Birthday wishlist

Ok, so my mom asked me what I want for my birthday and frankly I was stumped.  With all the chaos going on I didn't even realize my birthday is 3 weeks away.

So I did some thinking and this is what I want. A camera bag with a matching strap.  Hopefully my mommy will make me some straps so I can change them out.  But maybe my dear husband will read my blog and get me the bag.  :-)

Stanley goes to Keysville, VA

Yet another Flat Stanley Report from VA!

Flat Stanley came all the way to my city, Keysville, VA.  While he was here, these are some of the exciting things he saw and did:

Stanley went out to eat at Pino’s Restaurant where Grandma Susan works.  He had Mario Fries, bread sticks and pizza to eat.  Stanley then came home and swam in our new inground pool with Justin, Ashley and Macayla.  Collin doesn’t swim in the pool yet.  He then went to sleep in our sunroom where you sleep when you visit. 

The distance between Jonesborough, TN and Keysville, VA is approximately 297 miles.  We have a population of 764 people, Jonesborough has  5,221 people. 

If Flat Stanley should come back to visit he should wear summer clothes because the climate here is warm, and don’t forget his bathing suit for the pool!

Some other interesting facts about our city include:

Our town does not have any traffic lights and you might find yourself driving behind a tractor or an Amish buggy being pulled by a horse on our roads. 

The average cost of a home in Keysville $162,567.

We are #59 on the list of “Top 100 cities with the largest percentage of females”!

We have three restaurants and now a hot dog cart – WHOOPEE!

Love,

Grandma Susan Paulsen

Tech Lane 

Keysville, VA

P.S.  I couldn’t find a postcard of our town, but here are some pamphlets of things from our state of VA.

Flat Stanley - goes to Butler and Wanaque NJ

So it seems that Stanley had to go and check out what all the hype was about over there at that Lakeland Regional High School...rumors were flying on facebook and he just wanted to be sure Gramps had everything under control! He got there just in time to help Grandpa prepare for the budget election!

Here is the note from Grandma Katie:

Hello Alex,

Stanley got here Saturday. He went with Grandpa Al to help run the school. It's in Wanaque, NJ. He wore a suit and helped Grandpa get ready for the budget election.

Then he went with me to take care of your cousin Michael. He colored and slept there too. He wore his Pitt sweatshirt and jeans there. We were in Butler, NJ then.

It is in-between spring and summer weather here. One week it is 90 degrees and the next 50 degrees. Our spinach and lettuce is starting to come up in the garden, but we won't put in the tomatoes and peppers and things until Mother's Day.

No postcards of Oakland are available. We are a great community of about 16,000 people about 35 minutes west of New York City so we get the best of all possible places. We were settled in the 1600's before there was a USA. Grandpa's people lived here when it was still called The Valley of The Ponds. Ponds meant Dutch churches not the water ponds. George Washington stopped here at the Van Allen House because it was on the road to Morristown where he had a camp. We are about 632 miles from Jonesboro and you know it is a very long ride to there.

I'm including some of Flat Stanley's pictures from here.

Let me know if you need the actual pictures and FS back and I will send them to you asap.

Love,

Grandma Kathie

Hard at work!  Stanley was checking out the website.

Stanley admiring all those grand babies!  

Who are these funny looking kids?

Stan hanging out with cousin Michael looking chill in his Pitt gear!

After a long day nothing is better than a nap...

Flat Stanley - visits Delaware!

We got a post card today from Stanley!  He is visiting our old MOMS Club of Smyrna friends.  They seem to have made a trip to the Monster Mile for a postcard.  Alex and I used to pass by there every day.

Eeek a spider!

Well in between playing TMZ on facebook with some people who have no life, I had to help Alex get his book report project done this week. Since we decided to enter the "Floral Design" craft category in the County Fair for the Charlotte's Web project we had to wait until today to do it.  We had all the supplies ready and it came together really quickly.  We used fresh mums spray painted brown/terracotta.

He was actually surprised at how easy it was to do and how cool it came out.  This is how I used to design floral funeral arrangements. Sometimes we even made things like a giant Winnie the Pooh for a baby shower with the same technique.

I hope everyone else gets a kick out of it too.

Charlotte even sent him a message in her web.  :-)

Flat Stanley

We have mailed 7 flat Stanley's and have about 5 more people participating via email/facebook. I can't wait to see where he goes! I will post his travels as they come in. You can read more about our Flat Stanley Project here.

Wallpaper of the month

Download the size you want here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janiceandcompany/4512912094/sizes/l/




http://www.flickr.com/photos/janiceandcompany/4512340057/sizes/o/

PLAY BALL!

Opening day at the Jonesborough Little League yesterday.  Jeffrey had to wait about 2 hrs to play but when he got to he had fun.  Alex did well but needs to really stop spinning and dancing in the dirt.
He was hilarious though chanting "HEY BATTA BATTA BATTA HEY BATTA BATTA BATTA!"  Wonder who taught him that?

Home Improvements

So the time has finally come for us to leave TN. Not sure where we are going but we are moving on up...as they say.  Tony is on some interviews this week in Mishawaka, IN and Clinton, MA.  More are being set up for NC, and I think Pittsburgh (but don't get too excited about any of them yet).  It is like a roller coaster to say the least, kind of in the fun way.

We decided to rent our current home out and are preparing it for rental in the next 6 weeks. My wonderful ex-brother in-law came to do some work for us this week while his kids had spring break. He brought my niece Ashley with him. She has been enjoying the peace I think away from her siblings. :-) So if you know any families moving to the Tri-Cities area and looking to rent check out my house!

He got the deck re-surfaced and bolted it into the house (yes for 5 yrs I have never let anyone stand on it).  And he did most of the floor downstairs yesterday (ripped out carpet and put laminate down) he is finishing the trim and stuff today.

I am so grateful for his talent and speed with these types of things.  I can never find anyone around here to work.  I know my mom and sister are probably wishing he were there doing their "list" (see photos below) but I needed him more this week.

Pouring the sidewalk.

I think this is a redneck fire pit.

Building sandboxes

Trimming Trees

He and Ashley will be back in VA just in time to jump into the new pool!

Well I hope to get my ass in that pool some time this summer even if we are moving and looking for a new house!  I may be living in the sun room with the kids for a few weeks!  

Tball and Egg Hunt

Here are some photos of Jeff's first scrimmage game in Tball this year and Alex's class Easter Egg Hunt.