Let's Play Ball....

I was just sitting there watching TV when I was drawn to look over at LaLa. She was lying there with her favorite yellow ball and staring at me this big smile on her face. She wanted me to try to take her ball. When I acted interested she put her nose on it while keeping an eye on me. Then when I moved toward her she put her mouth over the ball as if to say, "no, you can't have it yet". So I ignored her and continued to watch TV, next thing I knew there she was at my feet with the ball asking for a game of chase the ball. She's such a silly dog. Of course, I had to toss the ball for her. After just ten minutes of chasing the ball she was ready to take a nap. That was just too easy.

Laser Lure Bass

John received a set three different laser lures for his birthday and I was the first one to catch a Bass on one of them. This was fish was caught on the chugger lure. She was thin in the belly from just coming off the bed, as they don't eat when they are bedding. As usual we returned her to the lake after taking the photos. My guess is she would weigh around 7-8 lbs if she hadn't been just off the bed. When she jumped and I saw the size of the fish on my line I started getting scared I might loose her, but when she was landed that lure was buried in her mouth from side to side. I had a smaller bass hit the lure earlier but didn't land it because, upon examination of the lure, I discovered that I hadn't removed the barb protectors from the hooks. Good thing John removed them before this Bass hit, cause I surely would have lost her too. This was a good day fishing. Of course, any day fishing is a good day.

Before and After the Rains...

About a month ago..... Today....

It's amazing how much the lake water level has come up with all these rains we are having. Last year the water came up past the concrete bench shown in the pictures. Another few inches of rain and the lake will be back there again. As you can see John's little dock addition was totally out of the water just weeks ago, now look at it. We judge the depth by the steps leading up to the dock deck. Right now the first step is under water and the second step is close to being covered.

Warhawks Team Makes Finals...

BOOM!!
I'm good, where's the ball?Got it. Now out of my way!

Haley's soccer team, The Warhawks, made the finals of the soccer tournament this weekend, however, they lost their final game to bigger thirteen year old girls (Warhawks are 12 yr. olds). They played well and should be proud of their accomplishments. The girls will now be playing on the larger fields through Middle School, Jr. High and High School. Hope Haley gets a scholarship.

Birthday camp out on the lake.....

This the view of the back yard after the camp out.
John stayed busy giving tube rides.

The water trampoline was a big hit too.
Haley's Sponge Bob cake

The twins, Haley and Kierstin, had a great time at their camp out birthday party on our lake. Sherry and Keith set up tents and we had a fire pit on the beach. The girls made "smoores" and roasted marshmellows. Though Sherry finally had to put her foot down and tell the girls to go to sleep around 2:30; they were up and ready for breakfast at 7:30 am. They had lots of fun playing in the lake and especially enjoyed having John pull them around the lake behind his boat. The water trampoline was also a big hit, even after the trampoline part tore loose. I had made three cakes; a mermaid cake, a cookie cake and a Sponge Bob cake. By the end of the party on Sunday afternoon all the cakes were eaten, along with a ton of other food. Those girls can eat! There were sixteen twelve year old girls who kept us all busy. We were also dog sitting two Papillons for our friends, Todd and Brenda, who were in Los Vegas for a week. Mona and Leo were sure happy to see them when they returned on Sunday. With Reno added to the mix we had six dogs. Good thing we have a large yard.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Kierstin and Haley!!!!!

Today is Kierstin and Haley's birthdays. They are twelve years old. Sherry and Keith took the day off work to take them to Disney. Wow, what a great birthday treat and what great parents they have. I spent the day making them a mermaid cake. This was my first attempt at this type of cake. I think the next one will be a princess cake. They came by after Disney and decided not to eat the cake, but to save it for their lake party this weekend. They enjoyed opening their gifts, ice cream and rootbeer floats. May is a busy birthday month for us. We've got: John, Mark, Icee, LaLa, Kierstin, Haley and Cindy D.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLS!!! Your Nana and Papa love you very much!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you mothers out there. And you know who you are. This is a day to give special thanks to the Mom in your life who has cared for you through thick and thin and in some cases it's time for us to care for them.

You are my mother and my friend,

which is unusual.

Somehow our characters must blend:

your wisdom and my will.
I turn, and you are there for me;

I speak, you understand.

I feel cared for, but also free;

You lead but don't command.
I'm fortunate that I was born

To someone just like you;

I love you, not just as my mom,

But for what you are and do.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!!!

Happy Birthday to John!!!!

Wow, today (May 10th) is John's birthday (the big 66) AND it's Mother's Day. That makes for a busy day. We had his birthday party yesterday so we could have a quite day and enjoy Mother's Day with my mom today. We had a nice cookout with friends and family, and we were also celebrating our nephew-in-law, Mark's, birthday which is also on the 10th. The weather was hot, but at least there was a breeze coming off the lake. I gave him a nice Sony camcorder and a Sony 9" portable DVD player that he's been wanting for a while. He says that he plans to take the camcorder with him when he's fishing on the river to film some of the huge gators he sees and I know that he wants to film the pups. Especially Icee when she gets so excited over any fish he's catching. Maybe we'll win some money on one of those TV shows which pays for funny home videos. Mom has been staying with us since her four day stay in the hospital this week so we'll take her out to lunch then back home to enjoy her gifts and being pampered by ME!!!

Happy Birthday Icee and LaLa!!!!

Happy Birthday to Icee and LaLa. They are eight years old today. We are getting ready to take them to Brewster's Ice Cream for their annual scoop of doggy ice cream. They have had a busy morning chasing lizards and bugs while John was mowing and raking the back yard. Tomorrow they get a bath. Oh boy, oh boy!!!

Canyon got a workout today.....

A girl and a horse, need I say more?

We all had a nice ride on Canyon today. We were trying out a new saddle. Poor Canyon had to put up with my sloppy riding then he was worked by Sherry and Haley. He was given a nice linament bath afterwards. I figured that after carrying my big butt he could use it. Bet he will sleep good tonight.

Mine That Bird wins the Kentucky Derby in style!!

Calvin Borel and Mine That Bird ran a awesome race then made the other horses look slow; it was a well-deserved victory. Borel was squeezed out of the gate at the start and then came from dead last to accelerate to the finish line after weaving through the pack and winning by over six lengths. Borel had a fantastic ride. I loved watching him weaving through the pack along the rail then sneaking past the lead horses to take the lead and win. A classic Secretariat move. You can watch the Kentucky Derby video reply at:

http://www.inentertainment.co.uk/20090503/kentucky-derby-2009-video-reply/ . Actually my pick was Pioneer of the Nile (jockey Garrett Gomez, Trainer Bob Baffert), who came in second. I was also rooting for jockey Mike Smith just cause I like him and Chocolate Candy cause I liked the name. Not a good reason I know. They were out of the money in fifth place. Hey, at least my picks were strong contenders. This race was one for the books.

The Warhawks win soccer tournament..

Haley is one serious soccer player.

Haley's soccer team, The Warhawks, won the Palm Bay Spring Challenge, in Melbourne this past weekend. The went undefeated winning all their games, 8/0, 12/0, 1/0 and 3/0. No one was able to score on them. It seems that their playing the boys in prior games has helped make them more agressive players. Way to go Warhawks!!! These girls are becoming one tough team.

Flowers are a blooming....

Beautiful red Gladiolus

Splendor Hibiscus

Splash Hibiscus
Yellow Harvest Moon Hibiscus

Blue Lily of the Nile

I just love all the colors of Spring. The Hibiscus were purchased at a local flower show and are blooming like crazy. I only wish the blooms would last for more than just a day or two. I've enjoyed cutting the Glads for my flower arraignments. The Blue Lily of the Nile bulbs were rescued after a hurricane flooded the River Walk, downtown Sanford, and tore up some of the flower beds uprooting many of the plants and bulbs. I planted the bulbs on our property before our house was built. They have multiplied and are really producing right now. I hope everything is blooming for next weekend when we have a cookout for John's and Mark's birthdays.

My 6.5 pound Bass

Icee helping bring in the 4.5 pounder

John with Donna's Bass....Nice 6.5 pounder

We had a nice time Bass fishing on the lake this morning. My first Bass was a 6.5 pounder. She went down into the grass and I thought I was going to loose her, but perseverance paid off and I landed her along with a huge pile of grass. John and I both caught 4.5 pounders too. Icee had a great time trying to help us land the fish. She just loves to bite their tails and try to drag them. Not sure where she's going with them. She came back today covered with fish scales from the approximate 15 Bass we caught. She's definitely getting a bath today. Oh, and don't worry all the Bass went back into the lake.

Canyon, 16.3 TB

Kierstin, Canyon and Haley

Haley on Canyon

This is Canyon the horse we looked at on Sherry's birthday. He is a 13 year old, 16.3 hand, TB gelding who has been around the block. He has been shown, Dressage, Jumper and Cross-Country. He is a gentleman on the ground and was very quite for Haley to ride. He is definitely one to consider as he has also been a lesson horse. Seems like we keep finding bays, though at least he has some white. From what I hear the market is flooded with cheap or even free horses. We're getting closer to the right one. The search goes on. (Note....5/1/09: The search ended with Canyon. He's now under lease to Sherry. Can't get the smile off of Haley's face!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!!!

Sherry's Birthday Butterfly Cake

Sherry was 30 something (see I didn't tell your age) on April 17th. I enjoyed going with her, Keith and the girls to look at a horse she was thinking of leasing. I had a nice time watching Sherry and Haley ride Canyon, a BIG 16.3 hand, TB gelding. Watching Sherry ride brought back so many memories of her riding her pony, Spunky, as a child and her horse, Ari, as a teenager. She is still an excellent rider even after not haven ridden regularly for many years. Afterward we celebrated her birthday with some chocolate butterfly cake and ice cream. John even made Root Beer floats. Mmmm good! And, of course, there were gifts. It was a good day.

Haley, the Track Star!!!

Feeling like a winner

We attended Haley's first middle school track meet at Sanford Middle School yesterday and she did a great job. The first race was the 4x100m relay where she ran the anchor to impressively win the race, against some boys too. She tied for first in the 200m, then went on to win her leg of the 4x400m relay. All in all she had a great day. We were so happy to see her having a good meet. Can't wait for the next one.

Kierstin the Cheerleader

Kierstin's cheerleading team, The Lake Mary All Stars, recently competed at the COA Nationals held at the Gaylord Palms near Disney. She is getting so much better in her jumps (not sure what they call this move). They had a great time between competitions touring the Palms which was an adventure in itself. If you've never been there I here it's an awesome place to visit.

Today's Sunset

What a beautiful sunset! While watching the news this evening John pointed out toward the lake and said "look at that sunset". I grabbed the camera and quickly got some shots before it was gone. I have to say we get some of the most beautiful sunsets being on the East end of the lake. Almost looks like a painting doesn't it?

Papillon Easter

Icee found some eggs
LaLa guarding her eggs

If you don't try to photograph your pets you have no clue how hard it was to get these little pups to sit still, ears up, looking in the same direction with happy faces while you try to snap shots. These little girls love to chase lizards which were all over the place while I was doing this photo shoot. They were such little troopers staying put under such temptations. Thank goodness for digital cameras. We had a wonderful Easter lunch at Mike and Cindy's house. It was nice to get together with family and enjoy some great food. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.