Summer 2010

I know, I know. I am a horrible blogger. I really do have good intentions. I promise to try to do better. :) So, here's a rundown of the Bear's summer. The men unofficially kicked things off with a fishing trip on Cripple Creek. Houston had a ball and, of course, James and Dad did too.

It has been an unbelievably hot summer. We spent as much time in the water as possible!

Houston loved his water ball...

We had beach parties regularly....

We hung out in Grandmommy & Granddaddy's pool...

We had a BLAST at Hungry Mother with cousin Aly...
We even spent a day at Lake Gaston with our neighbors...
James spent as much time as possible working on our other home, the camper we bought last winter. I did something I'd always wanted to. I took a sock class! Yes, in the dead of summer I was knitting wool socks! I was very pleased with my finished project!

James and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on August 19th. We went to Charlotte, NC that weekend with some friends to see Zac Brown Band in concert. We had a great time!

On August 27th we celebrated Houston Rocker turning 2!!! Can you believe it? He's growing so fast!
Although we did have a good summer and made some great memories we also have a very sad one. We lost Granny Bear on June 9th. She would have been 92 on August 15th. She lived a long and happy life. We were blessed to have her as our Granny and she will always be in our hearts.

Easter

The Bear family had a very busy Easter weekend. It all started on Saturday with a fishing trip for James, Houston mowing the yard, and plenty of haircuts for me!

Of course there are no pictures of me-I was too busy cutting hair! I enjoyed it though! On Sunday we went to church. We went to Davis Memorial United Methodist in Atkins with Granny Bear. They were dedicating the cross that had just been put up in memory of James' grandfather, David Bear. It was such a nice service and the cross is absolutely beautiful. After the service we hopped in the car and drove back to Rural Retreat for Easter service at our church, Rural Retreat United Methodist. Our church was packed. It is always so good to see all of our friends.

After church we went to Jim & Betty's for lunch. Joanne drove up from Abingdon with the kids. Karl and Isaac "hid" Easter eggs for Houston and Josephine. Houston and Josie had a great time collecting the eggs.

Once all the eggs were in the basket Houston had to dump them all out and start all over again. They did this several times until Houston decided "game over" and started stomping them. He is all boy!!

Another trip to Bass Pro

I think everyone knows that one of our favorite things to do is go to Bass Pro Shops. Sad, I know. It does make James and Houston very happy. They were having special family activities this weekend. So, of course, we went. The main purpose of this trip was to have Houston's picture taken. I have not had formal pictures taken of him since he was 6 months old but I've had his picture made twice at Bass Pro Shops in the last 3 months!! :) He didn't get all of his nap out and wasn't very thrilled with the whole picture thing today. So, it wasn't his best shot but I still think it is pretty cute even if he is my kid!!

Calling Doctor Bear...

When Houston was 4 months old he caught RSV and wound up in the hospital. He was so pitiful. Poor little guy could barely breathe but he was still the happiest baby in the world. James and I loved the hospital where Houston was born. However, we were advised by our pediatrician to go to another hospital that had a special pediatric unit. We were not impressed with the hospital at all. When we were admitted the nurse brought in a pack of diapers that were a size too big. She said they didn't have his size but if I wanted to bring my own in that was fine. Sure, I'm going to leave my sick infant with you nuts to go to Target and buy diapers! I actually went off on one of the nurses before we left, but that is another story.

Anyway, before we were finally discharged momma got a little redneck and cleaned the place out. I figured Houston definitely didn't get the level of care that we were paying for so I would make up for it. The last of the wrong-sized diapers disappeared a few hours before we left and they had to bring us another pack. Strange... I collected every bottle of formula and Pedialyte that I could find. As I was scavenging I found a treasure-a stethoscope! Don't flip out. I'm not that bad. It wasn't an expensive one like the doctors use. It was a cheap one still in the box on the table below Houston's bed. Since RSV is so extremely contagious they have one for each child so they don't pass germs from kid to kid. No one ever used his. (My thought is who would want to? I wouldn't want to stick something in my ears after countless other people!) So, needless to say, it fit into the bag nicely beside the large diapers. :)

Jump to 1 year later. Houston found the stethoscope in the bathroom drawer and is having a blast with it. He puts it in his ears and walks around with it. It is one of his favorite toys. So who knows? His mom getting a little redneck when he was 4 months old may have very well set the stage for his future career path. Check back in 18 years!!

Big Boy Haircut

Houston had his first haircut several months ago. I have actually given him 3 haircuts so far. He was asleep for the first one and the next 2 I did in the bathtub. It was great. He was occupied and clean up was a breeze! However, I realized it was finally time for a big boy haircut complete with the trimmers. The hair on his neck was too out of control for his OCD mother. :) I was so proud of him. He sat so still and didn't mind it at all! Now if only his daddy could be that good...

Meeting Santa

We braved the snow Friday night to take Houston on his first trip to meet Santa. It was so much fun! First of all we NEVER get snow in Colonial Heights so that in itself was so exciting! It really made it feel like Christmas. James looks for any excuse he can to go to Bass Pro Shops so when he discovered Santa was there-jackpot!! It really was nice. They had a whole section set up for the kids with games, race cars, and train tracks. It was every little boy's dream. Especially ours. He did OK with Santa. He wasn't very impressed but he didn't through a fit so I consider that a success. He got to run around the store after it was over and check out all the fish and animals. He had such a great time. The people who worked there even commented about how his eyes just lit up at everything. We didn't stay that long because we were nervous about the weather. We wanted to get home before the roads got bad. Poor little guy cried when we left. I guess that's James' excuse for our next trip!

My Granddaddy

Twenty years ago today our family lost someone very special, my granddaddy, Donald Sayers. My memories of him are still so vivid it is hard for me to believe it has been that long. It doesn't seem possible. He was a wonderful man and loved his family so much. He loved taking pictures, nature, and especially watching birds. No bird that came into his yard ever left hungry! He also loved Bugs Bunny. My favorite memory of him is the two of us curled up on the couch together watching Bugs. I had my head laid on his chest and soaked up the wonderful smell of his Old Spice.

I think about all of the things that have happened since he's been gone. Our sweet Amber. He would be so proud of the beautiful young lady that she has become. We have been able to meet Tony. I can't describe how special that was for all of us. We now have our little Houston Rocker. After he was born it made me so happy to hear Vivian say he has Granddaddy's mouth. There have been huge changes in technology that would have fascinated him. He would have been so happy to see that you can now get more than three channels in Speedwell! And I can't even imagine what a kick he would get out of Grandma and her laptop computer! He would be cracking up at her hopping online and sending us emails.

Today we all remember this special man and what he meant to each of us. We all love and miss him as much as ever and that will never change. I have tears in my eyes but also a smile on my face because I know his memory is always with us and he will be in our hearts forever.