Caruvana Family Chronicle

Disney Vacation ~ Day 2

2009-10-11T18:00:00.014-04:00

We got an early start on Day 2.

We took a boat to the Grand Floridian...

...were we had a character breakfast reservation.

We docked and were offloaded...

...and made our way to the Grand Floridian.

It was quite beautiful...

...with beautiful fountains out front.

As we waited in line, the took our picture.

Before long the kids started seeing some characters they recognized.

Julia happily went and gave Pooh a hug!

Even Junior was a little mesmerized...

...as Syndi sucked in the whole atmosphere.

Junior gave Tigger a hug!

Tigger joined the family for a picture...

...before giving Julia a hug.

The girls got pictures with Ms. Doolittle, of My Fair Lady...

...and Alice, from Wonderland...

While we men chilled with the Mad Hatter.

Pooh Bear!

T-I-Double G-Rrrrr!

Syndi posed in the center of the Grand Floridian...

...as did Daddy.

It was a pretty cool place.

Daddy hangin' with the boys.

A return trip to the fountain.

Jules being a cutie!

She was fascinated by the fountain.

Stephen and Julia traipsed though the palm-treed grounds.

Then our ship came in!

We waited to board...

...and then rode home...er, to our hotel room.

It felt like home. We wanted to move in.

We changed and headed to the pool for a swim.

Julia attempts to lift Daddy from his relaxed position.

Stephen had a blast in the water!

Syndi had a blast in the water!

Junior had a blast in the water!

I think we all quite enjoyed it.

We were at the tennis resort.

The little guys were posed at play in the courtyard...

...and our little guys loved climbing all over them!

Lanette came back to join us on day 2.

Synchronized statue climbing?

Point that toe, Junior!

Syndi about to get hit by giant falling tennis balls!!!

Ah, dinner!

We had a free meal plan, and we were very impressed with all we got!

After dinner, we went to the Winter Summerland miniature golf.

Junior chilled at the RV...

...while Stevie tried to score a goal...

...and Daddy tried to ignite a miniature volcano...

...while Julia climbed everything...

...and Mommy navigated through strewn hockey sticks.

The kids had a lot of fun...

...and Lanette kept us company.

Junior made a good shot!

...or found his ball after a bad one...

I'm not sure which...

Fun, but it took a loooong time.

We posed for a group shot...

...and then headed "home" for bed at the end of day 2.

Disney Vacation ~ Day 1

2009-10-10T18:00:00.001-04:00

We took a family vacation at Disney!

We stopped over in Valdosta and stayed (of course) at a Holiday Inn Express.

We hit the road Friday morning and eagerly awaited our arrival at

Walt Disney World.

We were there soon enough.

We stayed at the All Star Sports Resort.

The kids were welcomed with much fanfare.

They had balloon pirate swords and flowers before we'd even made it to our rooms!

Daddy survived the balloon sword fights in our adjoining rooms, and we were eventually able to make our way to our reserved dinner location.

We had to take a bus to the docks, where we caught a boat and traveled across the lake to make our reservation.

The kids were enthralled.

Then they spotted it!

Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom!

There it was!

er, wait...

Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom!

THERE IT WAS!

OK, that's more like how it really was.

So we enjoyed dinner at

Trail's End Restaurant.

We were joined by Lanette Behiry and her friend Brenda Roseberry.

We left the Restaurant on another boat.

Julia found the boat horns rather loud.

Lanette & Brenda stayed with the kids,

and Sylvia and I went to Treasure Island.

The lights were kinda neat, but it was not our kind of atmosphere.

We walked around a little, but we felt rather uncomfortable.

We made our way home after not too long,

but not before we took a few pictures.

It was a fun evening to start our vacation!

The Pedestrian Bridge

2009-10-05T18:00:00.000-04:00

Sylvia and Jon enjoyed a date night and a nice walk through downtown Rome.

A new pedestrian bridge and downtown plaza had recently opened up.

So we too a walk across the Oostanaula River on the new bridge.
It was pretty nice, and a beautiful night.

The downtown plaza with its shooting fountains was fun to watch.

And we could also see the old train bridge downstream, which was lit up in celebration of Rome's 175-year anniversary.
It was a fun and relaxing evening.

Riding Bikes

2009-09-26T18:00:00.000-04:00

Our kids love riding their bikes!

And they took some time before fall arrives...

...to get out and take their wheels for a spin.

Jules isn't yet on a bike, so she rode her fire engine.
With a little little flair!

Syndi and Junior like to zoom up and down the street.

Stephen is still on training wheels.

Goodbye summer...bring on the fall!

PVN Stuff

2009-09-20T18:00:00.000-04:00

So much of our lives centers on our church and our involvement in some of its many ministries.
The picture above is of the group of women from our church who went to a Beth Moore conference recently.

Awana has started up again this fall, and we had a name tag night for the kids.

Some of the kids went simple on the name tags..

...while some went for the stand-out name tag.

The Awana program has seen a lot of growth these past couple of years.
We're beginning to run out of room for them.

Some of our fearless leaders got involved.

It's always good to have leaders get involved.

And, of course, Miss Sylvia!

The Snot Monster

2009-09-12T18:00:00.000-04:00

This is the Snot Monster.
Not very intimidating looking.
But BE AWARE!

Many years ago in Michigan, Syndi and Jon began a flashlight game where they'd turn off all the lights and go from room to room in the house with flashlights, looking and making sure everything was clear and safe.
(Here the Snot Monster makes a mess in Syndi's room and scribbles on her stuff with crayon!)

After we moved to Georgia and as we added kids, we turned it into the Snot Monster game...where we all hunt down the Snot Monster.
(Here the Snot Monster is in Syndi's bed jamming on her microphone!)

The last time we played, in August, The Snot Monster took shape in the form of this innocent-looking stuffed bear-rabbit-thing. He's hideous, simply hideous!
(Here the Snot Monster steals a few sips from Mommy's glass of water!)

We received a secret package in the mail, with information on the suspect...the Snot Monster.
(Here the Snot Monster makes a mess in the bathroom, where he unwinds some toilet paper!)

The packaged detailed crime perpetrated by the Snot Monster.
These pictures were enclosed as evidence.
(Here the Snot Monster squirts toothpaste all over the sink!)

We carefully searched each room, making sure everything was clear.
We eventually found the Snot Monster in the rec room closet, hiding for his pursuers!
(Here the Snot Monster trashes the trash!)
The kids love it and beg to play (far too often).
Even Julia gets into it...or especially gets into.
She loves yelling "ALL CLEAR" as we prepare to enter a room.

PVN Musical 2009

2009-09-05T18:00:00.000-04:00

Again this year PVN did a summer kids musical .
This year it had more of a ranch feel.

The kids had to learn a routine where they had to spin and dance and use a bandanna as part of the choreography.

Syndi and Junior were both part of it.
Junior was partnered with Caleb, and
Syndi was partnered with Harrison.

Syndi worked with Junior for weeks at home helping him to get his bandanna movements right.

He was a bit perfectionistic about it and was set that he couldn't do it right.
But in the end he did great.

The kids did very well, and it was a good gospel presentation.

Their teachers do such a marvelous job putting these musicals together and getting our kids coordinated.Some of the kids did solos, and they did wonderfully.

It was a great program!
YEEHAW!

Caruvanas ~ Around & About

2009-09-01T18:00:00.000-04:00

With 4 kids, a lot goes on around the Caruvana house.
Here Stephen is wearing some foo-foo thing on his head.

Junior helped out by giving Jules a bath one day.
He looks like he's having entirely too much fun.

The Caruvana family went out for a bike ride one day...

...Jules really enjoyed being in the Burley.
Seems like not that long ago Syndi rode in there.

Ah, Cheerios...a family fave. Can't you tell?
Syl came home with a couple of new boxes one night, and I went to put them away and realized we had a whole product line of Cheerios!

The Caruvana Men.

The Caruvana Men looking tough.
It's the Italian.

Syndi & Jules relaxing at Martha Berry's Oak Hill Museum.

Syndi & Junior present their crafty treat...

...yummy and made to like like crayons.

Little Miss Julia.
Jules.
JuJuBee.
...the girl with the chipped tooth...
Julia Grace Caruvana

Julia's 2nd Birthday

2009-08-24T18:00:00.001-04:00

We celebrated Julia's 2nd birthday on July 14th.
Jules got her favorite foods...can you guess?

Fruit, fruit...

...and more fruit!

She had a great time!

The Blackwelders came over, and we all celebrated.

Julia was very excited to get her birthday muffin!

Mmm-mmm-good!

Joan Blackwelder loved on Jules.

Martin Blackwelder played with Jules.

Cesilee Blackwelder took pictures of Jules.

Julia loved opening her presents...

...and getting new toys to play with.

She got a drink bottle like her older siblings already had.

Julia loved celebrating her birthday!

Now she's 2 years old!

The Blackwelders were a wonderful part of our celebration!

We were so glad they could come!

And Julia loved all the new things she got to try out, including some new outfits from the Blackwelders!

Happy Birthday Julia Grace!

Camping in Michigan - The Town

2009-08-12T18:00:00.002-04:00

One afternoon, while Syl, Stephen and Julia napped in the tent, Jon, Syndi and Junior made a little trek into the town of Harrisville.
We followed a trail through the woods and into town.
We walked a few miles.

We stopped to take pictures along the way.

You can see Lake Huron at the back edge of the property.

Syndi and Junior had a lot of fun.

It was a quaint little town.

We stopped at a playground along the way.

Every once in a while, I get reminded that I need to get me a shotgun.

We walked to the harbor, which was a really cool place.

We walked the boardwalk...

...posed for some pictures...

...checked out some boats...

...walked the boardwalk...

...and posed for more pictures.

Then the kids convinced me that we had to go into town for ice cream.

We had some difficulty finding the ice cream shop and were about to give up and head back to the campground, and then we spotted it at the last second.

We really enjoyed our huge scoops of ice cream.

Little did we know, Syl had intended to head into town for ice cream, so we later made a return trip to town, and Syl, Stephen and Julia got their cones.

It was a fun journey!

Camping in Michigan - The Fishing

2009-08-11T18:00:00.000-04:00

One afternoon we took a trip to a nearby fish pond.
Syndi, Junior and Stephen each got to catch a fish.

The kids loved it...

...and enjoyed having help from Mommy.

Julia was fascinated by these wiggling creatures...

...and did a dance to mimic their flopping.

Daddy had to get the fish of the hook.

Junior wanted to feel the skin.

All the kids watched as the girl gutted the fish, showed them the organs (good biology lesson), and cleaned them out.

It was a fun afternoon at the fish farm!

Camping in Michigan - The Fire

2009-08-10T18:00:00.001-04:00

We enjoyed lots of time around the fire while camping.

Here Sylvia can be seen making eggs for breakfast.
We enjoyed meals around the fire...

... and toasted marshmallows at night.

Here Junior works at a favorite Caruvana method of torching...er, toasting marshmallows. It involves complete immersion of the marshmallow in flame. It looks cool and tastes great!

Eating the torched marshmallow means pulling off the outer charcoaled layer and eating it.

Mmmmmmmm...

Stevie quite enjoyed it.

As you can see.

Oh what a mess!

Camping in Michigan - The Beach

2009-08-09T18:00:00.000-04:00

We went to the beach a few times in our stay at the campground.
It was overcast, rainy and cold most of the time. The sun came out for parts of it.

The kids didn't mind the cloudiness, and had fun in spite of it.

It was cool to be on the shores of a Great Lake.

It's a different kind of beach...

...where a lot of pebble wash up.

But there was plenty of sand, too...

...and the kids loved playing in it.

Junior loved working on a sand masterpiece...

...just like his father.

It was fun for the whole family.

The kids swam a little, but were shivering afterward.

One day we enjoyed some beach volleyball.

Junior and Jules had fun on a nearby playground.

Hooray for the beach!

Camping in Michigan - The Tent

2009-08-08T18:00:00.001-04:00

On Thursday night, July 2nd, Jon flew up to Michigan.

On Friday, July 3rd, Jon, Justin Pouch and Tony Nagle loaded an ABF freight truck with lots of stuff from Dad's house. Jon still can't believe that piano didn't roll back and crush him.

On Saturday morning, July 4th, the Caruvana clan packed the minivan and drove north to Harrisville State Park, where we set up camp.

Syndi had spent the week at camp Barakel, and we would need to pick her up on Tuesday. The rest of us tented for a few days on the shores of Lake Huron. Saturday night we went down to the shore of the lake and watched the fireworks displays. The closest fireworks were from the Harrisville celebration, which we watched as we stood a few feet from the lapping waves and looked to the north. Two other displays could be seen to the south, probably the Oscada/Au Sable and the Tawas Point fireworks. It was pretty cool.
We had fun in the tent.
As you can see, we had a nice view of the neighbor's campground. We could hear the waves lapping on the shores of Lake Huron throughout the night. It was a soothing sound.

After we picked Syndi up on Tuesday, Junior, Stephen and Syndi sqeezed into their sleeping bags on one side of the tent. Julia slept nearby in her pack-n-play. Syl and I slept in our sleeping bags on the other side of the tent.

Next we'll post some pictures of our visits to the beach.

Junior's 6th Birthday

2009-08-05T18:00:00.001-04:00

While Sylvia and the kids were in Michigan, they celebrated Junior's 6th birthday!
Junior loved hunting down clues to find his gifts.
Apparently clue #1 (first picture) led to the utensil drawer in the kitchen (second picture)...

...and one clue led him to be reaching behind a TV...

...but he eventually found some gifts...

...which he eagerly opened!

A new game!

Money!!

A card from Daddy, who was still in Georgia!!!

And, of course, cake!!!!

Junior enjoyed his birthday celebration.

Happy Birthday, Junior!

Congratulations on turning 6 years old!

Visiting Michigan

2009-07-24T18:00:00.000-04:00

At the end of June, Sylvia and the kids went to Michigan.

Sylvia worked on getting the house ready for Dad to sell.
The kids loved visiting with Grandpa,
and spending time with the Pouches.

Syndi loved holding Hazel.

Sylvia did a lot of work, but the kids got some time to play. They celebrated Junior's birthday at the end of June, and Jon came up to Michigan several days later (in early July). We'll have pictures from those in the next posts to the blog. :-)

Junior's Butterflies

2009-07-22T18:00:00.000-04:00

Junior recently got a butterfly cage. The cage came with an offer to buy some Painted Lady butterfly larvae, so we took the plunge. In June, we went through a several week process of feeding the larvae, waiting for them to cocoon, pinning them up in the cage, watching them hatch, feeding them and...
...at the end, letting them go. Here Junior is about to open his cage and set his butterflies free.

We received 5 larvae, and 4 survived - amazingly enough - to hatch in the cage. We thought we'd lost a couple along the way, but left them in the cage, and they actually survived.

The reality of losing his butterflies was hard on Junior. Upon hatching, they only have a two-week life span. They were in our house for a week-and-a-half, and we were about to leave for Michigan, so knew it was time to let them go.

Junior and Syndi were fascinated and sad in alternating fashion.

Sylvia? Well, she was a little iffy on the butterflies flying out at her.

After all, Painted ladies are very aggressive ~ riiiiight!

Our last escapee flew right over to the gutter at the corner of the house, where we all gazed upon it in fascination. They are beautiful butterflies.

Junior was overcome with grief at the thought of losing his last butterfly. Poor guy.

He said his final goodbye.

Julia, however, wanted to hold the butterfly.

Syndi sadly watched also, and a few minutes later, we watched the last of Junior's Painted Ladies fly off into the sunset. It was a good experience for Junior, who loves the outdoors and animals and critters. Perhaps we shall try this again next year.

Garden 2009

2009-07-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

We planted a garden again this year, and this is the bounty we harvested earlier this week.

We picked tomatoes, mint, basil, stevia, lemon balm

and - yes - pumpkins!

Oh, I love the colors!

Junior has been a major help, doing almost all of the garden harvesting. He loves the garden!

Earlier in June we harvested some zucchini and yellow squash. Unfortunately the squash bugs got to our squash plants, and they are no more (even in spite of us trying to intermix the squash and tomato plants, which was supposed to help ~ if you have ideas for us for next year on keeping squash bugs away, please let us know!).

Syndi Gets Glasses

2009-07-08T18:00:00.001-04:00

Early in June, Syndi got her new glasses.

She had been complaining about difficulty reading from a distance, and it turned out she needed glasses.

Her new glasses are rose-colored and look pretty cool.
She even worked on her "old grandmother" look!

Syndi was excited about her new glasses, and was even happier to be able to see well again.

Chey & Victoria

2009-07-02T18:00:00.001-04:00

On the very last night of May the first morning of June, we had some wonderful visitors...sisters Chey and Victoria. Chey and Victoria were part of a youth choir from a sister church in Alabama, and several families from Pleasant Valley North hosted the youth overnight in their homes.
We were one of those host families, and we had a fun evening with the girls, playing Pictionary and talking. It was a great time, and a new experience for Chey and Victoria, whom we returned to PVN in the morning for their return trip to Alabama.

Horsing Around

2009-06-30T18:00:00.000-04:00

At the end of May, our GRACE homeschool group had a get-together.
Our kids had the opportunity to ride a horse.

Syndi was very excited, and was the first to ride.

Julia looked on eagerly, fascinated by the horse.

Soon, Junior and Jules were preparing for a turn.

Syndi returned from the ride...

...and Junior began to get up on the horse.

That's as far as he got.

He got a little scared, and decided not to ride.

I think he was bummed as he looked on dejectedly.

This is the barn for the horses.

Julia was fascinated as another horse came over to eat her carrots.

She was happy to feed it...

...until after it took its first chomp...then she was happy to let someone nearby hold that carrot.

Syndi enjoyed watching the horses.

Then she took Jules for a ride.

What a nice big sister!

Julia took it all in stride.

We get to ride horses every day, right? Not.

Aren't they adorable?

Memorial Day 2009

2009-06-25T18:00:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Memorial Day with some friends from church - the Blackwelders and the McCurrys.
Jon grilled hamburgers and hot dogs.

We spent time outside talking and playing.

Here ZioB (Martin Blackwelder) and Julia enjoy some time together.

Caleb enjoyed playing badminton.

And Jules enjoyed mooching food from Andrea.

It was a fun afternoon for us all.

Aunt Chris & Uncle Brent & Marquis Visit

2009-06-20T18:00:00.004-04:00

In May, we enjoyed a visit from the Carters.

Here Marquis is getting a good look at Julia.

Julia had fun hanging out with Marquis and Uncle Brent.
An afternoon at the park.
I think Marquis had the lead in this shot!

Stephen loved showing Marquis the ropes.

The whole crew went to the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga, TN.

The kids had a lot of fun with the water works.

Now if this doesn't look like trouble, I don't know what does.

Three kids 4 & under at a large tub of water?

That's Syndi peeking out.

Julia and Marquis had a lot of fun.

Julia enjoyed playing Doctor to Uncle Brent...

...but her bedside manner needs some work.

Raspberries, anyone?

Maybe Marquis can do better.

Marquis and Brent checking out a museum exhibit.

Junior performing on a stage.

The special theme this visit was tied to architecture and building styles.

Each of the Caruvanas had a go at making a building.

Here Stephen works on his cinder block house.

Rivaling Donald Trump, Julia built a cardboard tower.

Syndi worked long and did a great job on her wood house.

Junior shows off his brick home.

And, of course, the annual fun at the bubble curtain.

Stephen, following his older brother.

A trip to Kangaroo Jake's was fun one day.

The order of the day was climbing...

...and tumbling...

...and bouncing...

...and being worn out by day's end.

Here Aunt Sylvia hugs and loves on Marquis.
It was a fun visit with Jon's sister and her family.

Stephen's Birthday ~ 4 Years Old!

2009-06-10T18:00:00.000-04:00

Well, we're a little behind on the blog...Stephen had his fourth birthday in April, and I forgot to post pictures.
He enjoyed getting getting some Cat in the Hat paraphernalia...
...and eating his birthday cupcake!
Junior was also very excited for Stephen. He made him a huge paper birthday party man thing. Stephen is happy to be four, and it was a good, small, quiet celebration.

Jon's Mercury Mystique Rolls 100,000

2009-06-01T18:00:00.000-04:00

Jon's 1999 Mercury Mystique rolled past 100,000 miles on May 19th, 2009.

These pictures were all taken when the car hit the milestone.
The Mystique was special-ordered in October 1998, and arrived 14 weeks later in January 1999. It turned 10 years old in January 2009. About a week after these pictures were taken, we gave the car an oil change and a professional car wash.

We praise the Lord for providing this wonderful car and keeping it in such good condition for the past decade! It has been very faithful, with no repairs - the original battery lasted over 8 years, the brakes & rotors have been changed once, the tires twice (Jon loves skidding and drifting) - it's been a fantastic car, and Jon thanks God for maintaining it all these years.

PVN Awana 2008-2009 Slideshow

2009-05-22T18:00:00.001-04:00

Jon again prepared an Awana slideshow video for the closing ceremony at Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church, this time for the 2008-2009 year. This will give you a peek at what we enjoy each week throughout the school year!

Junior Graduates from Kindergarten

2009-05-16T18:00:00.003-04:00

Junior graduated from kindergarten in a ceremony held at a local college by our GRACE homeschool group.
Junior led the kindergartner procession, since he was first alphabetically. (He wasn't too thrilled about that.)

He proceeded up the aisle...

...and joined me in the front row.

Our guest speaker was Georgia State Representative Barry Loudermilk, of Georgia's 14th House district (representing part of our county). He did a masterful job of charging the graduates, as he expounded on Proverbs 3:5-6, though I doubt the kindergartners grasped any of it, LOL.

Junior marched up on stage and received his certificate of completion...

...from Melissa Casey, coordinator of our GRACE homeschool group.

He was quite proud.

Here he is pictured with his fellow kindergarten graduates...

...and with all the graduates.

It was a proud day for Junior and for us.

He was especially fond of the gifts received from the us and from the Blackwelders, as Martin, Joan and Cesilee were in attendance.

Congratulations, Junior!

We're proud of you!

Six Flags Over Georgia!

2009-05-08T18:00:00.002-04:00

On May 1st we made our first-ever trip to Six Flags Over Georgia. It was the first time any of our kids had been at an amusement park. The local fair is as close as they've come before. Cesilee Blackwelder was gracious enough to join us for the journey.

Here you see us just after we entered the park.
Julia Grace was left with a friend, since she can't ride most everything at the park, and she still has her appointment with nap time. (Wish I had that.) Above you see Jon waving like an idiot at the camera. This is the Mine Train, the original Six Flags Over Georgia roller coaster. It was Syndi and Junior's first roller coaster ride, and they were terrified!
By the time the Mine Train was done (and it was our first ride of the day), Syndi and Junior both admitted enjoying it. We moved on to Looney Toons land, where we had more newbie-friendly rides, like this airplane for Junior.
The Mack trucks were a big hit for all three of them.

Junior raced around, chasing after Syndi and Stephen...

...but never quite could catch them. (Probably something related to that pipe between the two trucks!)

Here they swung in some boats.

Syndi and Stephen paired up, and Junior went with Cesilee.

Bumper Cars!

Always a family favorite.

We made each kid ride with an adult driver the first time...

...but we returned later, and Junior...

...and Syndi each got their own car.

Look out everyone!!!

Jon & Syl hit the Ninja coaster while Ces took the kids around.

Then Syl & Ces hit the Superman coaster while Jon took the kids to the carousel.

Syndi has had some experience horseback riding.

Apparently not enough.

We hit some other rides, including...

...the hot air balloon ride.

Junior grabbed onto Daddy as the boys rode in one basket...

...while Syndi had her own basket.

It was a fun day.

Here we stopped for a family picture as the park was closing. You can see Jon is wet from the ride we had just splashed down on.

Syndi came away with a plan to work her way up to the large roller coasters, to allow her to overcome any fears she might feel.

Junior wondered why we couldn't go swimming in the pool where our boat had just crashed down on Splashwater Falls.

Stephen was oblivious, fearless, and had a blast...all day.

And we have free return passes, so we may be returning in a month or two!

Marshall Forest

2009-04-22T18:00:00.000-04:00

Last week our family went over to Marshall Forest on Horseleg Creek.

We walked on the trail and had a lot of fun on a gorgeous spring day.

There was a bridge over a dry creek bed.

There were fallen trees to stand on.

There were trails to follow...

...and lots of plants to see.

It was warm and sunny.

Where last season's life ended...

...this season's new life began.

There were even cool bugs to see.
Here Julia points at a caterpillar.

It was a fun afternoon jaunt for the family.

And even Daddy got to strike a pose,

Easter Hunts

2009-04-15T18:00:00.002-04:00

Easter, as Pastor Mac likes to say, is "the Super Bowl" for Christians.
Interesting metaphor.
This years was full of Easter egg hunts.

There was a hunt at the Library.

Julia went on her first hunt...

...and Junior helped show her the ropes.

Julia was all about eating the treasures she found.

We had another hunt put on by our church, Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church. You can see Julia was just content to pick up rocks and put them in her basket.

The church hunt took place at the Burk Farm, and Julia roamed the grounds with Daddy.

Stephen rescued an open egg.

The hunt was over in less than a minute, with speedy kids like Junior snapping up the eggs.

Syndi was in a different hunt with older kids.
She's getting so big!

Here she is hanging with Eli and Abbie.

Stephen had fun wading through the grass at the Burk Farm...

...and so did Junior.

The kids had a lot of fun playing after the Bible message.

Junior and Parker hanging out in a house.

At home, the kids decorated their own eggs again this year.
Syndi is ever the artist.

Stephen and Junior are very creative, too.
It's been so fascinating to watch how they are different from one another in their artistic styles.

Thirty farm-fresh, hard-boiled eggs, and they didn't even last us two weeks!
Hope you had a happy Easter!
He Is Risen!

Kidz Blitz 2009

2009-04-07T18:00:00.001-04:00

Our church, Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church, recently held the Kidz Blitz program in our sanctuary.

Kids and parents alike went on stage and were involved in the competition. This particular game (shown above) had children using a razor to shave shaving-cream-laden water balloons atop their fathers' heads.
Mom held the balloon on Dad's head while the kids shaved off all the shaving cream. As it worked out, neither balloon popped, leaving the fathers dry...and rather relieved. That is, until some assistants came over and popped the water balloons on the dads' heads!
Hundreds of children from our church, other churches and our local community attended. The kids repeated after the leader, shouting scriptural truths which they were being taught throughout the night. The loudest team won points.

Even the assistants, Tony Carver (L) and Lana Ogle (R), were pulled into the fun by our event coordinator, Donnie Slade (C).

Here they ended up with powdered faces!

They hadn't bargained for that!

Kids did all kind of cool games, unlike your standard kid games. You don't normally see kids hanging from a harness on the stage of the sanctuary.

Kidz Blitz was a great event!

Kids and parents both were excited and eager to see what would happen next.

Kids learned truths from God's Word.

Kids came forward and were saved at the closing invitation.

I'd certainly give it my recommendation!

http://kidzblitz.com/

Big Day for Junior!

2009-03-24T20:00:00.001-04:00

Today was a big day for Junior!
~
Junior, who had once tried to ride without training wheels about a year ago, decided he wanted to try again. Monday, Daddy took off the training wheels, and he determinedly worked at riding his bike all evening. Tuesday morning he went right back at it, and by Tuesday afternoon, he was riding up and down the street like a little speed demon, with nary a hesitation, and with no feet touching the ground. He took his turns easily, and was a real pro. Hard to believe we took the training wheels off yesterday!

Last night, as he was getting ready for bed, Junior pointed out that his loose tooth was bleeding. (This is the tooth that began to wiggle last week, so he took off for the bathroom to yank it! We stopped him, as it wasn't really that loose.) Tonight it was very loose, and Daddy pushed on it a little, asking if it hurt. Junior said "no," so Daddy pushed a little harder. After Daddy had the tooth perpendicular to the other teeth, and Junior said it still didn't hurt, Daddy realized it was ready to come out. When Daddy pulled the tooth up, it came out with no pain!
~
Junior has lost his first tooth! Congratulations, bud!

Syndi & Upward Basketball

2009-03-15T21:00:00.002-04:00

Syndi has been playing basketball in the Upward program this year. She began with basically no knowledge of the game. We bought a basketball goal to put in our driveway for her to practice and us to teach her a thing or two.

Her skills have improved tremendously, and by the final two games of the season, our timid girl (who ducked when the ball came at her) caught passes and actually scored. We were thoroughly impressed. And she had a blast.

Here she is pictured (1) with her team, (2) on the court with the other 4 ready for the start of a period, and (3) taking a free throw after getting fouled. Way to go Syndi!

Awana Bible Quizzing 2009

2009-02-19T23:05:00.004-05:00

This past weekend, Syndi traveled to Marietta, GA for the
Awana Bible Quizzing competition. Her team competed against 8 other churches from the North Georgia region.
She and her 4 teammates were quizzed on Bible facts and verses from their T&T books. It was the first year a group from Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church went to the competition, and they did well for being newbies.
Syndi had her own practice sheet, which she reviewed on the trip to the event. Sylvia and Junior went along to cheer her on! Great job Syndi!

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T06:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentines Day!
Hope you enjoy a great day! Syndi has been attending an art class for several months.
She has worked with several types of art, one of them being pottery. This week, Syndi gave her Mom a Valentines Day gift, which you see pictured above. She made a heart-shaped jewelry box and... ...a necklace with a heart pendant.
She also made a matching necklace for herself. You can even see the "S" impressed into the heart.
Pretty neat, huh?!
A beautiful gift, SyndiLu!

2008 Chronicle Coming

2009-02-05T00:18:00.003-05:00

Our newest edition of the Caruvana Family Chronicle is printed and ready to send out. We'll begin mailing them as soon as Syl designs the envelope artwork. :-) Let us know what you think! (If you click on the picture above, you'll see a readable view of page 1.)

The Spelling Bee

2009-02-04T23:59:00.005-05:00

Syndi was in her first spelling bee a few weeks ago.

She placed second! Click on the image above to read the article and see the pictures.

We didn't know, however, that she would be getting her picture in the paper!
She didn't want to go at first, but agreed.

She was very happy with the results, and wants to do it again next year!

Way to go LuLu!

Chronicle to Come Soon

2009-01-31T23:30:00.000-05:00

Our 2008 Caruvana Family Chronicle is about complete. We only need to finalize the address list, print envelopes, copy the chronicle and send it out. If you are reading this and don't get the Chronicle, but would like to, please send us an e-mail, comment on this blog, message us on facebook or contact us somehow. We'd love to add you (assuming we somehow know you). Hopefully we'll begin sending it out next week! We'll post again to this blog when it gets sent out. :-)

Nordic Visit

2008-12-31T17:59:00.005-05:00

Well, we haven't posted anything to this blog in over a month-and-a-half. We've been quite busy. And with the need to get our annual newsletter out, we don't foresee getting many posts up in the next few weeks.

Jon went with the sales manager, project manager and a fellow engineer to a local job site - Nordic in Rockmart, Georgia. The picture above was taken in the room where we've just completed the installation of new rack. The rack is cantilevered, so it looks like it's levitating about 8 inches above the ground...a cool effect. Practically speaking, it allows the end user to store more loads because their lift trucks can slip under the rack, and the bays don't have to be as wide. It allows 320 additional loads to be stored in the room.

The room is a freezer, and had been cooled down to -10 degrees (yes, 10 degrees below zero) on the day we visited (yesterday). They store ice cream and chicken in the two rooms we racked (in separate rooms because the ice cream will smell like chicken if stored in the same room). This was a $1.2M job for our company.

We hope to post some "catch-up" blogs soon, telling of such things as Syndi & Jon's hike, our trip to Michigan for Thanksgiving, our new homeschool co-op, Syndi's piano performance at a homeschool Christmas event, our family Christmas and more. Stay tuned! And maybe we'll even get the newsletter out to those of you who get it.

Awana Grand Prix 2008

2008-11-04T22:34:00.007-05:00

We had our Awana Grand Prix this past Sunday at our church, Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church.

Each of our three oldest kids made a car.

Syndi had a grand idea of making a horse race car. She drew it up, and Daddy shot it down. But, being an engineer, Daddy couldn't go without thinking about how he might actually make it work, and had it worked out about 10 minutes later.

So Syndi had a cool horse for a car, which took the prize for best design in the T&T group.

Junior wanted a Batman race car, so we made one, even with the rear wing design. Junior was a bit disappointed that he didn't win a design prize, but he's very happy to have a car to race around the house with last year's Lightning McQueen car we made.
For Stephen's first Awana Grand Prix car, we made a little red racer with green stripes. He was so excited, he wanted to play with it as soon as we finished gluing the wheels on! We had to keep it from him so it survived until the race. As it was, as soon as he'd lost his two races, he started playing with it and chipped off part of the rear fin before we even left the church.

The race went well. Especially for everyone else. It was double elimination, so two losses and you're out. With three Caruvana cars in the race, we had a total of six races. Yes, each of our kids lost his or her first two races. Six attempts, six losses. Not a good record, especially for the children of an engineer. Daddy just hasn't figured out the tricks the other dads must know. Oh well. They'll get another shot next year!

The kids had fun, and enjoyed pizza afterwards.

It was another fun Awana night!

Trick-or-Treat 2008

2008-10-31T23:01:00.000-04:00

The Caruvana kids went trick-or-treating up and down the street tonight. There weren't many people home on our fifteen-family cul-de-sac. Stephen was dressed as a dalmatian.

Syndi was dressed to match her American Girl, Molly.

Junior was Spider-Man!

Julia was a pumpkin.Notice that Julia has "learned" to smile.
We're trying to de-program her.

We Voted! Did You?

2008-10-30T23:03:00.000-04:00

We did early voting tonight.
We took all the kids and went down to the Civic Center and only waited in line an hour to vote.
Our kids did pretty well, and were good entertainment for the crowd. Friends of ours who'd arrived about 45 minutes before us had had waited 75 minutes to get through the line. We expect Tuesday's lines will be much worse.

Vote Early!

Vote Often!

Oh, wait - you only get to vote once.

Crazy Hat Nite at Awana

2008-10-18T09:56:00.002-04:00

We had Crazy Hat Nite at Awana recently.

Our kids made their own crazy hats.
Some of the leaders wore crazt hats, too.
It's a fun night the kids enjoy.
(And the leaders, too...)

Coosa Valley Fair 2008

2008-10-14T22:51:00.008-04:00

We made our 5th annual trip to the Coosa Valley Fair recently.
Junior and Stephen had fun on this little ride.

I wish you could have seen the shock on Stephen's face when it made its first drop. He looked
terrified for 2 seconds, then loved it the rest of the way.
A roller coaster for the kids.
Syndi and Stephen are in car #2.
Junior rode near the back of the coaster and was a little scared.
Dumbo takes Junior for a ride.
Or maybe it was the other way around!
Syndi won 1st place for a bracelet she crocheted.
She was quite proud (and so were we!).
Junior won 2nd place for some fudge he made...
...and 3rd place for some peppers he entered.
(We were very proud of him, too.)
He, however, was extremely disappointed.
We had to plead for this somewhat straight face.
(He's a very driven young man.)
Cesilee Blackwelder (who came and helped us with all the children) and Stephen rode in a swing.
The swings went round and round.
Junior made a very long trek through a pirate ship to go down this very long slide...

...and, of course, Stephen had to follow.
The family picture!

This was our 5th trip to the fair in our four-and-a-half years in Georgia. Julia did great. She didn't get to ride any rides because she was too small, and we were there for 4 hours!

Junior getting a real buzz!
Aubrey (left) and Cesilee (right) came to help us with the kids.
They were a great help and a lot of fun. I couldn't count the number of times Stephen ran off to a different ride (he was very excited) and Aubrey chase him down. In fact, it got to the point where I only knew Stephen had run off because Aubrey began to jog off in a different direction. ("Umm, there goes Aubrey...Stephen must've run off again!")
Thanks, guys, for going with us!
We didn't get to ride the ferris wheel this year, but it still looked really cool towering over us.
Another great year at the Coosa Valley Fair!
Until next year...FAIR-well!

Fireproof

2008-09-29T23:58:00.001-04:00

Last Friday, on its opening night, Syl and I went to the theater to see FIREPROOF, the new movie from the makers of Facing the Giants. (If you haven't seen Facing the Giants, then we highly recommend you do!) FIREPROOF is an excellent movie. It stars Kirk Cameron, and has a very wholesome message. A successful fireman has a failing marriage at home, and he and his wife are ready to call it quits. But a wise father comes beside his son, and challenges his son to a 40-day love dare.

Click on "WATCH TRAILER" in the image below

to see the trailer for FIREPROOF.

I highly recommend this film. It is action-packed and funny, but it's also very serious and does really wrench at the heart. It has a clear presentation of the need for a Saviour. We loved it! Do what you can to go see it.

Recreational Art

2008-09-26T23:45:00.007-04:00

Last Saturday we made some progress on the re-decoration of the Rec Room (the one in which we painted one wall as a chalkboard. By the way, Syl LOVES the chalkboard! The chalkboard paint was a success...just give it some time to absorb/build up the chalk dust.)
We gave some wall space to each kid (Stephen, Junior, Syndi and that big kid, JON!) and let them paint whatever they wanted.
So they each did their art work in the Rec Room, hence the title "Recreational Art."
Even the big kid had fun. Syl taped off everyone's area and prepared the paint.
Stephen's art was more modernistic.
We all thought it looked cool.
Junior's art was from the camping trip to Lake Huron while they were all in Michigan. Above you see them driving to the lake.
Syndi's art was a rendition of her trip to Camp Barakel, also while they were in Michigan this past June. Pretty neat, huh?
The BIG kid's art was a measuring stick beside which we intend to mark off each kids' heights and maybe have a hand print from each. The space-related items are all painted with a glow-in-the-dark yellow.
We had a lot of fun!
Maybe we can post a picture after we mark off the kids' heights!

Time for A New Freezer

2008-09-25T17:47:00.003-04:00

Praise the Lord for allowing us to see we needed a new freezer!

The freezer shown above was our old freezer.

Time for a little story...
~
We have some girls who come to clean at our house every Friday or two. (They are the sweet Smith girls, whom you can find in blog posts gone by.) Now these girls have been coming to clean for a couple of years (less a summer or two), and they almost always have to empty a bucket in the basement tub. So each week, one of them goes downstairs, passes by our chest freezer, and empties the bucket in the next room.
Last Friday, Leah Joy went down and emptied a bucket just before they left. After she returned upstairs, she mentioned to Sylvia that it looked like the freezer might be unplugged. Sylvia thanked her, and the girls left. A few minutes later, Syl went to check on the freezer, and found it plugged in. We surmised that the cord pictured above was mistaken as being connected to the freezer. This coiled wire has been beside that freezer for years, so it was odd that it was noticed only now. Syl, just to be sure, opened the freezer...only to find water pouring off the lid, and the items inside thawing!
In August we purchased over $600 of beef (a whole cow), which was all stored in this basement chest freezer. After calling Jon at work, and after some further investigation, Sylvia found that only the top items - which happened to be the liver, which we didn't plan to use - had thawed out, and the beef below was all still frozen. The freezer had died! The freezer had to be over 30 years old. We got it after Syl's grandmother passed away over 9 years ago, and she had it long before that. Syl and the kids immediately went into action. All of our beef was squeezed into the freezer upstairs and our neighbor's freezer.
That Friday night turned into a very hectic night. We had an AWANA conference Saturday morning, and had to leave the house by 6:15 am. Friday night we farmed all the kids out to different houses. The Blackwelders picked Julia up, which eased the stress. So I came home from work, we ate dinner, sent Jules with the B's, drove to three other houses and dropped kids off, then headed to the mall. Sears closed at 9 PM, and we raced around and got there at 8:25 PM! We looked at what they had, waited for them to see what they had in stock and selected one. Syl was paying for it at 8:55 PM while Jon went out to the minivan and started dropping down the Stow-N-Go seats and clearing the massive amounts of kids' junk that had piled up since Jon last cleaned it (the June trip to Michigan). Syl came out, and we went around to the pickup area. I've never seen Sears bring out a product so quickly. They had that thing out in 30 seconds after we arrived at the door! I was still trying to clean up and drop seats!
Well, we got it in the van, got it in the house, and managed to squeeze it through the basement door...uh, somehow...and slid it down the stairs. (How many engineers does it take to get a freezer in the basement? LOL) We got it up and running, let it cool down overnight, and stocked all the meat into it Saturday! And the above picture is what it looks like now. (Ever seen that I Love Lucy episode with the sides of beef???)
~
So all is well now.
We have a new Kenmore freezer.
The Lord was gracious to us and let us not lose 280 pounds of beef.
And thanks to the Smith girls...glad you came to clean Friday!!

Jon Turns 37!

2008-09-23T22:00:00.003-04:00

Jon turned 37 yesterday!

The kids were the most excited.

They threw a "party" for Daddy, with homemade hats, cards, and brownies.

Happy Labor Day!

2008-09-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

To celebrate labor day, we're publishing a few family photos!

Junior is a little blurry, but this is a great picture of Jules.

Jules is walking easily now - almost running!
Here she was showing off for Grandpa.
Notice what's going on in the background?
When Sylvia sits on a couch, she sits on a couch.
When Jon sits on a couch, he becomes the family Jungle Gym!

Grandpa and the girls.
Laundry basket rides!
Stephen the Cat!
There he is!
All the kids were playing with some blocks and wanted pictures of them with their creations posted on the blog. Voila!

Happy Labor Day!

Sew...A Needle Pulling Thread

2008-08-31T17:42:00.004-04:00

When we returned from Michigan after Sylvia's Mom's funeral, we brought with us a sewing machine Mom had used. Over the last couple of months we have chosen a location, set up a table, hooked up the sewing machine, and purchased some material, and thread. And just last week, Sylvia did her first project: a sewing machine cover!
What a fitting first project. Syl did some sewing with her Mom many moons ago, but let her skills lie dormant for the last 20 years. She was quite proud of the cover, and looks forward to many new opportunities to put needle to material. (Kinda like they say "putting pen to paper" - get it? OK, I thought it was cute.)

Take Me Out to the Rome Braves Game

2008-08-05T22:07:00.006-04:00

We went to a Rome Braves game last week.

Syndi got the mascot -Romey - to autograph her glove (the blue one in his left hand).
The game started rather slowly. In the first inning, our catcher was injured by a collision at home plate. At least he got the out, but he left with a concussion. After about 30 minutes, an ambulance circled the field with him and left for the hospital.
Later in the first inning, the replacement catcher was injured by getting hit in the groin. He, too, left the game. The first inning took an hour!
But at least Syndi got her glove signed by Romey while we waited!
We sat on Home Run Hill just outside right field.
Junior spent most of his time near the fence.
Stephen was excited by Romey at a distance, but terrified as we approached him. Romey was kind enough to try to befriend Stephen...
...but Stephen spent most of the game rolling down Home Run Hill. If there is something dangerous to be done, this kid will find it...unless it involves a scary mascot!
Jules had fun watching from her own perch.
Here she gives mommy a "5" - WooHoo!
We left early, since this was bound to be a 4-hour game, and bedtime had long since passed.
We heard that they lost 4-2 the next day.
No, they didn't lose the next day...the game wasn't that long!
We just heard about it the next day.
Silly people.

Camp Barakel 2008

2008-07-31T23:00:00.005-04:00

Syndi went to Camp Barakel this summer.

The camp is located on a lake in Michigan.
Here Syndi is embarking on her journey.
Sylvia, her brother Kyran, her sister Tammie and our niece Lanette all went to Camp Barakel at some point in their lives.

Here Syndi doesn't appear too sure about all this, as she waits beside the bus in Flint, MI.

Syndi's Grandma (Syl's Mom, who recently passed), went to the original camp (Camp Michilake) founded by the man who founded Camp Barakel. Syndi looks ready to go now!

Johnny Johnson, the man who founded these camps, led Syndi's Grandma to the Lord.
Syndi adjusted to camp life quickly.
She made friends with Becca and many others.
Syndi was part of the Orange Tigers Tribe during her week at Camp Barakel.

They met to say the pledge of allegiance to the American flag each morning.
This is Syndi's cabin, Arrowhead #4.
Syndi's cabinmates, Sam and Ashley.
Syndi said that during her free time she and Becca went out on the lake in a canoe.
Thursday night they had a campfire cookout, where they roasted hot dogs.
Here she is with her tribemates.
They had to make the best mascot.
Her tribe came in second place.

They met in chapel every morning and every night.
They learned about God's Laws - The Ten Commandments.

The official Orange Tigers Tribe photo.

(Syndi has no idea what she was looking at;

Their counsellor is on the far left.)

Syndi had a great time, and hopes to return next year!

Not So Scrabulous

2008-07-30T15:53:00.005-04:00

Personally, I am extremely disappointed with Hasbro over the removal of Scrabulous from Facebook. And now for those of you not familiar with any of these names, here's a brief summary...

Facebook is a social networking platform on the internet, designed to allow people to interact with friends across the globe. People can send notes, post pictures, play games and more with people they add as friends (often relatives, coworkers, friends, and long-lost school acquaintances). There are over 90 million Facebook users, and over two-thirds of those are here in the US.
Scrabulous is an application loaded into Facebook by brothers Jayant and Rajat Agarwalla. They wanted a way to play Scrabble against each other, so developed this application to play online. They loaded it into Facebook, and it has since become a social phenomenon. The game is essentially Scrabble; the board, the tiles and the rules are all identical to traditional Scrabble. In this online variation, you can take your turn whenever you want, minutes, hours, days or even weeks apart. There are over 2 million people who play Scrabulous on Facebook. Yes, over 2 million. Over 500,000 people play Scrabulous every day. (I am one of them!)

Hasbro owns the rights to Scrabble in the US and Canada. Mattel owns the international rights to Scrabble. Hasbro struck a deal with Electronic Arts to create an electronic version for online use. Mattel struck a deal with RealNetworks to create an international version. Hasbro last week filed a lawsuit against Scrabulous for copyright infringement. They waited a long time to file this suit, waiting until EA was ready to lauch their version of Scrabble for Facebook users, attempting to give Facebook users an alternative.

And now for my superfluous opinion...This is a very foolish move on the part of Hasbro. They have a world-renowned game called Scrabble. People played it occasionally when I was growing up, but I haven't seen anyone pull out their Scrabble board in decades. Scrabulous put this game back on the map. I have seen countless stories of how people have gone out to buy the board game after getting hooked on the Facebook version. In fact, I myself had considered going to purchase one until my lovely wife informed me that her family has some Scrabble games in Michigan, and we may take one.

Now there are millions of Facebook users who woke up yesterday morning to find the following notice when they attempted to load their Scrabulous games: actually, I went to grab a picture of the notice, and they have removed Scrabulous entirely from Facebook. Wow! All gone. At least this morning it still appeared there was some glimmer they would come back. Well, anyway...

Literally thousands have jumped on the bandwagon in anger at Hasbro, joining online petitions, groups, etc. Some have called for a boycott of Hasbro. Will any of it do any good? Probably not. Hasbro has every right to file a lawsuit against Scrabulous. They have every right to demand removal of the game from Facebook's site. In fact, many wonder how Scrabulous endured so long. Perhaps it was only because Hasbro wanted to tap these Facebook users for themselves, and waited until their own Facebook application was ready for launch. Unfortunately for them, that was a catastrophe. Many couldn't load the new application, probably because Hasbro/EA's app wasn't ready for the onslaught of 500,000 people that Tuesday morning. Those that were able to load the program were extremely disappointed in the quality. I myself went to the app home page and said "forget it" after reading only horrible review after horrible review. I even refreshed the page and found only more anger from users. I had several games (probably 10) going at the time.

The Agarwalla brothers, creators of Scrabulous, did not originally create the game to make money, but now earn about $25,000 a month on advertisement revenue through Facebook. Do they deserve this money? Maybe not. However, getting your product to an online market, and having it be such an addictive product - that's pretty valuable, especially in these days. Hasbro has missed this. Or perhaps feels they can just grab it, as if it was their idea all along. I'd be ecstatic if I could get 2 million people to see my product once, let alone have 500,000 trying to use it daily. Did I mention that Scrabulous is the most-loaded game application in Facebook? It is. Hasbro should have struck a deal with these brothers, and I predict they will regret this move. Using heavy-handed (but clearly legal) tactics was a poor decision. Even if this turns into profit for Hasbro, I submit to you that it would have been more profitable to work out an amicable deal with Scrabulous. I may never be able to prove it, though. Hats off to Hasbro...Way to blow a big opportunity and ruin your potential relationship with millions in this new generation!

Garden Schmarden!

2008-07-17T21:04:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year again.

Yes, the "Syl, you need to pick from the garden"/"No, Jon, YOU need to pick from the garden"/"Syndi, go pick from the garden" time!

And here is a brief glimpse of the pickings from the other day.

I went out to mow the lawn, and decided to run by the garden. I picked out a few large weeds, then saw some way-too-big cucumbers and next thing ya know...well, I never did mow the lawn. In fact, it's almost been a week, and I still haven't gotten to the lawn. There is just so much to do around here. And, of course, there's that huge timesucking machine called facebook.

Well, to identify the harvest, clockwise from the bottom left:

parsley, cherry & grape tomatoes, string beans, yellow squash, cucumbers, and green peppers.

And what we've eaten so far has been delicious!

Or delici-o-so, as the kids like to say.

Jules Turns 1 Today!

2008-07-14T22:51:00.007-04:00

Today Julia turned 1 year old!

We celebrated on Saturday with a birthday dinner, milkshakes and presents.

Julia celebrated by taking some steps.

We had hats to wear and horns to blow.
Julia loved her little Minnie balloon.
Junior put his Spider-Man birthday ribbon on her.
(It was leftover from his birthday two weeks ago.)
Jules was having lots of fun.

Sylvia brought out the birthday milkshakes.
Julia's had a candle in it. She wanted so badly to grab that candle.
Then she tasted the milkshake.

(Yes, we did take the candle out first.)

She loved the shake!
She didn't want to stop once she got a taste.

We opened her gifts.
The other kids were obviously very excited for her.

Jules did a good job of tearing off wrapping paper.

An outfit from Aunt Chris and Uncle Brent.
Happy Birthday Jules!

The Return from Michigan!

2008-07-12T17:40:00.004-04:00

Well, the family made it back from Michigan...and just in time for the annual Rome fireworks show. These are a few of the booms we saw just before the spectacular finale.
They pulled into the driveway shortly after 5 PM Friday night. After dinner we headed over to our standard spot on the Oostanaula River levee. We handed out the traditional glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces, then watched the show.
Earlier that evening, within minutes of their arrival home, the kids had found the wall Daddy had painted as a chalkboard. Seemingly 30 seconds later, they had it covered in chalk artwork.
It's good to have us all together again!

Happy Birthday Junior!

2008-06-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Junior!

Sorry I can't be there.

Have a great day.

You're 5 now!

Summer's Passing By

2008-06-28T22:50:00.005-04:00

Well, since the family is away in Michigan, without the ability to send me pictures, I'm posting some here so I can remember what they look like.

Syl got a new bike, and the kids wanted to help her break it in.

Junior recently had his training wheels removed and is learning to ride without them.

Syndi is a speed demon on her bike. I imagine she was challenging Mommy to a race in this shot.
Stephen and Julia tried to keep up!
We removed Julia's tray and put her right at the table.
Here she is claiming her new spot!
Junior & Julia
Jules likes to grab people beside her and pull them over for a Bop (a nose to nose touch).
Junior - our self-motivated doer - vacuuming his own room.

Julia loves to climb the stairs, and she's so fast we usually can't get to her before she's halfway up or more.
Junior making proper use of his silly string.
A little game of Mastermind.

Note the length of Syndi's hair.

A few days later, she had a haircut.
She wanted it short for her trip to Camp Barakel.
And finally, just before the crew left for Michigan, they had VBS at Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church. So here they are in their matching tees.

Hurry home y'all! I miss ya.

Jon Passes FE Exam!

2008-06-14T00:21:00.005-04:00

Yes, folks, I actually PASSED the FE exam, and am now a licensed Engineer-in-Training! We received the e-mail above (I've marked out the license number) last night, about 3 weeks prior to what we anticipated. Great news! Praise the Lord! He is very gracious.

PVN Awana 2007-2008 Slideshow

2008-06-04T17:30:00.000-04:00

This is the Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church Awana 2007-2008 slideshow prepared by Jon for this past Sunday night's closing ceremony. Enjoy!

It is a large file, so may take some time to load. (A lot of time on dial-up.) So you might set it going, pause it so it can load, and come back to it a few minutes later to see if it's partly loaded so you can start viewing it. Let me know if it won't work.

Time's A-Flyin!

2008-06-03T23:30:00.000-04:00

The Caruvana family has been so busy lately, we just haven't had the time to update the blog. After Mom's death, we've had the end of the school year, bringing Aunt Lorrie home, arranging Aunt Lorrie's move to Texas, moving Lorrie's things from the house, packing Lorrie's storage unit on a truck to ship to Texas, the close of Awana (complete with hours [days] to create a slideshow video), and preparation for VBS (which starts next week).

Syl is teaching for VBS, so has been working to decorate her room, prepare her lessons, etc. And of course, when we came back from Michigan after the funeral, spring was in full blossom here in Georgia, so the lawn and garden have gone wild with growth, requiring lots of time. Syndi is having school testing done this week, so that takes more time. Jon was on deacon patrol in May, so he had to lock the building up after services.

Yes, it's been a busy month-and-a-half. Syl and the kids will be leaving for Michigan in only a week-and-a-half (right after VBS finishes), so we'll be crazy preparing for that. Jon will have time to post after they leave, but no family members of which to post any pictures. So we'll be back in full swing sometime around mid-summer. Hopefully we'll have the Awana slideshow posted for all to see in the next day or so. It may be large, though, so it may give people difficulty in loading.

Probably, y'all are just as busy as we are, so won't even have time to read this. That's OK. 'Cause I really didn't have time to post it.

Yaarab Shrine Circus 2008

2008-05-24T11:40:00.009-04:00

We went to the Shriner's circus this month.
They had three rings...
...and the kids loved it!
It was a family affair.
We saw tigers...
...and elephants...
and horses...
pretty white horses.
They had high-wire acts with a motorcycle.
When the guy did a handstand on his bike, that was cool. But when he started spinning around the rope, I was amazed.
They had juggling...

...and they even added fire later on.
They did special dances and drumming...
...and other special acts.
Then two women climbed way up to the ceiling on these skinny poles. Now, I was impressed they climbed all the way up, but when they started hanging and swaying the poles and spinning, I was amazed.

Then they swayed the poles back and forth and timed it right to exchange poles. The girls climbed from one to the other as they swayed.
And of course, what goes up must come down. A quick 4- or 5-second drop to the bottom...upside down!
They had a boxing kangaroo...
...who made his opponents look pathetic.
Syndi was mesmerized. She was a little cool, so she wore Daddy's pullover.

They had a motorcyclist driving around in this cage. You can see him in the upper left quadrant of the sphere.
My personal favorite was the bumbling idiot whose antics turned into fascinating acrobatics. He was a total klutz who thought he was diving into a pool (which was a trampoline).
He did some amazing bounces.
The clowns were pretty dumb actually. The klutz guy was much funnier, much more well done.
The clowns' house caught on fire, and the clown fire department tried to put it out.

It was a fun evening, well worth the (free-to-us) admission. We enjoyed popcorn and cotton candy. Three cheers for the circus!

Stephen's Birthday ~ 3 Years Old!

2008-05-16T21:36:00.012-04:00

Stephen turned 3 a couple of weeks ago, and we had a little birthday party at Ridge Ferry park here in Rome. We set up camp in the main pavilion.
The guest arrived, and they came bearing gifts.
And Stevie was more than happy to help bear the load.
The kids had fun playing on the playground equipment.
Stevie immediately made his way to the biggest slide for a swift ride down the curves, party blowout in hand.
Did I mention they had blowouts?
Noah loved his. Or is that Matthew?
Mary Grace had fun on the playground.
They had cars for racing.
Riley enjoyed the swings.
Stephen shared a cab with JD. Actually it was a police car.
Time for Stephen's first trip downtown? A little young.
They all gathered around for food and the party.
It was a beautiful evening.
We had some uninvited guests. And I don't mean flies or ants.
Two kids thought our party looked fun, so joined in. When we asked where their parents were, they said they'd gone to get a drink. So for about half an hour we had them following us, then joining us at the table.
No problem...the more the merrier!
We just kinda wondered if their parents would return, but someone eventually came for them.
Time for birthday cak....er, um... I mean birthday muffins. (Sometimes going healthy is a little over-the-top for even me.)
Matthew (or is it Noah?) helped blow out the candles on Stevie's muffin.
Now, to be fair, Stephen had tried and failed a few times to blow out his own candles, and I think Matthew finally had had enough.
Then Stephen opened presents.
He got some really neat toys!

Including a Thomas train and track.
The kids checked out their party favors.
The mini kites were a big hit.
Rex worked to get his crew safely on the grasshopper.

(Never realized it was a grasshopper until I had to come up with a caption here.)
Watch out indeed!

If he drives like his Dad, he'll mow you over.

(Actually, he'll make a few quick swerves, pass you and be out of your line-of-sight in 30 seconds! Then he'll make that trip downtown we mentioned earlier.)

What a lovely thing to see!
(What we won't mention is the next picture I snapped, which caught Syndi biting Junior's back because she got --no almost got -- hurt. I say hurt is what you get when you grab onto the back of a moving vehicle. But I digress.)
That's more like it!
JuneBug helped Jules get into the swing of things.

Oh, that was bad. Not even punny.

Happy Birthday StevieBoy!
He's the Big 3 now!

All Things Superficial

2008-05-02T17:50:00.001-04:00

We all need entertainment at some point, don't we?
So instead of posting something about what our family is doing, we're going to review a few of this week's more interesting entertaining moments. Yes, these things are...
Superficial.

Up first...the dazzling Detroit Red Wings!

Last night they swept the Colorado Avalanche in impressive fashion, with an 8-2 bludgeoning of the sixth-seeded Avs. A small slice to show how impressive the Wings are is shown in this clip of Henrik Zetterberg's goal to put the Wings up 5-1. Just watch this:
Henrik Zetterberg's Amazing Blind Spin Backhand Goal

I played this over so many times, even in slow motion. I couldn't believe it. The man takes a shot, which is blocked by the goalie. As he begins spinning, the puck rebounds off the goalie toward him. He completes his spin, taking a blind backhand swing at the puck, lifting it up and over the goalie's left shoulder. Absolutely unreal. As the announcer says, "does he see this puck?" If you play it frame to frame (I did), you can see it looks like he truly sees the puck as it rebounds toward him, so he completes his spin quickly, and it looks like he actually sees the puck before he takes his backhand shot.

And so they wait for their opponent, which will be either the Dallas Stars or the San Jose Sharks.

(Bring on the Stars!)
I added this image as a bumper sticker on facebook. Feel free to become my friend on facebook and see it for yourself.

Up next: the genuine Brooke White
Sadly, Brooke was sent home from American Idol (Season 7) this week. She was a wonderful artist, but even those of us who love Brooke could see that she wasn't performing at her best the last couple of weeks. I think we all saw this coming on Wednesday night.
So long, Brooke. We hardly knew ye.
Beyond that, I have five AI things to say:
1) David Archuleta and David Cook are the final two.
2) David Cook is hands-down the most talented, and deserves to win, but Archuleta has that teeny-bopper fan base to buoy him.
3) Syesha Mercado should definitely go into stage musicals/acting.
4) For all my loathing of Neil Diamond songs over the decades (though when I hear one, I'll usually be humming it for days), I was very impressed with the man on Tuesday and Wednesday. Especially the song he performed. Can anyone tell me if this man is a Christian?
5) How on earth is Jason Castro still here?! Someone please tell me. Who is going to pay money for a ukulele rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow??? Listen folks, as my wife has said, you cannot buy his smile! All you get is a photo (awkwardness included), maybe some lyrics, and a lot of lousy music. Ugh!
OK, I'm done. Just let me step down here and...yah, the soapbox goes right over there...thanks.

And finally: An E-mail. About feet. And the number 6.
Have you heard about this? If not, you've got to try it. I tried it and was so frustrated, I had to send it on to my co-workers. It likewise frustrated them. It looked so easy on paper (or the computer screen, in reality). Can't believe my own body won't do what I tell it to.
Here's the e-mail:
~
HOW SMART IS YOUR RIGHT FOOT?
-
You have to try this, it takes 2 seconds. I could not believe this!!! It is from an orthopedic surgeon...........
This will boggle your mind and you will keep you trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't. It's pre-programmed in your brain!
Without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.
Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.
I told you so!!! And there's nothing you can do about it! You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so.
Send it to your friends to frustrate them too.
~
OK, I tried it several times, and it was true every time. In fact, I even found that my foot changed direction when I started thinking about drawing the number six in my head (no hand involved)! That's when I gave up. At one point (and this happened to a co-worker also), I thought I'd done it, thinking I'd outsmarted my own brain. Then I realized my foot had been going the wrong direction the whole time. Kinda, weird isn't it?
-
That, folks, is all for today.
Superficial stuff, but entertaining to us.

The Brighter Side

2008-04-23T21:39:00.010-04:00

The kids had a lot of fun in Grandma & Grandpa's back yard.
("The kids" includes Jon, of course!)
Now that's what I call an underdog.
Getting some air.
Note to self: Get a shotgun.
Slide collision!
I love this picture.
Framed by the tunnel, tree shadows stretching in the distance, the sunlight bouncing around the tunnel, the reflection on the slide. If Junior's whole face reflection had been in the picture, I might submit it to a contest.
Gotta get that shotgun!

Daddy's turn.
I don't know why, but every time Daddy gets involved, the boys start taking greater risks.

Hmmm...

Traffic jam on the slide!
And now for the greater risk.

Note the open mouth. Junior is making a swoosh sound effect.

He is just like his father, who likes to make sound effect noises with every special thing he does. Of course, the kids love it. I never really realized I did it until Junior came along.

The long climb.
Sliding through the Golden Daddy Bridge.
Or maybe the Jean Leg Daddy Bridge is more appropriate.

And now for the head-first ride down the slide with Junior on my back.

LOL - I guess I'm making sound effects in this picture, huh?

I think mine was not a "swoosh", but a "whooooaaaa!"

On Grandma's sacred glider.
We stopped at a park on the ride home, so Syl could feed Jules.
Stephen was asleep.
More swing time.
Always posing.
Okay...who's gonna win?
Precious.
Thankfully, there were many brighter moments on the trip.

The Michigan Pilgrimage

2008-04-22T21:57:00.006-04:00

Our trip to Michigan was filled with sadness, but also with moments of joy. It was good to have everyone together around the kitchen table again. It was sad that it took Mom's death to bring us together.
Uncle Kyran really enjoyed hanging out with Julia Grace.
And Julia Grace loved cuddling with her Grandpa.
Cousin Lanette did artwork for the kids...
...and they were thrilled and proud to have those drawings.
The kids were enthralled with Grandpa filling the bird feeders.
After the first viewing, we picked up the kids at the Montefusco home. Amy kindly volunteered to watch our kids, who absolutely loved being there. Junior wanted to go back the next day. Amy took this picture of us. At the viewing, it was sad to see Mom. She looked like she could have sat up and said, "What are you all doing?!" But it was good to talk to old friends, to be comforted by and to comfort familiar faces.
We enjoyed a night at the Nagles, who generously invited us over for dinner. It was nice to relax and play some PS2 games. I haven't done that since...well, since the last time Tony had me over (many years ago in a land far, far away).
It was good to see Tony and Beth again.
Our kids had a lot of fun with Allie and the Nagle pets.
Syndi was able to reconnect with Allie...
...and with Jason Montefusco, friends from days gone by.
Sylvia and Amy enjoyed some time together.
It was good to be with old friends.
(No, I'm not calling them old! Though someone did mention a number with a four on the front and a zero on the end.)
The week wore us out completely. It was non-stop, go-go-go, be here, get that, do this, write those, decide, select, drive, run....even Jules was worn out by the end. But she found a place of respite in Grandpa's arms.

Joyce June Wheaton Sterling

2008-04-22T00:08:00.004-04:00

In Loving Memory of

Joyce June Wheaton Sterling

June 4, 1930 - April 12, 2008

Gone Home, Too

On a cold and breezy April day,

Under clouds that kept the sun at bay,

Someone stole away a woman we love,

And took her home to heaven above.

On this earth she touched so many lives,

And lived a life for which one strives.

A wife who loved her husband so;

She only nitpicked so he might grow.

A mother who loved her children dearly,

And wanted the best for them so sincerely.

A grandma who doted on every grandchild;

She pushed them and praised them, loving them all the while.

A teacher who taught from her teens 'til life's end;

With a heart for her students, she was teacher and friend.

She worked hard for her church, with the best of intention;

Often her work would go without mention.

Whether gardening or teaching, or any need she'd find,

She'd jump in with her heart, two feet not far behind.

If you stood beside Joyce for a moment or two,

You could not depart without knowing her view.

She affected so many, was involved in so much,

That you couldn't live near without feeling her touch.

And though we all mourn, for she's no longer here,

We rejoice, for where she is, there's no pain, not a tear.

For the clouds could not keep the Son at bay,

And Joyce is at home in heaven today.

Jonathan D. Caruvana

April 15, 2008

FE Exam on Saturday

2008-04-10T10:29:00.000-04:00

Jon is taking his Fundamentals of Engineering Exam this Saturday. This is the book (above) he's been using to prepare for it. The exam starts Saturday morning at 7:40 AM, and goes for 8 hours (two 4-hour sessions) with a lunch break in the middle. He should be done around 5 PM. He's been studying as he can over the last few months, but still feels totally unprepared. There is just so much material. The things he covered three months ago are a distant memory.
The book is about 2 inches thick. The exam will cover engineering math, statics, dynamics, materials engineering, fluids, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, engineering statistics and probability, chemistry, computers, engineering economics, ethics, process design and control, health and environmental engineering, and even biology.
They provide a 250+ page book with equations and tables (above).

It should be interesting.

Your prayers would be much appreciated.

New CFC Look!

2008-04-03T22:02:00.005-04:00

In case you haven't noticed, we have a few new looks on our blog.
We have changed the header, added a clock, and added a poll.
(See right side for the poll.)

Go ahead, answer the poll question. And, for this first one, go ahead and tell us if it's dumb (i.e., you don't want to be forced to answer a stupid poll).

Feel free to comment on the blog and its new look.

We like comments.

Let me say that again: we like comments.

And thank you, Deborah, for your comments!

You are very kind.

The picture above is a picture of Jules run through a painting filter.

Click on the picture to see the larger version and get the true effect.

Garden Prep

2008-03-27T23:16:00.005-04:00

It's that time again - time to get the garden ready!
So I spent the evening tilling the garden. At 6PM it was an overgrown patch of green weeds. By 7:30 it was a cross-tilled patch of rich brown dirt with perfectly spaced rows...just what every obsessive-compulsive engineer wants in a garden!
In a few months, we'll be posting pictures of our overgrown garden. Hopefully we'll have shots of the mounds of tomatoes we're harvesting also.

Junior Spelled J-U-N-I-O-R

2008-03-26T23:22:00.004-04:00

Junior, March 2008

Junior recently took on the challenge of spelling out his name in Magnetix pieces. Nearly 5 years ago, Syndi did the same thing with Legos, but she was younger and required a lot of help from Daddy. Junior did it mostly himself, but with a little help from Syndi.

Our flashback picture, to June 2003:

Treehouse Roof

2008-03-25T23:58:00.005-04:00

Just before Stephen was born, we bought a playset for our back yard. The original roof over what the kids call the "treehouse" (in spite of the lack of a tree), was a tarp-like material. It survived the first summer with no damage,but that first winter took its toll. In its second summer (last year), the combination of wind and sun shredded and disintegrated the tarp roof. By the end of last summer, I determined to put a real roof on The Treehouse.
So, as all good Jon projects go, I bought materials at the end of last summer, started work on it this winter, and completed it this spring. In fact, I actually still have a few minor touch-ups to make.
Above: Before (December 2007)

Below: After (March 2008)
Now that was fun!