As most children like to do, we had our share of dress up opportunities.  My favorite was the visit we had from this salesmen. A 2’6″ Grouch Marx can try to sell you lots of different things. 

The next dresser upper was our L’il Punkin. Sunglasses tend to last all of about 3 days in our family before they get broken in one way or another.

Then there was the dress up at the end of the year for Levi’s 5 year old birthday party when a bunch of Indians showed up.

Finally, there were the Clemson boys and their Anderson friends.

Starting off a New Year’s Resolution to be more proactive in blogging.  It’s almost the end of January, and I’m finally getting after it.  The first several posts will be reflections on 2013.

Edition 1 is on February, 2013 – a month of parties.

Elizabeth’s party was a bowling party, and Benjamin’s was a basketball party.  Needless to say, Granddaddy came through with his usual amazing, artistic cakes.

Abigail’s was a roller skate in April.

Whenever someone suggests that he go into a cake making business, there is the sober realization that the 20 or so hours he puts into the cakes would probably only net him about $4-5/ hour.   But the children sure love to have them, and it shows his great patience and love for them!

The next big party was Donna’s 40th.  It was a 70s theme, and the outfits were a big hit.

There were plenty of fun and games at the party, such as a trivia contest and best dressed awards.  The fun and games continued the next morning, when we awoke to such a lovely display in our front yard, one which I hadn’t seen since my teen years.

What would the year be without some more of Granddaddy’s famous cakes.  Here was Levi’s Teepee party cake.

Finally, the last birthday picture would be from Chloe in her own birthday suit.

As I write this, I’m already missing the days of our chunky li’l Punkin.

The children really got involved in a lot of sports this year.  The biggest one would be Cross Country.  Jonathan ran for the Junior High and Varsity teams for Arborbrook.  Elizabeth also competed for the Junior High girls team, and that was encouraging since she went to the first practice with no real intention of running.  Benjamin even had the opportunity as a 4th grader to compete for the team, and was able to finish the in the 4 for the team in their meets. 

One of the best parts of the CC season was the blessing of having the children run under the coaching of Coach Conrad, who has become a family friend.  He is an excellent fitness coach, who previously ran in the Olympics for Jamaica.

Other sports taught us useful lessons.  For instance, several hundred dollars invested in equipment taught us that Lacrosse will likely not be a sport of the future for Benjamin.

While it might not be considered a “sport” by some, our crew definitely does.  They spent countless hours fishing the neighborhood pond for bass and crappie.  The story of the big bass pulling Jonathan’s loose pole across the entire pond still brings laughter to all of us.

Finally, another sport that didn’t rank in the Timbers favorites, though they really proved to be pretty good at it was swimming.  Many hours at the various pools were spent, including some here by Chloe in Granddaddy’s lap.

Sports will likely continue to be a big part of 2014 as well!