Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Posted on April 9, 2010 - by Estate Manager

G.G. visits Hearthstone House

Hearthstone House was honored to have special visitors this past week from Ohio. The girls Great Grandma, or G.G. as we affectionately call her, drove down with Papa Johnny and Grandma Nancy. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed an action packed weekend of celebrating Easter and Meebs’ Birthday.

While G.G. was here, she kindly helped me work in the garden, stain the patio set and taught me her secret spaghetti sauce recipe. We worked hard, laughed hard and slept hard while she was visiting. And the memories we shared are visible all over Hearthstone House. I am so glad that my Grandma came to stay and was able to see my home and family in our environment, and experience a day in the life of The Estate Manager. Love you G.G.!

Posted on February 16, 2010 - by Estate Manager

Winter Days Inside

The past month or so Hearthstone House has been mostly confined to inside play. Snow has come and gone twice and the temperatures are too cold for playing outside. We have been able to put all the Christmas toys to good use. The Bird is really into playing with her Barbies, Quadrilla set and Legos. Meebs is into anything Elmo, her tea set, coloring and puzzles. But I simply love to watch them imagine and play on their own.  They take ordinary objects, create and make believe and end up entertaining themselves and me for hours.  For instance, the Bird loves to cup stack with left over sample cups I have from my job. She builds colossal pyramids and waits for Meebs or Tiki to knock them down and then rebuilds. Scraps of construction paper and sticker rhinestones become rings and bracelets. Meebs also pretends to to be Super Mia with a dish cloth cape. The living room drapes are now a “stage”, they are the stage curtains for their plays.  Even while watching TV their little minds are going. One of my favorite things we have been doing is recording the Olympics at night and then replaying it for the girls to watch. The girls have been bobsledding in a laundry basket, speed skating with wax paper skates, hooded sweat shirts and sunglasses and pairs skating with each other. Also the Weather Channel is a big hit around here, the girls pretend to be meteorologists and predict upcoming weather patterns. Here are some images and videos of them in their element. What do your children imagine when they play?

Posted on January 1, 2010 - by Estate Manager

Christmas Wrap Up

Hearthstone House celebrated Christmas this year in both traditional and new ways this year. We of course made sugar cookies, partook in kids crafts, took our trip to the mall to see Santa and drove all over Atlanta looking at Christmas lights. Christmas Eve we went to church and then had dinner at Tasty China a fancy Chinese restaurant and celebrated together, very much like Ralphie’s family in a Christmas Story. Christmas morning we opened presents from Santa and made a simple breakfast. Here are some images from the week.

Posted on December 11, 2009 - by Estate Manager

Bird Sings in Choir

This week has been a furry of activity for The Bird with preparations for Christmas performances for church choir. She sang on Wednesday night to a packed house of parents, grandparents and siblings. She did really well and was not stage freight, I think it was because her buddy Chase was there. Mom and Dad were so proud of her and look forward to more performances in the future.

Posted on November 2, 2009 - by Estate Manager

Videos of Meebs

Our little Meebs is growing into her personality and it is really fun to watch. This past week we were able to capture some moments of her on video. She is just starting to make friends of her own at the library and is also coloring with real enthusiasm.

At the library – for a pre Halloween Party

Coloring (going bonkers) at CPK

Posted on September 14, 2009 - by Estate Manager

4th Annual Bird Day

Sunday marked the 4th birthday for The Bird and as usual Hearthstone House did our best to celebrate the milestone in a special way. Slade and I decorated the upstairs hallway Saturday night and when she woke up on Sunday she was very excited and surprised. The Bird asked for a Hello Kitty cake and we decided to take her to a fancy dinner out at Benihana, a Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse. She really enjoyed watching her meal being cooked at her table and she kept on saying how wonderful the food was.  She also loved the rice and using chopsticks for the first time. Here are some images of the festivities.

Posted on July 14, 2009 - by Estate Manager

Road Trip: Florida

I finally worked up enough courage to drive down to Florida alone with The Bird and Meebs last week. I have been putting off traveling with everything going on and finally Slade convinced me, packed us up and sent us on our way. We left on Monday morning around 10:30 am and arrived at my mom’s house at 6:45 pm. The girls were well behaved with one exception: a three hour stretch of Meebs crying and The Bird throwing objects at me out of sheer boredom. The incident resulted in mom pulling the car over to the shoulder of the road and explaining the importance of basic safety regulations and common courtesy practices to the toddlers. I am not really sure if they understood what I was saying but I think the look on my face explained my level of frustration. Soon after the pep talk we made it to our destination, Grandma Deb and Grandpa Dave’s House! The weather did not cooperate too much while we were there but we were able to fish, see manatees from the dock, play with Kabuki (Grandma’s Maltese) and visit with family.

The second leg of the trip we drove down to Slade’s parents and visited Grandma Pam and Grandpa Bob. The girls enjoyed themselves in the mornings at the beach. This was Meebs first time playing in the sand and experiencing the ocean. The Bird made friends quickly and was amused by finding small fiddler crabs and periwinkles in the sand. The girls also liked playing with Odie (Grandma and Grandpa’s Dalmatian Pup), Nana’s jewelry, and Grandma’s extensive collection of reading glasses. We made it home safely yesterday and spent today recovering and unpacking. A future Hearthstone House road trip is being considered and planned for Ohio, if Ohio will have us.

Posted on May 20, 2009 - by Estate Manager

Summer Kick Off

Hearthstone House has offically kicked off Summer. We could not wait any longer so I hope it is okay with the rest of you.  There are pop sickles in the freezer, a new bottle of sun screen was busted open today and I can’t get The Bird to keep her socks and shoes on. I know for some of you Spring is just starting but after today’s events Spring conceded to let her sister step in. Slade and I took the girls over to our local park for a free concert the community has every Wednesday during the summer and we had a great time. We a packed a picnic, grabbed some cold drinks and found a cool place in the shade. The Bird ran around, blew bubbles and danced on stage. Meebs was spotted standing all by herself, crawling all around the blanket and shakin’ her head to the music.  I was able to catch a sweet moment of the girls sitting together before we headed over the playground.

Posted on April 11, 2009 - by Estate Manager

A Food Week In Review

Nothing like a holiday to inspire a mother to cook. I have great intentions when it comes to cooking but sometimes life gets in the way of whipping up something special. So in honor of Easter I am sharing some meals and images of The Bird and I getting ready for Sunday and some meals in between.

Friday 10:00 AM The Bird and I are up and ready to start baking while little Meebs sleeps. Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Friday 8:30 PM The girls are in bed and Slade and I can finally talk and enjoy some quiet. Menu: Ham and Cheese Quiche with Sweet Potato Home Fries and Organic Chicken Sausage.

Saturday 6:30 PM Family Dinner, Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops, Sweet Potato Home Fries (Leftover) and Sweet Corn.

Saturday 7:30 PM The Bird and I dye our eggs. We used food coloring, vinegar, and boiling water. The bird also wanted to decorate the outside of the egg carton.

Sunday 5:00 PM I am planning on Maple and Brown Sugar Glazed Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Green Beans Rolls, and Our Carrot Cake Cupcakes.

I hope your Easter is spent with those you love, eating tasty treats and remembering why this day is so special.

Posted on April 8, 2009 - by Estate Manager

Hearthstone Hosts Bird Colony

About a week ago I bought some new bird seed that I had not tried before called a deck and patio mix. I have definitely gotten some new activity due to the change. The first thing I noticed was that the squirrels love the new mix. And second the mix has attracted other species of birds. This was so great yesterday while The Bird and I were in the kitchen we saw these little beauties in our yard and at the feeder. Their color is so intense. I am pretty sure they are American Goldfinches. The males have bright yellow feathers to attract the females. I love the image with the four males sitting on the branch. Maybe a cute little female was sitting close by. The other cool thing I noticed is that they are a similar color to the leaves budding on all the trees. At one point I counted about 20 Goldfinches on the deck, on the feeder and waiting in the tree.