Gamecocks v Tigers

I had a great time at the basketball game last night in Columbia even though my Gamecocks lost. Kim and Andy joined me for a fun evening at the Colonial Life Arena. At the beginning of the game SC looked great then they fell behind from there but they still scored 85+ points. However they did not give up even at the end they were still scrapping for the ball. That is a welcome change from last year! I think that the Gamecocks will do better this year and if we can get a big man even better next year! And hopefully the Gamecock baseball team comes through again and beats Clemson!!

Christmas 2008Pictures

Update on Granddaddy Frank

We are very thankful that Granddaddy had successful laproscopic surgery on his gall bladder on December 23. The doctors were able to get his infection treated as well. He went home Christmas Eve tired but feeling much better. Hopefully he will continue to improve!

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. We had a great Christmas and got to visit with family and friends. Frank wanted Grandmama-ma the whole time (and Pap when Grandmama-ma upset him). Frank really wanted to play on Mama-ma's new Wii fitness so she picked him up to dodge shoes, bears and soccer balls. he loved it!! He did not want Grandmama-ma to leave the house without him. The whole time driving down he was "We go Grandmama-ma's house? where Mama-ma?"

Frank loved all of his presents, especially "colors" (crayons), easel, his new books, blocks, toys, trike and everything else he managed to get. He is much loved Frank Frank! He was ready to start creating his own masterpieces as soon as he saw what Santa brought! I think the easel will be a favorite for some time to come. He also enjoyed the Thomas train phone.

At Mom's house we got to visit with Uncle Winfield, Aunt May, Aunt Barbara and Kaela. We also went to see Abbey who is one of Frank's biggest fans. She was so sweet that she gave Frank a toy of her own to play with and let him keep along with some bells she got at church. We also saw Ms Karen where played with her granddaughter's play house. He thought the Barbies were "babies."

We had a nice visit with Dad, Lu and family (although we missed Sharon and Lisa this time). Frank and Sheldon got along really well...Frank was just following Sheldon around to try and play with the big boy toys! The whole time we were at Poppy Bob's house Frank wanted to get in the pond or look for geese! He really loves the water. When we were leaving he said "bye Pop Pop"

Thanks to everyone and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!

Prayer Request for Granddaddy

Granddaddy is having emergency gall bladder surgery right now in Virginia. Please join us in praying for his quick recovery and for the medical staff working on him. Plus prayers for Nannie and Leanne there in Virginia. We love you Granddaddy!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today is Grandmama's birthday. Frank IV called her this morning and something like Happy Birthday...."hahpy bbithdy Mama-ma" . I told him were going to Mama-ma's house and he kept looking. We opened the front door and he was like "no mama-ma here!" and only the secret stash of gummy bears he found kept him from being fussy. We are looking forward to Christmas visits in the next few days.

Countdown the new business opening date

We are only 9 day away from operating our new store. We are looking forward to getting started. We are thinking of ways to organize the existing merchandise and samples along with adding in our new items. We are hoping to add at least twenty (20%) percent more soon. We are also working on our trip to the market in Atlanta in a couple of weeks as well to check out old and new vendors. It is going to be a busy and hopefully fun trip.

Pre-Christmas Visit with Nana

We met Aunt Jean, Aunt Kent, Uncle Tommy and Jennifer and Nana in Laurens on Sunday December 21. We had a nice lunch at Roma's on the Square. Considering it was nap time Frank IV did pretty well. The whole way he said going to "Na-na-na's house? See Na-na-na? " He would say Aunt Jean and Aunt Kent or Jennifer (Kit) but not much once we got there. He even said "bye bye Jen-i-fer" in car. Frank IV went straight to Nana though and pulled out his toys there, including his puzzle which he gave to Nana to hold while he took the pieces in and out. When we left the restaurant he got upset because Nana rode back to her house with Aunt Jean and he wanted Nana with him! Too cute!

Aunt Jean headed back home to Atlanta and the rest went to Myrtle Beach to spend Christmas there.

Quick Visit with Brooks and Julie Saturday 12/20/08

We met Brooks and Julie at Maurices BBQ on Satuday. They enjoyed seeing Frank IV run around (literally). He has gotten much bigger since the last time they saw him. We gave them their small present and was glad to get spent at least some time together.

Frank's Christmas Program December 18, 2008

Grandma, Mommy & Frank

Jingle Bells rocked last night. We enjoyed celebrating the season with the children. They all did a fantastic job!

Grandma & Frank
Pap and Frank. Pap gave Frank a cute reindeer that plays jingle bells and lights up!

Grandma and Pap and Frank

Christmas with Santa

Enjoy Christmas Santa Picture!

Last night we had pictures made in Frank's Christmas outfit and went and sat on Santa's lap at the mall. Frank did great in the first picture then he started crying. Then after about 5 minutes he tried again and got a non crying picture. Then he was all smiles saying "bye-bye Ho Ho, night night Ho Ho." All of course while having a poopy diaper with no extras in diaper bag made Mommy have a stressful time. We got some cute pictures at JCPenney's even as Frank ran around the picture area.

"Ah Man" & Lights

Frank IV new favorite thing to say is "ah man" and "lights" "pretty lights" "color lights" and "ohh lights"

I am not sure why I said ah man about something. Maybe it was watching a football/basketball game or while driving but Frank picked right up on it. He just randomly says ah man. It is really funny how he picks up on everything...and I mean everything we say.

Frank has gotten to where he likes to read about 10 books a night before we go to bed. Last night I picked up my library book thinking he was almost asleep on the couch and he jumped up to push it away to give me "his books." He loves the ones with flaps and animal noises. Peek a Boo Zoo has been read the last several nights along with Bubbles..., Runaway Bunny, Biscuit's Easter Egg Hunt(he loves to look for the eggs), Spot's treasure hunt, Good Night Blue, If Your Happy taggie book, One, Two, Three, Goodnight Book, Animal Farm Book, Goodnight You, Goodnight Me, Bubbles again.

We love books and music. I like it when Frank IV tries to read to the book himself. I told him to read one to the "babies" (bear, prayer baby, bear blankie, puppy) in his bed the other night and he took the book (upside down of course) and was showing them the pictures. This morning he took Peter Rabbit and was "reading" it to me on the way to school.

In the same thoughts, this weekend on Saturday Frank fell asleep in my arms. He just crashed after running around like a crazy toddler. I love that he wants to snuggle and a quiet time. It reminds my why I love being a Mommy and how blessed I am to have my family, even when my Franks drive me to distraction.

The Nutcracker

Mylene and I went to see the Nutcracker for Christmas on Dec 13, 2008 at the Koger Center with the Columbia City Ballet. It was a girls night for Christmas! It was a great show despite our original seats being in a funny place. We moved for a better view and enjoyed the show. We had a nice dinner before hand at Longhorn's in the Vista. We were lucky enough to get parking spots up close which was good since it was chilly when the show got out. The little cherub stole the show along with the baby mice and baby candies. All of the dancers were did a good job.

Jingle Bells...Christmas Lights

Frank's class is getting ready for their performance next week by practicing Jingle Bells. They will be singing and ringing bells and dancing/jumping around. He is really cute singing. He sings "jinga bell, jinga bell, jinga all way, hey" and dances around. After the song ends Frank says "again". He does really good job right now so I hope being in front of people will not inhibit him. I heard his class practicing earlier this week and they are really cute.

Frank IV loves Christmas lights. He says "color lights", "pretty lights", "lights" and "LIGHTS". Frank is having fun seeing lights and he keeps wanting to touch our tree. He also likes the ornaments..although he tries to throw the "balls."

*From Wikapedia. "Jingle Bells", also known as "One Horse Open Sleigh", is one of the best known and commonly sung secular Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and copyrighted under the title 'One Horse Open Sleigh' on September 16, 1857. The song has been translated into many languages, was made in thanks giving by the composer.*

Gloria by John Rutter

Our Grace choir sang Gloria by John Rutter yesterday at the 11am. It was a very nice and moving service. The choir sang great and the digital organ and brass and percussion were outstanding! After months of hard work it was worth it to celebrate the Glory of God.

2008 Visit with Santa

Here are Frank and Santa. I told Frank we were going to see Santa and he kept saying "hohoho". Santa gave him a candy cane and that was all it took. Here are some of pics. Merry Christmas!

Frank and his new Tent

Frank IV got a fun new tent for Christmas (early) from Aunt Leanne and his cousins Hunter and Jordan. Here is a video of him playing in it. He was having a great time! Okay no video yet but here are the pics at least. Frank also loves the spongebob pjs too!

Official Business Ownership...

It is official. We have signed the paperwork and are taking over the business on January 1, 2009. What a way to start the new year!

Christmas Lights at Riverbanks Zoo

We visited the Lights at the Zoo on November 28, 2008. It was great weather about 60 degrees and we had a good time checking out the animals at night (the ones we could see) and of course all of the lights. Frank rode the carousel twice, once with Mommy, Hunter and Jordan and once with Granddaddy. He loved it. As we were leaving Frank IV said "night night zoo. Bye-bye zoo." He was really good the whole time and enjoyed seeing the sights with Hunter and Jordan,

Thanksgiving

We were blessed to have family join us for our first Thanksgiving in our new house. Grandma, Pap, Aunt Barbara, Grandaddy, Nannie, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Leann, and cousins Hunter and Jordan all came to have dinner with us. What a treat to all be together. We had a wonderful time together even if the boys did not sit much. Everyone else had too much to eat.

Hunter and Jordan brought Frank IV a police car to play with outside and all the boys had fun playing with it and playing ball. It was great when Daddy Frank kicked the ball OVER the house into the backyard. Here are some pictures of our day.

We had a great day capped off by a shopping trip to Michaels.

Thanksgiving Dressing...

So Thanksgiving just would not Thanksgiving without dressing...or so says Grandma after Frank forgot to pick up the dressing we ordered at Little Pigs BBQ. We ordered our smoked turkey but he forgot dressing. Well that is Grandma's favorite part so I had a food emergency Wednesday night.

I called in the big gun Aunt Jean to give me the recipe. Well it went something like this...

AJ: (After laughing) I am not sure what to tell you since I do not measure. I just know how to do it. Make some cornbread - you can use jiffy mix. Then get some biscuits and crumble it up.

B: What?? Do I cook the conrbread first? How do I crumble it up? You put biscuits in dressing??

Uncle Bill in the background...laughing really loudly "Tell her to cook it first!" What is she thinking.

AJ: Then you saute onions and celery in butter and add it together with eggs and poulty seasoning and chicken broth. Then you taste it.

B: It is okay to buy the celery and onions already cut up? How many eggs? What kind of chicken broth? Poultry what? ....What does it taste like since i have never had it??

***You can imagine the conversation***

However, all was well as Aunt Jean's dressing made it to the table and Mom really liked it. I am putting in a picture as proof I really did it. I may not be able to do it again but I got it done in 2008!

Jumping of the deep end of the business pool...

We are jumping the deep end of business pool and taking our web based business (CahoonsCloset.com) to a retail location...I know it sounds a bit crazy but Jimmy Buffett always said if "we weren't all crazy we would go insane..."

We have formed a limited liability company and will be taking over a store here in Columbia on January 1, 2008. It is located on Forest Drive. It is a personalized gift store, bags, baby items, some kids clothing, linens, monogrammed items, some special order invitations and we will be adding to the inventory there with our own stuff. We will continue to do our web sales as well. Remember we can personalize or monogram almost anything. We can also special order items for you.

We will be doing some special marketing things in January. Family and friends are always welcome. We need to start out the New Year with a bang!

We also have the old house listed with a realtor so we are praying to hear good news soon. Things are always exciting with the Cahoons in Columbia but we know with God on our side anything is possible! Please keep us in your prayers please as we have many challenges ahead.

Fun Give-a-way

http://pinklemonadeboutiquebags.blogspot.com/2008/11/fun-friday-autumn-bag-giveaway.html

Free fun give-a-way for cute bags.

Frank's birthday

To add to Big Frank's list...

A glow in the dark vest or belt or light to wear while exercising. Frank is going great exercising in either the evening or morning but it is dark so he needs some safety gear!

All I Want for Christmas...

Frank IV has a wish list at Target (online or in stores). Please consider them suggestions only in case you want to get him a present. I just wanted to give an idea of the kinds of things he would like and age group he was in. Plus I would like to keep him from writing on the walls anymore.

He loves to clean, play with his noisy books (with the sounds on them), read his quiet books, play with his cars and train and BALLS - all kind of balls to throw and chase. Bathtime is bubble fun time! Frank jumps around and runs crazy zometimes chasing the dogs. He now says "hut, hike" when he picks up the football. Frank can count to two! Counting things are fun as well. Character wise he likes Elmo "ee-mo", Thomas "train", Blue "boo" and Spongebob "spong bo".

As for Mommy and Daddy we just need some prayers to sell our other house and we are looking forward to visiting with family and friends over the holiday.

Its raining, its pouring ...

Yucky weather here in Columbia. Frank kept saying water (well he says wa-der?) when we ran out into the rain this morning. The whole way into school he would say "wader" or "geese on wader?" He enjoyed talking with Nannie and Grandddaddy on phone last night. I am sure he will be grumpy this afternoon since they will not have been able to play outside at school today.

Programming note for those in Columbia area...Frank will be in his FIRST school performance on December 18, 2008 at 6:00pm at Brookland. This is the Christmas program for school. It should be cute! He loves to dance and move to music so I imagine he will be moving and hopefully singing as well. Grandma is planning on coming up and hopefully we can video/take pictures.

You can win this beautiful quilt by entering at http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/2008/11/win-1-of-3-quilts.html.

Good Luck

Frank's Birthday List...

November 23, 2008 is Frank's 40th birthday! No sweets this year please!
If he had a list of birthday items it would be...

Best Buy Gift Cards
CD of Trans Siberian Orchestra
Tennis Shoes
Chili's Gift Card
Outback Gift Card (wait that is what Blakely wants...)

Trans Siberian Orchestra

Wow! We went to a great show on Sunday to celebrate Frank's birthday. He will be celebrating 40 years young on November 23, 2008. He has been wanting to see the TSO for several years and this year I surprised him with tickets. It was fun. Tons of lasers, flames, lights and wonderful music. I had no idea what to expect but it was really neat. We sat up high in the back but our seats allowed us to see everything. And no one was near us in our section. The only bad thing was the wait to get into the arena and the show starting and ending late (with us stuck in traffic in the parking lot - note to self to park in the back next time).

Many thanks to Kim, Jon and Andy for playing with Frank IV all afternoon so we could go! Frank did not want to leave - he wanted to keep playing with Jon and Elijah (Jon's poor lab who thought he was done with toddlers grabbing his tail). Frank IV was asleep before we even got going good on the road home.

Bumps and Bruises

Frank IV is definitely a little boy (despite the curls). Yesterday he got a bump at Grandma's house then again last night with Mommy. His teacher called me this morning to make sure he was okay. From the bump suffered in my care...not to worry Grandma. He ended up with a bruise beside his mouth on his cheek from the fall into the table in front of our sofa last night. He was wearing footie pjs and was running and jumping around. It did not look bad last night but it was purply this morning. Of course it did not bother him this morning - he was a little cranky waking up. We are still getting used to whole time change. He was getting up really early and now he is sleeping in. But I am sure on Saturday he will be up early!

Election Day

Frank IV had the day off from school yesterday so he got to vote twice! Once with Pap and Grandma in Moncks Corner and once with Mommy in Columbia. Both times he waited about an hour. In Columbia he managed to get tangled up in the power cords under the voting machine and almost unplugged ALL of the machines. That would have been really bad! We would have ended up on tv for that for sure. Plus we would not have been allowed back. After that little incident he got to help Mommy actually push the VOTE button on machine to finalize her vote.

As someone who has never missed an election since she was 18 I was happy to see so many people turn out and vote. I went to register on my birthday but the machine was broken so my card was dated March 25 instead of March 22, 1992. I voted by absentee ballot that year and the entire time I was in school. Being able to vote peacefully is a right very few people have in this world and Americans fail to understand that. I am glad both candidates were gracious in the winning and losing. I pray that our country will work together to face the challenges before us.

I will post the picture of Frank IV eating ice cream watching election returns once I download it. He is actually watching Dora not the election but it is on election night. ICE CREAM is his new favorite thing to eat. He ate a big bowl by himself then he wanted mine too!

Monday morning

So today Frank left for Texas for work for a week. And I woke up with a sore throat! It seems like something always happens when Frank is out of town. Thankfully Frank IV was not too cranky this morning even though I had to wake him up. Hopefully he will not notice Daddy is not here for a couple of days. As soon as I woke him up Frank wanted "eats". He had two cereal bars between getting up and school. He talked about the "geese" and "trucks" the whole way to school. He was in a good mood when got the school especially since they were having cheese toast for breakfast.

I stopped to get some Tylenol cold SEVERE so hopefully I will feel better soon. I did have some visitors to Open House yesterday so I am praying to hear something soon on house. I will try and upload the Trunk or Treat pictures tonight. We had a good time Saturday night at church but I think being outside has led to my sniffle...

***As an aside I have been sick for over a week with what turned into a Sinus infection and pink eye. Hopefully Frank will not go out of town anytime again soon.

Fall Festival 2008

Frank is holding a pumpkin at the Fall Festival on October 23, 2008.

Here is part of Frank's Class...Freddie, Josh, Savannah, Frank, Jaeden and Eryn. We were in the middle of putting on the costumes for pictures and play time at the Fall Festival.

Mommy & Frank enjoy a hug at the fall festival.

Frank is ready for trick or treating before the fall festival. He says I am ready Mommy!

Frank's Class picture. Freddie, his Mom Kesha, Ms. Golston, Marcus, Josh, Savannah, Jaeden, Joshua, Frank, Eryn, Kelsey and Mrs. Sultan.

We had a great time playing with everyone. Frank played in the jumpy, rode a tricycle, ate cupcakes, snow cone, cotten candy and a hot dog. Plus he got treats. This was a wonderful event at Brookland Academy.

"EATS"

Frank has a new favorite word this week and it is "eats." I think he must be going through a growth spurt because he woke up at 5am on Monday morning andwould only say "eats." He then ate two blueberry cereal bars and went back to sleep. He recently was asking for juice when he got up but not food. Now it is food! I went in this morning and he immediately stood up in the crib and said "eats" until I took him to kitchen. He then ate a blueberry cereal bar while we were getting ready and a blueberry one on the way to school. We got to school and he put his chair under the table and told his teacher Ms. Sultan "eats" three or four times while staring at the plates of food.
Frank IV also demanded his "coat" and when I put the new one on (cannot find the old one we were using that Frank was wearing around the house to play in once he saw it again) he kept saying he wanted the old one! It was 46 this morning according to the car when we left the house. We turned the heat on last night and it works thankfully!

Jan 2008 Pictures

Frank is wearing one of his Christmas outfits from Nannie and Granddaddy. He is ready for the cold. What a cutie!

We took the puppy sweater picture on January 18, 2008 and the truck sweater on January 20, 2008.

Here are Brooks and Julie at the Wofford Game On September 20, 2008. We had a great time going to the game with them and tailgating with John and Patty. Brooks looked like a true USC fan in his garnet shirt. Frank had a garnet shirt too...I only had my old white t-shirt. There was a ton of garnet in the stadium. I wished I had gotten a garnet t-shirt. There was some black and gold for Wofford too! As always Wofford challenged the Gamecocks but USC pulled out the victory. I cheered for both my alma maters.

Frank at Nana's Dec 2007

Frank is is dining room at Nana's house in Laurens on December 17, 2007. We have pictures of Brooks and me on the same quilt from thirty years ago. Hopefully I will scan those in and post them.

It is funny how we save some things and not others. I am glad I somehow ended up with the quilt at my house. Until I had Frank I did not realize the significance of it. While unpacking I found more things as well of my great Aunt Ruth's and some things Nana and Gran gave. None of it is worth any money but as a Mom I appreciate being able to remember and pass on my memories.

Nana is not having Thanksgiving at her house this year. Frank's first birthday party may have the last big event we have in Laurens but I hope not. Something about Nana's house brings all of the family there together.

Stomach Flu Bug

I got home Friday to find Frank was already home sick with the stomach flu. He was sick until Monday. Then Monday on the way home Frank IV threw up everywhere....and let me tell you that chocolate animal crackers are hard to get out of polo shirts (3 times in the washer). Thankfully Granddaddy fixed our washer connections this weekend and I can wash clothes anytime now! Our car is still yucky! Hopefully I will figure out the carseat cover this weekend. Then Frank IV threw up for about 6 hours and in the early monring hours of Tuesday morning while Mommy's stomach decided she would hurt too! Probably because Mommy got thrown up on 6 or more times. Mommy and Frank IV missed school/work on Tuesday. Grandma came Wednesday night for a meeting and Frank IV threw up in her car seat too! We are a germ loving family! Hopefully by this weekend we will all be feeling better. (and we are hopin Grandma does not get sick too.) Wolfie got in on the fun and also threw up a couple of times last night. So far Markie has avoided the flu bug.

This weekend...October 10-12, 2008

We are looking forward to a nice visit with Nannie and Granddaddy. Granddaddy is to bring his tools to help us finally finish up all the little repairs we need to make. Hopefully this will mean I can wash clothes anytime since we have had trouble with the cold water switch at the new house...as in it leaks when you turn it on so we have to put a towel around it. I was really looking forward to have the laundry room on the same level as the rest of the house and it has been better but hopefully we can get the issue resolved. Frank IV loves having the laundry where he can get to it. He wants to try and help spray the clothes and the put them in the dryer. He always want to shut the dryer once he puts on thing in it.

I am planning to have Frank IV pictures made on Saturday. Hopefully with a fall outfit and his Halloween costume. Grandma bought him a puppy outfit last weekend when she was here. He wanted to play with it so it is hanging in Mommy's closet for now.

Selling a House Saga...

We are trying to sell our house and get moved into our new house. It has been a crazy two plus months dealing with everything. We finally have the old house on the market and ready to show. So far it has been slow on the sale side but I have a couple of possible renters. The good thing is that we are all moved out except for the stuff we left to show house and that is going into storage. The carpets are cleaned and it is in "show condition."
We have another open house this Sunday.

As for the new house, we are getting more and more organized. We only have a couple of boxes to unpack. I still do not have a dresser so my closet is a mess. Hopefully once we get the dresser in I will be more organized. My scrapbook stuff is all in one place (not completely organized but in one place at least.) Frank IV stuff is all over still but he loves his room and all his books. He wants to read books all the time - just like Mommy!

Frank has a separate office for all of the business stuff and he has organized it. Unfortunately our business equipment is outgrowing the office! Check out CahoonsCloset.com for all of the great personalized products we can make now.

Tumblebus

At Brookland Academy one of the weekly activities is the Tumblebus. The Tumblebus is a converted school bus that the kids do gymnastic and tumbling things on. The children go down the hall chanting "tumblebus, tumblebus..." Frank says it like "tum ba bus, tum ba bus" and shakes his hand at the same time. Now all buses are called the tumblebus.

Frank LOVES Tumblebus despite his expression in the picture. This picture was taken at the end of the summer session when he got his first medal!

October 8, 2008

Okay, everyone else is blogging so here we go...

I will try and keep in touch this way if I can figure it all out. We are feeling better and have gotten settled in the new house. Most of the boxes are gone and we just have a littel more to get organized....with us there is always a little more to get organized.

Frank IV is doing great. He loves school, especially the outside play time and Tumblebus. Everyone says he eats a lot too. Of course at home he does not eat "alot" - he just snacks all the time time. Now he always wants what I have...if I have tea, he wants tea, etc. He did actually eat part of a chicken leg at Little Pigs the other night with three helpings of peaches. No BBQ for him!