Converse All Stars

You may have noticed in some of the pictures in earlier posts that Hayes is wearing Converse All Stars shoes, or as we call them, "Converse high tops". Before Hayes started school, he usually wore low cut shoes with velcro fasteners so he could help get them on and off. The problem was that he liked to go barefoot and as we rode to day care, he would take off his shoes and socks.

Since he would be riding to his new school in a bus, this was going to be a problem. During a preliminary visit to the new school, MH mentioned this to his teacher-to-be. Her immediate response was, "Converse high tops!". So, I guess it's a common problem.

We couldn't locate his size in local stores like Target but we found several places on the Internet that had his size. They arrived two days before school was to start and he took to them right away. I think he likes them because they are lightweight. Trying to take them off has not been a problem. We have been lucky that the weather has not been too bad so far. Maybe we need some rubber boots to go over the high tops for that problem.

Hayes has been doing well at school. They put him in a "transition" class first to observe any problems (four kids with three teachers/paraprofessionals). He's done so well that he will "transition" to a larger, more inclusive class in January.

The pictures below were taken at the class party that Jim and MH attended (Laura was at Reid's party). In the first picture, he waits in his seat, as the teacher has told him, while presents are unwrapped.


The teacher invited Hayes to help open one present.

Recycling - Two Approaches

This post presents two examples of recycling.

The picture below shows the Christmas present Jim and MH received from their three children and their families. It's a compost bin! We've been saving up food scraps and yard waste for about two months in bags so we opened our present early in order to be ready for spring gardening.



Here's another example of recycling. Hayes is sitting in a chair at a table that both belonged to MH when she was a little girl. It was refinished a few years ago. They just don't make stuff like they used to!

Thanksgiving 2008

Several of us were able to join the annual Thanksgiving trek to Seagrove/Seaside, Florida. Reid is a real beach fan. He went on long walks with Grandma.


Kate, on the other hand, prefers warmer surroundings.

Reid and Kate stay close to the warm water outlet. Kate was resplendent in her Dora swimsuit and Dora grass skirt.

Hayes always likes to check out the shallow end first. He jumps in the deeper end once he feels secure.

Hayes Starts School!

Hayes started school a couple of weeks ago. His school day is 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM. He rides the bus to school and the bus drops him off at the Elaine Clark Center for day care after school. In the morning, the bus drops off a middle school load first, then comes by for Hayes. He is the only passenger on this huge bus all the way to school! It was tough the first day but now he is ready to go every morning. Miss Mary is his driver.

Waiting for the bus...


"Bye, bye, Gamma and Granddaddy..."



"Good morning, Miss Mary..."

Kate Visits Atlanta

While her mother attended a conference in Florida, Kate stopped by to spend a long weekend with us. MH took her to the Georgia Aquarium and the Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts. In addition to seeing a puppet show, she participated in a puppet-making workshop. Below, you see her hard at work, then behind a screen with other kids to show off their work.

She and Hayes both love having Gamma read to them.

Who the Heck is Silver Jim?

You may have noticed that newer posts to this blog were made by someone named "Silver Jim". We changed our posting name because we have recently created a second blog related to our business of buying and selling sterling silver flatware. We use the same log-in for both blogs so we have only one user name - Silver Jim.

Here's a link to the new blog: Silver Chatter .

Answer to Our Squirrel Problem

MH looked out the window around noon on Nov. 2 and noticed this new visitor. We hope the trees around here will look inviting enough for a long stay.

Leigh's Blog Is Linked by Dell Computer Blog

Leigh has been managing a blog for a while called "The Green Workplace". She has regular contributors from her company and other places. It is the basis for her new book due out early next year.

Dell Computer has a blog that recently posted an article linking to Leigh's blog. You can visit the Dell blog at Dell Small Business . Look at the post for October 28, 2008, titled, "New OptiPlex desktop to help businesses save money and energy". At the end of the article is a link to Leigh's profile (her name) and a link to her blog. When you get to Leigh's blog, look for the post dated October 28, 2008, "Green Workplace Make-over Part I".

I believe that Dell will have a second post dated October 29, 2008, that will include another video by Leigh.

This demonstrates the power in information sharing through blogs.

Tree Ye Oh ( aka Three Years Old)

Hayes celebrated his third birthday last weekend.
Big brother has more experience at this.

Hayes will begin attending public school three-year-old classes (9:00 - 1:30) in a week or two.

Bad News Got You Down? Here's a Suggestion

Reid and Hayes know what to do to wash away the blues...

Hunter-Gatherers Move From Apples to Pumpkins

Reid and Hayes took a ride with MH and Jim to Uncle Shuck's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch about an hour north of Atlanta. The maze has about four miles of trails but the boys decided about one mile was enough!

The picture below was taken at the edge of the maze. Reid was ready to plow some new trails!


Hayes was familiar with sand boxes but a corn box was something new!

Ah, just the perfect one.


Reid had the job of escorting the pumpkins to the car..


When we returned home, we had another surprise with the loss of Reid's tooth.

The Great Apple Hunt

Reid and Hayes both love apples - especially Reid. So, MH and Jim decided to take the boys apple picking at the Sky Top Orchard located near Flat Rock, North Carolina (about 45 miles from Asheville). Flat Rock's claim to fame is that Carl Sandburg lived there for the last 22 years of his life and it's located near the Episcopal Conference Center at Kanuga.

Located on the top of a small mountain, Sky Top grows about 15 or so varieties of apples and during the fall, 7 or 8 varieties will be ready for picking at any one time. On our trip, we focused on Golden Delicious and Gala. Our favorite, Fuji, was not ready for picking. We also picked a few grapes.

The boys had a great time. They picked and taste-tested apples for about 1.5 hours. The biggest problem we had was to keep Hayes from sampling every one before thowing it in the basket!

This was a great place for the boys just to roam all over the place. And, they had a playground when apple picking got boring.

Click on a picture to see a larger version.

Decatur Book Festival

Every Labor Day weekend, the city of Decatur, Georgia, hosts the Decatur Book Festival. Authors of all types of books converge on Decatur to discuss their latest books. MH is a librarian and this is Heaven on Earth for her. The first three sessions we attended were by Southern authors that we like. The characters they create or discuss can be recgnized by any native of the South.

Roy Blount, Jr. (below) is a favorite. He has become somewhat more famous lately because he appears frequently on the Saturday morning radio show from NPR, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me". He is a native of Decatur but now lives in Massachusetts.


We have been hearing Bailey White of Thomasville, Georgia, as a guest on NPR's "All Things Considered" for years. We were glad to finally see her. (Sorry about the picture quality - it was hard to hold the camera still.)


Rick Bragg, a native of Alabama, has become well known writing about his parents. His book about his mother, "All Over but the Shoutin'", should be read by everyone who has a mother.


We don't have a picture but another author we enjoyed was John Dean. If you are near our age, you probably remember Dean as the star witness in the Watergate hearings before Congress. He was a legal counsel in the Nixon White House but these days, he writes books very harsh about Republicans in general and the Bush Administration specifically.

One author we did not get to see but MH would like to have was John Bemelmans Marciano, the grandson of the creator of the Madeline series of books for children. No books had been written in the series for many years until he started writing them.

A good time was had by all!

"Oh, Lonely Peas"

Reid and Hayes love three song books by Sandra Boynton - each has a CD included and the words to the songs are in the book. Reid has memorized most of them. Here is an excerpt of him singing "Oh, Lonely Peas". It's about peas ("so green, so round and so small") left on the plate after the child has eaten everything else. The peas are lonely and no one loves them at all!

Tiger Woods, Watch Out!

Hayes is cranking up for the big time. Here, he learns the importance of a "mulligan"*.

* For you non-golfers, a "mulligan" is the same as a "do over".

Reid's Sixth Birthday

Reid celebrated his sixth birthday with a pool party.

As usual, you can click on a picture to see a larger version.
There are two movies - click on the arrow to start.





Reid does not care much for cake but Hayes makes up for it.


I think I'll let Hayes have my piece of cake.

Bud Light. It's not just for breakfast anymore!

Hayes likes to do the Dead Man Float.

Now, Where Are Those Sardines?

Hayes and Reid visited the Fernbank Museum on a recent Saturday. They saw an IMAX film about sardine migration from the Anarctic to the coast of South Africa and all the animals that feed on them, including humans. It was fascinating to see penguins, whales, dolphins, sharks, seals, flying birds and human fisherman all catching sardnes in the same general area.

The overall message was that the sardine population is dwindling, perhaps affected by global warming.

While waiting for the film to start, Reid helped himself to the fun things.

"...These Are a Few of My Favorite Things"

Hayes is doing his favorite two things simultaneously.

1. He is pointing to all the pictures in a book.
2. He is watching Dora the Explorer or Diego.

Topping Off a Big Day

Having a "naked dog" at one of Atlanta's finest eating establishments.

Why Ride a Dumb Animal When Mommy is Here?