Thursday, June 17, 2004

This post is for my darling nieces, Savannah and Summer. They will be moving to Florida in a couple of weeks and will be staying with us. To ease their transition, I am doing a tour of our home since they have never seen it.

Savannah and Summer will be sharing Gabrielle's room with her.



Gabrielle's has a full size bed that should accommodate all three girls. Otherwise, we will squeeze a toddler bed into the room for Summer.

Gabrielle is very excited for her cousins to come.



She thinks every night will be like a sleep-over party! Gabrielle can't wait to share her toys too.



She got a little silly assisting me with the tour this morning and fell into her toy box.



Savannah's and Summer's Mom and Dad will sleep in the guest room. It still needs some work since it had become a bit of a storage place, but we are getting there!



We also have a school room, which is actually a corner of the lanai.



Naturally, since Gregory and Gabrielle are in the early grades, we have a full kitchen set up.



Gabrielle loves to cook!

Uncle Tom may be glad to hear that we have a home gym in the lanai too. After all, someone around here should be in shape!

We usually start our school day over the breakfast table.



We have a lot of fun in school! In first grade science this year, Gregory planted a sunflower. Boy did it get big!



Even though it is a little too hot right now to spend much time out doors playing, we have a nice big back yard with plenty to do.



The kids have a great swing set next to a beautiful magnolia tree. Magnolia trees have big beautiful white flowers all over them in the summer.



They smell wonderful; unfortunately, I am highly allergic.

The swingset has a private kid-size picnic table for outdoor meals.



Of course, I have my own favorite outdoor spots!



I love sitting on MY swing with my knitting next to me in the basket and a glass of water in the cupholder. Or sometimes Gabrielle and I will sneak out after dark, wrap ourselves in one of my wool shawls and swing while admiring the night sky. Sometimes it is nice to recline in the hammock too. In the Spring, we will often have breakfast on the deck. There is a barbecue grill out there which we use all the time. We also have a portable outdoor fireplace and just received a load of wood for it!

Of course, as my little garden takes shape, I spend more time sitting on the glider in the corner admiring my flowers and listening to the sound of the fountains and waterfall and the fairy tinkle of my wind chimes.



We do have one more swing too. Hanging from the branch of our large Live Oak tree is a tree swing!



The ropes are actually present for a second tree swing. Somewhere in the garage I believe we have the seat. I've given up on Kurt fixing the second swing, but perhaps we can get Uncle Tom to do it. . .

Gregory and Gabrielle have a nice big trampoline in the back yard too!



The children have a wonderful dog named Lillie. She is the most gentle and docile Golden Retriever you could imagine.



She will often lay in the corner of Gregory's room waiting for him to wake up in the morning. Sometimes Gabrielle will sneak into Gregory's room while he sleeps to pet Lillie.



The bane of our home's appearance is the terribly neglected front of the house. However, my sister Mary asked for a picture of it. I decided it is only fair since she and her husband will need to be able to recognize the house when they get here and we do not presently have a house number on it.



So much to do.

Next week, Caroline Morse and her two children Noah and Ashley are coming for a visit. Caroline has promised to teach me to weave on my loom and I am VERY excited! We also plan to play at the beach, explore the local yarn and sewing stores and otherwise have our own private Spin/Weave In.

When Gregory found out I had posted pictures for his cousins, he felt we should add a few pictures of his room for Noah to see. Caroline agreed. So, due to popular (in my world 2 is "popular") request, here is Gregory, introducing, His Room.



For his birthday last year, Gregory really wanted a bunk bed. He always thought it would be cool to sleep on the top of one. So, we accommodated him.



Of course this will work out nicely when Noah gets here since he will be able to sleep on the bottom bunk bed.



Gregory has a lava lamp on the desk under the top bunk, next to the bottom bunk. He thinks the dark top of the lower bunk looks cool, though I think it looks like a cave.



Gregory loves robots and has quite a collection of them. His other favorite toys are the bears he collected when he was small and undergoing substantial medical testing before and after being diagnosed with autism.



Pretty much every time he had a "procedure," we would stop in the hospital gift shop and let him pick a new toy. He always chose a bear. He would take his new bear with him for whatever testing he had to undergo.

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