We walked to the pier, looked for sharks teeth and dug a hole half way to China (Andy's idea). We set up camp really well. Actually, Robbie did that part all on his own. We borrowed the tents (thanks going out to the Jenkins fam!) and got there right before dark. He had us up and running in no time.

We also lucked out and hit the very last day of the amusement park being open for the season. If we'd waited one more weekend the kids would have missed out on the rides. They had so much fun, especially the boys on the go-carts.

Now, the downside to camping. Bath houses. YUCK! Not my cup of tea but we survived. It was funny to see what little clean freaks the kids turned out to be. Now maybe they'll appreciate the conditions they live in here at home. Nah. That won't really happen.

I also didn't pack well. Myrtle Beach had a terrible storm come through on Thursday and we almost cancelled the entire trip. It was cold and rainy here so I packed mostly cold weather gear. I have a terrible fear of my children getting cold. The thought is just unbearable. So, my kids were the only ones in the campground in fleece footie pajamas! :) Hey, they kept the mosquitos off!

Tents don't really keep noises or lights out. Last night at approximately 3:10am the car alarm on the car parked directly across the street from our tent went off. Horn honking, lights flashing. I thought the hounds of hell had been released and were upon us! I didn't know which end was up. I finally asked Robbie if it was our car because it sounded like it was RIGHT ON TOP OF US! Someone else in a sleepy stupor must have thought the same thing because they hit the panic button on their key chain and then TWO horns were blaring. When my heart stopped racing I heard a little voice. It said, "Mommy, I need to pee." This involves getting dressed and carrying Natalie to the bath house (which was also referred to as the 'pee house' during the trip). So, we took care of that and went back to sleep. THEN, I hear, "Mommy, I'm wet." Hmmmm.... Hey Robbie, did you remember to put a pull-up on Key??? I didn't think so. Then we had 2 extra people in our section of the tent for the rest of the night (and a load of laundry to do the next morning). Back to sleep.

THENNNN, a strange noise outside the tent. RACCOONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you know that raccoons love pound cake? Not just any pound cake, AUNT PEGGY'S pound cake. :( We'd already eaten most of it, thankfully. But that they got any at all is a shame because there is no better pound cake on earth than Aunt Peggy's and there is no way a raccoon can appreciate that. Robbie had to beat them off it with one of my shoes, that is how good this pound cake is.

So, mixed feelings about the whole camping thing. I'd definitely give it another go and see if we can fix some of the fixable stuff so we don't loose any more food, etc. I am sure the kids would love to not sleep in really hot pj's next time too. We may be able to be The Goodsons, that family that camps sometimes. :) Natalie was bummed that we had to sleep in 'the brick house' tonight.

Brookgreen Gardens

2008-09-28T22:39:00.003-04:00

We spent Saturday afternoon at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, SC (seafood capital of SC). The weather was beautiful and the kids loved walking through the sculpture gardens. The wildlife park was also really neat. I took tons of pictures of the flowers, sculptures and butterflies.

Our Ballerina

2008-09-17T13:37:00.003-04:00

We've never had a ballerina before. This is new territory. Territory best traversed in pink tights, a tutu and tiny slippers. She was so excited about her new class today. She tried on her leotard yesterday and I almost didn't get it off again!

We couldn't see what they actually did in class today but she reported that they did the hot potato song and Mickey Mouse. Whatever that means....

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2008-09-07T22:43:00.003-04:00

This is a picture of Miss Natalie (aka Missy) sitting beside a painting of me at about the same age. My uncle Harvey had a picture of me in his wallet when he went to Vietnam. He had a Vietnamese man paint this picture of me.

Old Poinsett Bridge

2008-09-01T22:17:00.003-04:00

We found the Old Poinsett Bridge today and had fun playing in the creek. It was a beautiful spot to spend the afternoon. The bridge was built in 1820 and was part of the highway connecting Greenville, SC and Asheville, NC. The kids found crawdads, tadpoles, salamanders and a bullfrog. The water was ice cold!

Hollywild Animal Park

2008-08-30T22:12:00.006-04:00

A Zonkey

Three kids on safari
Horse with spots
Horse with stripes :)

The kids were invited to a birthday party at Hollywild Animal Park today. (Happy 6th birthday, Eric!) What a great party place! We saw all kinds of animals and had a wonderful time. Our favorite part was the safari ride.

My First Grader

2008-08-21T16:41:00.002-04:00

Off to school with Kershaw tagging along
You can really see his missing bottom tooth in this one

Key was very excited to start school this year. He met his teacher and all the kids in his class at the end of last year and has been ready to go since that day. He has already impressed his art teacher by telling her he knew who painted the picture of sunflowers on her wall - Vincent Van Gogh. He got three high fives for knowing. He memorized his lunchroom number and is waiting impatiently for next week so he can get a treat for remembering it.

Here's hoping for a great year!

Meet Chin Chin

2008-08-14T23:23:00.003-04:00

We've added to the madness here at the Goodson zoo. Please help us welcome our newest member, Chin Chin. He (she?) already had that name when we adopted him/her so it is subject to change. The boys have been trying out different names but none have stuck so for now he/she is still Chin Chin.

It all started when we found out that Petco would take our sucker fish back. Andy had asked for an aquarium for his 4th birthday in February. He got a 2" sucker fish to help keep the tank clean. That sucker fish is now at least 8" long! He had completely outgrown our tank. I was pleasantly surprised that Andy was okay with taking him back. So, we scooped him up and put him in a big ziplock and returned him to Petco. I was feeling pretty good about the visit on our way out.

We didn't make it out alone though. Right before we got to the door, there was Chin Chin. A FREE dwarf Chinese hamster. Did I mention FREE? He was ours for FREE! Well, if you overlook the fact that he needed a cage and food and an igloo to sleep in and lots of soft bedding to climb around on.

And we've actually figured out why Chin Chin was free. I bet it is because he BITES! I've been nipped. Robbie has been bitten. Twice. Makes you think before you grab him up for some out of the cage time, that's for sure!

Andy was ecstatic to have him. So much so that he has promised not to bug us for a snake now. We'll see how long that lasts.

Home From Florida

2008-07-30T22:07:00.008-04:00

Key and Robbie paddling around in the Gulf
Beach bums (no, for the thousandth time, they are NOT twins!)
Cutie Pie
The whole fam damily
Sunset in Venice looking out over the south jetty

Andy ducking to avoid the wrath of the flamingo (or as Natalie calls them with her Southern twang "Mangoes").

Gator wrestling at Sarasota Jungle Gardens

Andy with a conure

Key the diving man
Happy 3rd birthday Miss Natalie!!!!!!!!! She had two parties at different friends houses. I wanted her to have a cake so that is what she had at Wendy's house. She only wanted 'roni pizza so Bonnie got her one at her first party. Thanks Bonnie!
Andy helped eat the cake at the party. Thanks Andy, you are a trooper!
A flamingo and Natalie collide. A split second later and they had gone their seperate ways.
Hanging out under the hibiscus.

Pretty in pink polka dots
Natalie with her very own Little Mermaid....ahhh ahhh ahhhh AHHHH AHHH AHHHHHH
Andy Man - the diving king
All we caught on this boat trip was a picture of a dragonfly
There were really cool red dragonflies at the Van Dykes house

Key and John, trying to figure out how to get this crazy gar off the line
The three muskateers at Ken Thompson Park. I helped get this park from paper to reality when I worked for the City.
Sitting on a big shell at Mote Marine
Having a blast in the Children's Fountain at Bayfront Park.

We made it home from Florida late Sunday evening. I can't believe we were there for a whole month. It flew by. We had a great time catching up with our bestest friends, love ya FL people! :) (If housing prices keep dropping we might be tempted to come back!) The kids spent most of the time in the pool. We now have three very good swimmers! Yay! The first week Andy sat on the steps. The last week Andy was diving for dive sticks, which previous to the trip were called drown sticks. Key even managed to snorkel some in the Gulf. He claims to have seen an underwater lizard but I'm pretty sure it was some type of fish. Natalie IS a fish. She was our first swimmer, still remembering from last year. The retirees at the condo would gather in the evenings to watch her swim.

We visited Sarasota Jungle Gardens and the kids held birds and an alligator. Andy was attacked by a flamingo.

We also went to Mote Marine Aquarium and saw the rehabbing sea turtles, dolphins and whales. There was also a huge manatee to watch and marvel over.

Our last outing was the G.WIZ children's museum in Sarasota. Great place to learn and have fun. The boys especially loved it.

Natalie now has dark brown skin and platinum blonde (white) hair.

The boys borrowed Good Burger from a friend (thanks Rose!) and can quote most of the lines. I am currently the high bidder on eBay for our very own copy. Natalie fell asleep every night watching The Little Mermaid, her new favorite movie.

Key apparently didn't remember mosquitos being so large in FL from when we used to live there. He saw a big one flying near him and exclaimed, "Dad, that mosquito is carrying a stick!"

He also declared that Natalie's screaming in the car was causing him to get an ear infection. Natalie was very upset about having to leave Gina's house and Gina's dolls and Gina's stroller, etc. (Thanks for being such a good friend to Nat, Gina.)

Another time Natalie came crying to me and announced that the chair had tipped her over and poured her out.

I forget what Andy was so excited about but he screamed, "HOLY MERCY!"

Robbie went diving with friends and brought back some cool sand dollars. He hit his favorite fishing holes too. Caught 12 snook walking out to Stump Pass in Englewood. And the lucky duck saw a manta ray jump out of the water. Well, he says he did. He might be saying that to make me jealous!

The Goodsons are BUSY

2008-06-22T22:57:00.004-04:00

So sorry if you've been checking in on us. It is certainly not that we don't have lots going on to report. We just don't have time to stop and actually report it! Life has been a whirlwind since Key got out to school. Andy had swim lessons for two weeks and then we went to visit relatives in Hartsville and Camden. Key celebrated his 6th birthday on Saturday with a big Spiderman party. And now we are getting packed for our month long visit to Venice! We'll see you soon Florida friends. :) As soon as we return from Florida (assuming we survive the heat) the boys will be in Zoo Camp for a week and then Key will have Art Camp the following week. That will give us one week to get ready for school to start. Key is looking forward to being a 1st grader and Andy is excited to be a Furman boy. Oh, and we will celebrate Natalie's THIRD birthday in FL. She does NOT want a cake, only 'roni pizza.

The Dentist

2008-05-21T00:03:00.004-04:00

Natalie had her teeth cleaned for the first time today. She did really well! I was impressed at how calm she remained. I think she was younger than either of the boys when they went for the first time. The boys had thiers cleaned today too. After we left the dentist office we hit the Party Store for birthday supplies. Key is having a Spiderman party and Natalie decided on a Princess party, no surprises there! Then we had lunch at GattiTown. You can ride the merry-go-round for free on Tuesdays!

Have a strawberry or two!

2008-05-15T13:12:00.003-04:00

Today was strawberry picking day at Beechwood Farms. The Mother's Morning Out group hit the field at 10am and by 10:15 most of them were covered in strawberry juice! They sure were good. Andy and Natalie had a great time picking their own carton full. I bought a gallon in addition to their cartons so we'll be having lots of strawberry shortcake over the next few days.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Now That's Funny

2008-05-03T22:42:00.002-04:00

Coming home from soccer on Thursday (where, by the way, Key scored his first goal EVER!) Key and I had the following conversation:

Key: Where are they hiding?
Me: Who?
Key: Those people.
Me: What people?
Key: Those people that change the lights from green to red. I never see them.

Sitting in line at the Checkers Drive Thru
Andy calls Key a bad name. Robbie asks him to stop doing that. I ask Andy, "Where did you hear that name anyway?" Andy says, "Nowhere. I just thunk it up in my head and said it out my mouth."

A new friend that I've met this year at Key's school asked her daughter, who is also in K5, if she knew Key. She said, "Everybody knows Key Goodson!" Yep, I just bet he has talked the ear off every K5er at Gateway!

Bread!

2008-04-30T13:37:00.002-04:00

BREAD! I made bread. I have been wanting a KitchenAid stand mixer for a long time and I finally took the plunge. I think what finally convinced me was that so many breads have high fructose corn syrup in them, even the ones labelled 'healthy'. So, I took a few months to really do a gut check and decide if I would really and truly make our own bread. I've decided I can do it. :) It didn't hurt that there is a special on KA mixers right now and they'll throw in a free ice cream maker attachement. I can't wait to get that in the mail. Anyway, back to the bread. It wasn't all that hard to do, seeing as it was my first attempt. The house smells wonderful and the bread isn't half bad. For a first try I am thrilled. I can't wait to try different recipes! Happy baking everyone.

Lizards, Lizards, Lizards!

2008-04-29T13:44:00.002-04:00

Andy has just brought in lizards number 7 and 8. I don't know how he catches these things! I am concerned that lizard number 7 will attack lizard number 8. Lizard 7 is a lot bigger. Last week I was prying the jaws of a large lizard off the neck of a smaller one. So far, we still have two unattached lizards. Andy is outside looking for more lizards. I am babysitting these for him, under strict orders not to let Natalie touch them!

Yesterday, when he caught lizard number 6, he made the mistake of letting Key hold it. As Key tried to put lizard 6 in the carrier he escaped. I have NEVER seen Andy so mad in my life! He was shaking like a leaf and redder than a beet! He sat up in the garden until we made him come in for bathtime. I told him that those lizards were on high alert and were in hiding. I promised that if he'd wait til today, he'd have much better luck. Looks like I was right!

Why does this kid love lizards so much and how does he catch them so easily?

Things that Go Bump in the Night

2008-04-25T16:22:00.002-04:00

Lately the things that go bump in the night have been the kids. Natalie woke us up at 1am to report a 'fider' (spider) in her bed. Robbie got up and fluffed her covers a bit and she crawled back in and went back to sleep. I am sure she was dreaming. I don't think she actually saw a spider. When asked about it the next morning she had no clue what we were talking about.

As I was rolling over in bed last night I caught a glimpse of someone laying in the doorway to our bedroom. It was Andy! His head was in our room, his feet in the hallway. I poked Robbie to let him have a look and asked him to pick Andy up and put him in his bed. Andy must have been awake because he piped up at this point and said that he'd been dreaming of scary things and didn't want to go back to his bed. So, into our bed he crawled. When he woke up this morning I asked what he'd dreamed about. He asked if I knew 'that dog' from Scooby Doo. I said, "Yes, I know the dog on Scooby Doo." He said, "Well, he climbed up in a tree and turned all evil." So, this was the reason I had Andy kicking me half the night. An evil Scooby Doo was in a tree and about to get him.

Key's funny wasn't associated with bed, night time or dreams. I went with his class to Gatti Town today. Gatti Town is an upscale Chuck E Cheese. He and a friend decided to ride the bumper cars, something Key has never done before. He was so excited. He ran to the back and got on a car. I got out my camera and started snapping away. He finally made his way to the fence where I was standing. I just knew he was going to tell me how much fun he was having. As soon as we made eye contact he screamed, "GET ME OFF THIS THING!" So much for bumper cars!

The Knights

2008-04-20T21:30:00.002-04:00

Key and Andy are both on the same soccer team this year. Robbie is coaching them, along with a set of twin girls and three other little ones. Their first game was Thursday afternoon and they lost 3-0. They played hard and had fun though, so all is well. A friend asked Andy who won and he replied, "Well, I don't think it was me." The just-after-half-time entertainment was when Natalie ran onto the field and pulled her shirt over her head! She wasn't even born when Janet Jackson pulled that stunt on TV so I know she wasn't being a copycat.

Gangs at School

2008-04-14T15:26:00.002-04:00

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Key is in a gang! He came home from school last week and told us he'd formed a gang. Yep, he is the ringleader! (Oh, the shame!!) Criteria for being in the gang: being 5 or 6 years old, attending Gateway Elementary and being able to ride a bike without training wheels. They meet at recess and chase girls.

When pressed as to why he thought a recess gang was necessary in kindergarten he told us he wanted a gang like the one on Fat Albert. Robbie bought a DVD of old Fat Albert episodes for the boys recently and they love it. So, just as the song says, "You'll have some fun now, with me and all the GANG.........Nah, nah, nah gonna have a good time!"

Natalie's Big Girl Bed

2008-04-11T20:50:00.002-04:00

Natalie is in a big girl bed now! Can you believe the Goodsons don't have a crib up in their house anymore? Where has the time gone? Our friends, the Stones, loaned us a toddler bed and Natalie was really excited about sleeping in it. The funny thing is, she hasn't realized that she can just............get up! She calls me every morning, just like she did from her crib. She'll be standing up in bed and waiting for me to put her on the floor. I hope this lasts for a while yet. Even at bedtime she cries and wants to get up but doesn't think she can! So, she just lays there and falls asleep. For those of you who know and love Natalie, she's at her best while sleeping. And that is all I am going to say about that! :)

Andy the Lizard Man

2008-04-11T20:41:00.002-04:00

Spring has barely sprung and this is Andy's second lizard of the season. He considers himself faster than a lizard and spends most of the day in the garden - a lizard hotspot! He isn't the least bit afraid to snatch one right up, even though I've seen them bite him over and over again. ("It's just slobber mom.") He is really gentle with them and carries them around until dark. Then he returns them to the spot he captured them and declares he could catch them again tomorrow. He is, after all, faster than a lizard.

Lizards are at the top of his reptile list but he has been known to cry because we wouldn't go get him a desert snake. It is a hard life living with all these restrictions.

My First Blog!

2008-04-10T21:57:00.000-04:00

This is Key's imitation of a guinea pig. Specifically Bennie Buster Borneman the guinea pig. Thanks for letting us borrow him, Eric! :)

Thanks Natalie!!! (No, not 'my' Natalie. Natalie friend, not Natalie daughter.) I don't know why I never thought to do this. I'm excited to get started and share our lives with whoever will take the time to wade through our minutia. Now, to see if I can figure out how to post a picture...