Monday

Spring has sprung, at least for a day or so. Wow it reached the middle 70's today but there was just a touch of coolness in the air out of the direct sun. All in all it was a magnificent afternoon. The morning started with scattered frost in the area and was a bit nippy as I rode out to the rec on the bike after my quiet time and a left over buckwheat cake with a banana on top for breakfast. We had some good play the first 45 minutes and eventually ended up with 10 players for the day with several coming and going through out the morning. Anyhow we had 2 1/2 hours of play and a few wet t-shirts. By the way since last Monday I've dropped 4 pounds, I love it; just staying away from desserts, 1 helping and limited bread use is really all it took. Just about 5 more pounds to go and then I can coast or really I just want to see my toes in the shower without bending over. Seems the older I get everything just drifts to the south and gathers around my belt buckle.

After the rec I picked up a couple Larry McMurtry books I had on hold at the library. His LONESOME DOVE is one of my all time favorite reads. When I got home Nancy wanted to run to Sam's to pick up a few items and to make some pics of our newest addition to the grand kids, Samuel, by the way he did much better with his sleeping last night so I think his parents have decided to keep him. Anyhow after Sam's Club the kids came by for a visit so Tyler and myself followed Ava around the block as she rode her trike then we went next door to feed the fish at Jim and Laurie's house as they are on a cruise. Ava loves to watch them eat, especially the Nemo fish. Well we played out in the back yard as Ava looked for buggie's and Samuel was held by his grandmother.

After the kids left we headed back to Sam's to exchange the sundress we bought for Ava for Easter as it was to short in length and to pick up the pics we forgot to get earlier, where is our brain. Warm weather does that to us plus we had a few frozen things in the buggy so our mind was on getting home, luckily we only live about 5 miles from the store. I headed out on the bike to the post office to get a gift in the mail to another young man who was born a couple days before Samuel. Man is it gonna be great when we get all these boys together to go fishing, play ball, camping or whatever we guys want to do.

Well Nancy took her walk while I was at post office and I got some Swiss chard ready to saute for supper. Man is that ever good when fixed with garlic, olive oil and just a touch of salt and pepper. Nancy fixed red spuds with the jackets on and I grilled us a pork chop with the bone in. There is something special about chops with the bone in for flavor and tenderness.

Well not much else is going on, LATER.

Sunday

Once again the heat ran most of the night, however this morning there was lots of bright sunshine but the air was still cool in the shaded areas. We slept in until 7' ish before getting ready to head to Tampa for the gathering at Element to worship. Bobby did an awesome job with the story of the stoning(murder) of Stephen in the book of Acts and the praise music was inspiring. We had once again nearly 30 children in attendance. We took Ava with us today as Amy and Tyler tried to get a little sleep after being up most of the night with baby Samuel who has his days and nights reversed. Ava and Annsley were so cute together as they mingled with the crowd after the service, especially with Ava showing off her big sister photo of Samuel that was pinned to her dress.

We got back to Seminole around 12:45 dropped Ava off then we headed over to Subway and brought back subs for lunch. After lunch and holding Samuel for awhile we headed home. I lounged around and watch the Atlanta Nascar Race. What an ending!! I picked some fresh greens; lettuce, kale, beet greens for our salad as well as some radishes and sugar peas. I grilled a couple marinated chicken breasts to add to the salad. Wow was that ever a tasty meal. After supper Tyler and I took Ava to the park so she could play on the equipment until nearly dark. The temp's were falling fast by sundown, back down to the low 50's after a warm afternoon of the middle 70's. We hung around holding and loving up on sleepyhead baby Samuel until 8:30. He nursed a couple times and made some really cute little noises plus loaded his diaper a couple times. He is fun to change and he christen Amy and Nancy a couple times with his strong stream.This is quite a change from a little girl to a little boy. It will take the girls awhile to figure out how to minimize the shooting stream. Well not much else is happening. LATER

Saturday

Well it was a treat to sleep in this morning but I was awake at 6 AM listening for Ava as that was her usual time to wake up. Anyhow the heat was running and woke me up at 7 :15 so we had a good extra few minutes. Speaking of heat it's so unusual to have the heat on this time of the year. It was down in the 30's last night and even though it was a bright sunshine day the air was still chilly with the north wind blowing. After our usual quiet time and catching up on Face Book, Nancy made our weekly mountain breakfast around 9:30; Buckwheat cakes with some fried deli ham. Yumm!!

After breakfast I headed out to plant some onion sets and to hand water the garden. My Basil isn't looking to good but everything else has survived the cold and some of the cold weather plants look great, especially the new lettuce seedlings. Nancy decided she had to run some errands so I finished up an Ed McBain book and checked out a website of those visiting pickle ballers from Colorado Springs, Steve and Ramona. Wow, this couple have travelled the world and have even written a book about how to travel. Check out their website site at:www.BoomersGoingGlobal.com. They are very good players and super nice folks. I also think that is the name of their travel book.

Well Nancy and I took a nice long walk through the hood after she ran her errands and then we stopped off to visit with Ava and Samuel and of course their parents. Samuel was sleeping and seems to have his days and nights mixed up and of course Ava was showing us all of the new things that belong to her brother. She is such a proud sister. Tomorrow we will take her with us to Element and give her a chance to play with Annsley as well as a ton of other kids in Sunday school. She is the only toddler in her class at SFBC.

Well after a late lunch of leftovers and a salad we decided to just fry up an eggplant for dinner. My is that good eatin', if you love fried squash you will love fried eggplant, especially if it sprinkled with a little ground red pepper, fresh oregano, cilantro and dill. Yummm!!! Not much else going on this evening as Nancy is watching HGTV and I started a new book on Henry Stanley entitled DARK SAFARI. Wow was he an interesting guy. It was good to speak with our mountain mom, Helen this morning. Looks like they may be getting a little warm up in the mountain which their high will be our low for the day. Nancy reminded me we didn't have any pics of us holding Samuel on my ramblings so here are a couple.LATER

Friday

Wow, is it ever quiet around here after the past 3 days!!!. The morning started out with once again frost, can you believe that in Florida in March!!! Well after my early morning rise with Ava waking around 6 AM saying "grand dad my eyes don't want to sleep anymore." The day started out with my quiet time and fruit for breakfast after getting Ava situated. I headed out to the rec on the bike for 2 1/2 hours of pickle ball. Wow, once again we had a full house and our visitors from Colorado Springs came back for a second day of fast and furious play. They are very good players and we really enjoyed their caliber of play.

I stopped off at the library to pick up 3 books I had on hold before heading home to watch Ava while Nancy headed off to have a C-spine x-ray. Seems her neck has been cracking and popping as well as some muscle discomfort in the trapeze group of muscles. I have massaged and ultra sounded that area a couple times a day for weeks. I certainly hope we find out about what ever it is that's causing all this pain and discomfort.

Well after PB I watered the garden and took Ava on a trike ride round the hood and we had a good time. She is now able to maneuver across driveways and around cars parked in the driveways. We had a good time looking for bugs in the backyard before heading into the house out of the cold wind. About 11:45 Ava layed on my chest and fell asleep and continued sleeping until after 3 PM. She was just worn out with not being in her bed as well as all the excitement with a new brother and being a new big sister. She really missed her mommy and shed a few tears last night.

Well Nancy made a fine dinner of pot roast with spuds, carrots and parsnips. Well let me tell you that was good eatin along with a fresh garden salad. Parsnips is a new veggie I had never remembered eating before and by golly they are good. They are a little sweeter than a carrot but in the same family.

I just got off the phone with an old friend from N.C. and boy are they ever tired of this cold weather. Snow is still built up along the roadways and the temp hasn't been above freezing in weeks. This winter has certainly convinced us that we won't be making plans to spend the winter there for awhile.Well better go and get these latest pictures out. I want to than all of you who took a few moments to pray for Amy as she delivered this big baby. Your prayers were answered, she is doing great and finally back home. LATER

Wednesday and Thursday

Wow, what a busy day on Wednesday as first of all it was Nancy's 53 birthday, we were keeping Ava as Amy and Tyler left for the hospital early around 5:30 so she could be induced at 6 AM. The morning was once again a chilly one with temp's in the 40's and a strong northern wind. After my quiet time and and a lite breakfast of fruit I pedalled out to the rec for some pickle ball. The first 45 minutes was superb with some fantastic play. We eventually ended up with 14 players and by 10 AM I was ready for a rest.

I headed home to help with entertaining Ava by taking her out to ride her trike and find lots of buggies for her to play with. She is like Amy with her fascination of bugs. We had a lite lunch then waited for a call from Tyler about the birth of Samuel. Ava decided to take a 2 1/2 hour nap. Finally a little after 4PM he called to tell us the birth was over and all were doing well. Amy had him without any pain med's and the natural way. Yikes what a baby boy. Samuel Tyler Ross was 9 lbs 7 0z and 22 1/2 inches long and entered this world at 4 PM on March 3, 2010. By the way Nancy was elated,what a present.

We fixed a lite dinner and got ready to head out to the hospital. Nancy had made her famous chocolate cake with white icing for our house church that was to meet later in the evening so we cut a couple pieces for Amy and Tyler and dropped the rest off at the Botbyl's house on our way to meet Samuel. Ava was so sweet with Samuel the first time kissing him and saying how cute he was. She really was playing up the big sister part as were we; plus she received a couple presents from Samuel which helped to deflect all the attention baby Samuel was receiving.We stopped off at our house church meeting after leaving the hospital. Amy looked exceptionally well for just giving birth and had eaten a good dinner. By the time we had gotten there Samuel had nursed 3 times. He is nearly as large as a newborn in our house church that was born in December. While I was holding him he kept trying to lift his head. I think we are going to have us an athlete. We had another new family visit our get together(house church) with their 14 month old son. We have had 2 new families join the last 2 weeks. We are excited for the group in Pinellas County that travel about 45 minutes to Tampa each Sunday to worship at Element. We had 15 adults and 5 kids last night.

Well after leaving the Botbyl's and all of the cake was eaten( I still am being strong and not partaking of the sweet delicious desserts) we headed home to give Ava a bath and get her ready for bed. We then watched the last hour of the Idol before getting ready for bedtime.

This day, Thursday morning was once again cold with the strong north wind blowing but at least was a bright sunshine day. I headed out to the rec for pickle ball after the usual quiet time and fruit for breakfast. We had once again had some great play from 7:45 until 8:30. Today we had a couple from Colorado Springs who travel around the country playing pickle ball. They are travel writers and photographers. They play a good game and we received a super compliment as being the best pickle baller's overall they had played with in their travels. We do have some good players, especially since we are a public rec and not private. Anyhow,it was great fun and we welcome them back to play and write about us anytime. Wow, I would like to have that job. What a super way to meet folks and see the country.

After a lite lunch of soup on this cold windy day we headed out to visit with Amy, Tyler and baby Samuel. We had a great visit and he is sooo far a great baby, lots of smelly doo doo's, but just cute as button and we haven't heard him cry yet. These kids are tooo easy these days!!

Ava fell asleep on the way home and slept until after 4 PM. Nancy is baking some pork chops for dinner so I will close for now. Amy is doing great and what a true pioneer, she would definitely have made it on the wagon train. Tyler is holding up well, now that he has 2 young'ens. Well will close for now. LATER

Tuesday

Sorry about not rambling last evening but it was a busy one with Dan and Carol for dinner and then Ava came to spend the night. Tuesday morning was another cold one for Florida in March. A couple years ago we had the a/c on the first week in March and no we have the heat on. After my quiet time and a lite breakfast of fruit I rode out to the rec. We had some fast and furious play with 4 of us for about 30 minutes and ended up with 14 for the day. I had a good workout and there were lots of wet shirts. I checked the scales in the weight room and just since Monday I had dropped 2 pounds. Now I need to drop about 8 more.

Nancy made meat loaf sandwiches for lunch so I just ate 1 instead of my usual 2;at least that was a start for me. Amy and Ava came for lunch as well. After lunch it was warm enough for Ava to ride her trike around the block so instead of lounging around reading I stayed on my feet; gotta burn them calories.

Amy is still a no go after getting back from the doctors but they did decide to induce her Wednesday morning her actual due date. After they left for her afternoon nap Nancy and I decided to walk the hood, got to burn more calories and we did about amile or so before it started to rain and with the cold wind blowing we headed home. I decided to work on my taxes with turbo tax on line and that's enough to cause you to burn calories with sweating. Looks like I will have to pay a substantial amount this year because of social security. Oh well I hate the part I have to pay a penalty because I didn't figure in an estimated tax liability for that income.

We, Dan, Carol and Nancy were supposed to go to the Salt Rock for dinner but had to cancell so we decided to have them for dinner. I grilled rib eye steaks, had oven 'taters, Carol brought broccoli and Nancy made a fresh salad. Today is Carol's birthday and tomorrow is Nancy's. They are 1 year and a day apart. We had a pleasant visit with them before Amy and Tyler brought Ava by for the evening. We watched American Idol and then got her ready for bed. Amy had to be at the hospital at 6 Am this morning(Wednesday) for baby Samuel birth. LATER

Sunday and Monday

Well it was another cool morning as we got ready to head out to Element for church on Sunday. Nancy and I worked at the e-kids check-in desk and we checked in 27 little ones. I managed to slip in too hear Bobby speak as Nancy helped out with the toddlers after her check in duties. Seems we now have an autistic young 4 yr. old girl which really demands some extra attention. Bob had a great message on chapters 3-5 in Acts about the new church and our role after being filled with the Holy Spirit.

We stopped off at Sam's on the way home for a few items and picked up a rotisserie chicken for lunch, can't beat the price for such a yummy lunch. After lunch we chilled and then I watered the garden before catching the first period of the USA vs Canada hockey game. What a great game but I really don't see why we had to play Canada again after beating them several days ago and then for them to win the gold medal after just barely beating us in their one and only win. Seems we should of had at least a 3rd game to decide.

We headed over to G/G and Paps around 4 PM for Nancy family birthday dinner. All the kids were finally there by 6:30 so we feasted on pork roast, kielbasa, Nathan dogs, mashed spuds, sauerkraut, salad and rolls with a chocolate cake with white icing. Thanks G/G for putting on such a great spread. Ava and Annsley had a great time together with each of them having their moments; Annsley stepped on a toy an injured her foot and Ava closed her finger in the leaf of the coffee table. Both will be better before their married, that's my standard line.

Monday morning found me riding out to the rec around 7:20 for some pickle ball after my quiet time and a lite breakfast. It was cold out with frost on every house roof and a lot of car tops. Yikes when is this weather ever going to stay warm for more than a day. We had 11 players for the day with some exceptional play the first 45 minutes for the 4 of us. Great rallies and some hard hitting. We are polishing up our team play for the tournament on the 29th of this month which is being held in our gym. The Good Life Games is a 50+ and older to participate. I did a few minutes in the weight room after my PB play on the elliptical and crunch board. I certainly need to firm up all this fat I'm managed to put around my middle the past couple of weeks while its been so cold outside.

After leaving the rec I picked up a book on hold at the library then pedaled home to water the gardens before lunch. Seemed the kids(Ava and Amy) were coming by after lunch as Tyler was working from home in case of an abrupt arrival by baby Samuel. Speaking of Samuel he was a no show once again today.We're hoping for a GO this next day or so before Amy is induced on Wednesday. I played out side with Ava for awhile until the girls decided it was warm enough to walk. Ava rode her trike around the block while Nancy and Amy walked. I raked up 4-5 large trash cans of leaves then took the mower and reduced them to just a few bags of mulch. I then mulched all the lettuce, took out the old kale and mustard green plants I brought back from the cabin and planted more beans, cukes, basil and lettuce. The temps finally warmed up to the middle 70's and it was just a beautiful day. Nancy took her walk after Amy left to put Ava down for a nap and I worked up a sweat while raking and mulching the leaves. Wow was it ever nice to have such a beautiful warm and sunny day. Tonight there is rain in the forecast with cooler temps for the rest of the week, Yikes here it is the first of March and the heat was on this morning. Nancy made a nice meatloaf for supper with asparagus and a baked spud. I have officially cut out sweets and desserts from my diet as I'm about 6 pounds on the porky side.

Well I will enclose a few pics from the dinner last night. LATER.