eternally chaotic

March 21st marks a very special day for Carol and I, an anniversary of sorts.  The first spark of our relationship which flourished into what we have today.

On this special day I received a gift of life from Carol.  An Oak tree still in seed form that we could watch grow over the years.  Always a reminder of each other.  Excitedly I planted my new treasure in its pot, precisely following directions to help it burst out of shell and start to grow into a sapling.  Thirty days passed and roots started to form.  Sixty days passed and the seed had just started to split open.  Now was the time to take the tree home and expose it to some direct sunlight so that it could flourish.

A few days later I received a message from Carol indicating that the tree was gone.  Our Seed of Life had been cracked open and eaten by a hungry squirrel who selfishly left the pieces of the now destroyed shell littered all over the deck.  I did have a momentary temptation to go hunting.

Carol called and reported our recent loss to the provider and another tree arrived at home a few weeks later.  Now the process was to begin anew.  Special precautions would be taken until the seed properly sprouted into a sapling and we could plant it in a larger pot or the ground.  Since it takes an oak tree forever to grow the idea of allowing it to be mobile seems best until such a time as planting is required.

This time I decided to document the process with a few pictures.  Carol never ceases to amaze me with her love and thoughtfulness.  This Seed was and is, for a second time, the perfect gift.  Attached was a card from Carol:

Love, Two years ago today you asked me to dance.  That simple question has changed my life forever.  I have never been Loved or felt so much in Love as i do with You.  You are my Angel.  Today, Tomorrow & Always I am Yours Eternally.

So Behold!  Our Seed of Life.

May it continue to grow as a reminder of our Love.

Israel and I enjoyed a Fantastic dinner at Antica Posta. We had been looking for an authentic Italian restaurant ever since returning from Italy. The food was amazing and spot on Tuscan style. We even splurged with a bottle of  2005  Brunello from Montalcino - Perfetto!

We couldn’t be there to tell you in person but we wanted to make sure that you got the message.  Happy Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa.  There aren’t any good songs for an anniversary like there are for birthdays so we took the easy route.  All the munchkins send their love and wish you the best on your special day.

We took two videos.  Piper was upset at the end of the first because she didn’t get to blow out the candles.  After she calmed down we took another for fun.  Enjoy!!!

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This was a flight a long time in the making and well worth the wait.  Last Easter Carol led me on an egg hunt around the house, each egg progressing the hunt and adding clues to what might lie at the end.  After each nook and cranny had been covered and the final egg discovered I found inside one of these containers of delight a pair of tickets for a flight in a biplane from Bi-Plane Atlanta.  The tickets were good for a year, and thank goodness for that.  With all of our time and energy focused on our wedding as well as learning to tango it was certainly something that would be a great distraction later.  Well later turned into the summer and then to the fall.  By then it was to cold to ride and enjoy it – the biplane was an open canopy and the air only gets colder the higher you go – regardless of how close you get to the Sun.  :)

We took off from Peachtree-Dekalb (PDK) airport around lunch time on a near perfect day.  It was a touch chilly, especially at altitude and it was really windy – that was our pilot, Otie’s problem though and only became ours if he wasn’t successful at managing it.  But no complaining from us as it was perfectly clear and sunny.  Our seats were in the front and the view was great.  It was weird taxiing though when you couldn’t see where you were going except by looking out the side or sticking your head out from behind the windscreen.  Otie kept swerving the plane back and forth on the taxiway to see what was in front of us – onlookers probably thought we were drunk, out joy riding.

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It was a rare treat to get some one on one time with Piper, let alone doing something new.  We took a friend up on an offer of Ice Skating and had a great time.  I cannot remember Piper ever having been on Ice before, well at least not intentionally and prepared.  She was skeptical at first – that initial step being something akin to loosing any remote sense of balance and traction with her spider little legs going every which way.  I would have love to have recorded the first moment when she stepped on the ice but both of my hands were required.  It only took a moment though and we were doing laps in the center of the rink with the other beginners – well beginners and some of those that just like to show off, spinning and twirling like the are dancing on the wind with butterflies between their toes.

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A much anticipated trip to the fair today.  One of my favorite events to look forward to each year growing up.  Granted the fairs in Franklin were a little more focused on 4-H, but there was still fun to be found (and had).  We have been talking about this trip with the kids for the past few weeks and they were all very excited about getting to ride the rides and play games (even Carol but I think she was interested in the naughty food….).  Earlier in the day we took them to the grocery store along with three jars of change we have been collecting all year long – this was our spending money for any and all the goodies the fair could offer – plus it was a good way to show them that saving could add up over time.  Before cashing in the coins we all took turns guessing how much we had.  I asked them to pick a number from one to one hundred – while we were watching the coins drop in and the total go up we had to stop and make new guesses (much to our surprise).  In the end we turned three jars of change into $172.02 (woo-hoo !!!)  and the kids were able to see the coins turned into bills (what is it about $20 bills that even kids find appealing).

Once we arrived the fair was happy to relieve us of much of our hard earned loot.  Tickets run about one dollar each and each ride takes between three and six tickets OR you can purchase a stamp for twenty-five bucks that covers all the rides, kiddie and adult.  We opted for the stamps for the kids and a few extra tickets in case we needed to ride with one of them – seemed like a good deal and the kids certainly took advantage of it by riding everything thing they could, sometimes a few times over.

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There is a lot of detail that goes into planning a wedding. There are a lot of people that go in and out of the loop or are just curious about how the planning process is going, what decisions are being made, what kind of this or how much of that, etc… Others are just nosy I wanted us to be able to use Eternally Chaotic to publish some of those bits.  However, with the anticipation of many updates to come I did not want wedding posts to overwhelm the other aspects of our family blog.  So without further ado I would like to introduce the “Our Wedding” section of our family website. Check back often as there is much more to come.

Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you,
happy birthday dear Isaac,
happy birthday to you!

It might a few months late getting online but that makes it no less of an event.  In November, for the first and last time, Isaac turned seven.  We planned a dinner out with family and friends as well as a party at the house so we could celebrate properly with cake and presents.  We gave Isaac the choice of where he wanted to have his birthday dinner and thankfully he chose the Olive Garden – a fantastic and much yummier choice over the more usual kiddie venues such as Chucky Cheese or Monkey Joes.  We will still eventually go to one of the others but instead of being the focus of a birthday party, we can just go and have a great time playing games or jumping around.

Dinner was fantastic.  With such a large group I didn’t know what to expect but the OG had everything organized.  They even put us in a sectioned off part of the restaurant near another large family party so we could be as loud as we wanted.  After dinner we all headed back to the house to serenade the birthday boy and eat cake.

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I am not normally a nervous person.  I speak well in front of people, rarely with a slip of the tongue or bead of sweat.  I remember ideas instead of lines to get my point across more on the fly, rolling with any punches that might get in the way, than by recalling words from memory.  I can ramble with the best of them to keep a conversation going while I figure out what point it was I was trying to make…this list can go on and on but I might start to get an ego, and regardless of how inflated my ego might get, not a one of these traits, trained or otherwise learned over the years, helped me one bit on a very special night in November of 2009.

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Aunt Kim’s birthday is today.  We wanted to help her celebrate with some video cheer.  Piper didn’t want to sing so we had to do a second take.  Enjoy !!

Take 1:

Take 2:

Happy Birthday Kim !!!