Latest Project

Eric has been testing out a new greenhouse prototype for his winter garden.  This project is designed to use no soil.  No soil = no bugs eating his plants.

Step one:  Create the container and buy seeds.

Step two:  Plant seeds in a shallow egg crate with just enough soil to allow the seeds to germinate and start a root system.  This is the only time that soil is used.  Eric keeps either natural light or artificial light on them 18 hours a day.  

Step three:  Once the seedlings have sprouted, he delicately rinsed the plants and roots of all soil, then placed in his homemade container (yellow lid below) that's filled with nutrient-rich water.  Using the circulation pump from our old fish tank, he installed it into the container to keep algae from growing.  Here you can see the success of his first experiment and the start of a new batch.

Step four:  Trim leaves as needed to encourage continued growth.  Then, enjoy the fruits of your labor with fresh, organic greens!

14th Bday

Our youngest turned 14 today!  Wow, another 12 months planning for this HUGE event, from the restaurant choice to the homemade meal, deciding the cake and the frosting, planning decorations and gifts, what to wear and what to bring for breakfast in bed.  The discussion occurred often, changed her mind, details confirmed, changed slightly again, and finally made official.

But it just doesn't seem like she could be 14 already.  I mean, look how she's snuggling her Christmas Bear while reading a few chapters of her book?  

But her birthday came, despite my attempts to keep her young forever.  Breakfast was hot tea in bed.  The rest she wanted to make when she came downstairs. Waking her up with kisses reminded me of those sweet, soft cheeks 14 years ago.

Her restaurant meal was Texas Roadhouse.  I think she ate an entire basket of rolls herself!  The peanuts, on the other hand, were not served due to Covid.  While that was disappointing, I appreciate the extra precaution to keep patrons safe.

The decorations included a Hello Kitty sign along with several balloons.  My personal favorite was the balloon rocket ship where I drew my picture in one of the windows as an astronaut.

She enjoyed opening up all of her gifts, especially the punch balloon, fruit candies, glow sticks, and Funguns that Eric got her from the Dollar Store.  Oh, and the money from family was great!  She wanted it immediately put in savings.  With socks from Luke and pants from Ashlyn, she'll stay warm all winter. 

Her cake was made using a recipe as a guide, but adjusted as necessary for less sugar, less oil, less butter, and more of whatever she deems healthy (mainly the spices).  It turned out pretty good!  It was a pumpkin cake with pumpkin cream cheese icing.  

Happy 14th Birthday!

Warm Weather

When it's sunny and 60 degrees in December for two weekends in a row, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend time outside.

The first weekend, all 5 of us loaded up the bikes for a ride through Travelers Rest.  We followed the trail until it ended..a first!

After the ride back through town, we were parched!  Good thing there's a great watering hole there.  We made Luke buy our beer just so he could get carded.  

The next weekend was a jog (or walk) through downtown Greenville.

The little one hung with me while we looked for my name plate at the Cancer Survivor's Park.

The park is such a beautiful place, even in the winter with all the leaves gone.  

Time to head back and meet up with the fam!  I hear a street taco calling my name.

New Truck

As we said goodbye to the Mustang, we (ie. Dana) wanted to replace it with another vehicle that was a bit more reliable and functional.  Eric needed something that could haul equipment, lawn trimmings, recycles, and the jet ski.  So, it was decided to get a truck.

Looked at Chevys... Fords... local places... out of state dealerships...

Eric wanted a quad cab.  Luke wanted a long bed.  Julia didn't want specific colors.  I wanted it as cheap as possible.  Ashlyn just got bored and started doing hand stands.

It took a few weeks, but we finally settled on a quad cab, long bed, cherry red, Chevy Colorado with a fair price tag.  Everyone wins!

The GT (Good Times)

It finally came time to say goodbye to the GT, the Mustang GT.  It is a car that Eric has driven for 16 years.  Not only Eric, but the older two kids drove it to school and back during their high school days.  The GT was a 2001 model with a 4.6L V8.  Eric and Luke hot rodded the car, so it sounded throaty.  As with any vehicle, if you have driven it for 16 years, you are bound to have had some good times with it.  And we definitely had some good times with the GT.  Of particular fun was drag racing at the local drag strip.  

Eric and the kids were sad to see it go.  Dana, well, she was not so sad to see it go.  Eric spent money hot rodding this car and Dana just did not see the purpose of this.  Plus, the car was LOUD! 

Here is a video of Luke drag racing at a raceway.

Here is the little one giving the GT a hug.

Julia is not old to enough to have a driver’s license, but she has been looking forward to driving the GT for many years.  So, Eric let her drive it in the driveway.  Another good time.

In the end, the GT had 174k miles on it.  The engine had low compression on two cylinders and Eric determined that the piston rings were cracked.  The engine still ran, but barely.  It was a Good Time while it lasted. 

SRT Biking

The Swamp Rabbit Trail (SRT) is one of our local rails to trails projects, and it's a favorite weekend activity when the weather is perfect.

We usually have TR as our destination, so we decided to change things up and start there.  The trails headed out North of town were just as enjoyable.

After a good ride, it was time to turn around and head back.  A quick pint at the Swamp Rabbit Brewery made a nice workout reward.  

Halloween

This was new for us...handing out Halloween treats safely without exposing us to the virus.  We had decided to not even participate this year, but Eric changed his mind last minute and wanted to try something.  He created a shoot for the candy going from our window to the front door using materials he had available in our garage.  This 6' pvc pipe was the perfect diameter for sending candy down into their buckets. We put a note on the door explaining what to do.

As the evening got dark and trick-or-treaters began ringing our doorbell, our little one dressed up in her Winnie the Pooh outfit and dropped candy down the shoot.  It was the funniest thing hearing the kids (and parents) comment how cool that was!  Eric got a kick out of it, too.  

Our Halloween (COVID-style) wouldn't be complete without the traditional pumpkin pancakes, sausage, and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Ashlyn's 24th

For Ashlyn's 24th birthday, we all decided to meet in Columbia.  We packed up our gifts and the dessert.  But instead of a traditional birthday cake, she wanted sweet potato casserole.  It was made a little healthier than most by substituting honey for white sugar and halving the butter.  

The day was beautiful, and since we had packed our frisbees, we tried our luck at disc golf.  It was more comical than skill, but we had fun.

Back at the hotel, she opened her presents of gift cards and running socks.

Then to finish the weekend, we all went out to a dessert bar...Kaminsky's.  So yummy!  We all shared their blueberry cake, brownie ice cream sundae, key lime pie, and a flourless chocolate torte.  Luke's previous roomate, Sean, came with us to celebrate.

Happy Birthday, Ashlyn!  We loved celebrating your special day with you. 💕

XC Sweep

The Powdersville High School cross-country team (XC for short) swept the Regional meet!!  The girls varsity team won their region, the boys varsity won their region, the girls JV won their region, and the boys JV won their region!  It was a wonderful celebration for the girls varsity team, especially, as this was a first in the school's history!  And when we included all the individual awards, the picture below shows off a lot of hardware. 😊

When the announcement was made about the girls' team, we knew then it would be a sweep.  PVHS won by a razor thin margin of only 5 points.

The top 10 finishers in the girls competition were awarded All-Region.  I was shouting with excitement when my little one's name was called out.  She finished 8th place!  Her amazing time of 23:54 was a new PR, and it certainly contributed to her team's win.

A close up of her medal.

 A picture of the proud mom with our favorite runner.

Afterwards, the team circled for a group hug and acknowledgement of thanks.  We're so grateful the meet was injury-free.  This is such a great group of kids, too.

Frisbee Golf

With 65⁰ weather, we just had to spend the gorgeous day outside.  We decided to play frisbee golf at Dolly Cooper Park.

The course is officially rated for tournament play in SC, so it's pretty tough.  Eric and our youngest had good form starting out.  

She would stay on the fairway while Eric quickly parred.  I figured I'd catch on eventually.   

But after scoring an 8 on the same par 3, I realized there's actually skill involved.  And further, I'm not very skilled.

While the two made this look easy, I simply enjoyed the walks from hole to hole, snapping pictures along the way. 

Here's an attempt to improve on my form.

We occasionally had to search a bit in the tall grass & weeds, but never lost one.  

The winner was our youngest!  Great job, Little One.

Luke's 21st

 

Luke came home for his 21st birthday, so we had his favorite homecooked meal ready for him (meatloaf) along with a chocolate rum cake.

Eric bought him a champagne confetti bottle....

And he opened several cards that marked his special occasion.  The shot-sized red solo cup on the table may have had something in it.  Kombucha maybe?

Then opened another sweet birthday card that came in the mail.

We were face-timing Ashlyn in Orangeburg so she could be part of the family celebration.

The next day we took him out for authentic street tacos.

Then to a brewery for a beer.

On day 3 of his birthday weekend, he wanted Indian food for lunch, so why not compliment that with alcohol-infused pumpkin ice cream!  Happy birthday, son!  We love you!!