Happy 7th Birthday!

Seven years ago at 5:45 am, you barged into our lives, stirred up some trouble and stole our hearts. Happy 7th birthday to our baby.

Hiiiiiyah!

Mason participated in an intra-school tournament this past weekend and ten schools from around the Atlanta area competed. The juniors were divided into groups according to their age and belt rank. The form Mason learned for the tournament, and his upcoming belt testing, is called Choong Jung #1. You can see a video of it here (click).

There are 44 moves in Choong Jung #1 and it is the form brown belts must learn to move on to the next belt during testing. This is a very difficult form for a purple belt, but Mason handled it very well.

So well, in fact, that he placed first among 11 other students competing! This is the first time he had earned a medal at a tournament.

He received a bye in the first round of sparring, won his second match and lost the third. That was enough for him to secure 3rd place in sparring. Not too shabby for a little guy!

Brian and I are beaming with pride. Can you see my glow?

The boys compared their medals (which, oddly, are identical except for the lanyard).

I think he's hooked on tournaments now that he's done well and earned medals.

Mason discovered that, if you work hard, you are rewarded. Give yourself, and your competitors, a round of applause!

Snow in Atlanta?!

Atlantans had been preparing for the forecasted 3-4" of snow all week. Bread and milk were hard to come by and, on Friday, the flurries began at 1:30 as predicted. I left the office to pick Mason up from school around 3pm and, at 5pm we finally made it home. Never in my life would I have thought that going 12 miles would take 2 hours. Welcome to Atlanta traffic.

Mason and I bundled up and headed into the snow.

Boys do boy things...especially when fresh, white snow is involved.

Our neighbors are from New York and, apparently, New Yorkers had to find some way to keep their hands from getting cold during snowball fights. Introducing the snowball maker 3000...for the perfectionist in all of us.



Mother Nature is at her finest when undisturbed by humans.

The day after the snow storm, we all headed to the dam at the lake to have some fun. The walking trail was particularly beautiful...

...the snow was very heavy on the pine trees. Every now and then a clump would fall from the branches and plop right on someone's head.

I knew I held onto that toboggan for some reason. I had my doubts we would ever use it in Atlanta, but we get to pull it out of the closet once or twice a year.

Some of the neighbor kids had long sleds for more passengers. They happily oblige letting the little kids ride because they know that more weight makes you go faster and further.

Callie enjoyed chasing after the kids as they went down the hill.

When you live in the South, and snow is scarce, you find genius ways of improvising. Snowboard? Who needs a snowboard when you can use a skateboard with no wheels? Awesome!

It's cold, can we go home? Maybe just one more shove down the hill first.


The weatherman is calling for more snow tonight. Maybe we'll get to do this again!

My Baby...

Okay, so he's not a baby any more. Please let me be in denial for a little longer.

Our Cup Runeth Over...

Avid readers of my blog will recall the covert operation to recover Bear from being lost forever (read about it here). That was a rough day, but all turned out well in the end. I go back to that day, sometimes, when Mason brings Bear along on errands or a vacation.

Mason's classroom assignment today: write a true story. Mason chose to write about the day his friend was nearly lost...

Mason's memory never ceases to amaze me. The only detail that wasn't accurate is the restaurant. His version of the story nearly brought tears to my eyes and truly makes me understand his relationship with Bear. They will be friends for many years to come.

Water Drainage 101:

Mom always told me to marry a carpenter, auto-mechanic or plumber because you're always going to need to have something fixed on your car or around the house. I never was good at following sound advice, but I did marry a golf course superintendent. How is being married to a golf course superintendent a good thing, you ask?

We've lived in our house since August and I love being a homeowner. I love that I can paint my living room walls hot pink, if I wanted. I love that Mason has a safe place to play and plenty of room to do so. Since moving in, however, I have dreaded the rain...

Our driveway and front walk meet at the bottom of a slope. When it rained, water collected. When it rained hard or for several days, water really collected. I would often have to walk through ankle-deep water to get into my car on those days. Mason needed a life vest and rescue boat. Poor kid.

After some gentle persuasion (or not-so-gentle) and some suggestions from his landscaping buddy, Kirk, Brian agreed to take on the daunting task of fixing this problem. One day, I came home to a yard devoid of grass and a rather long trench dug into the ground. I'm glad Brian gave me the head's up to use the garage door so we didn't fall into the hole.

Brian, our guest blogger, will now describe the process in technical terms...

The first step of the process was to install a catch basin to divert the water away from our driveway/sidewalk. After securing the basin with cement, I'm quite sure that no amount of water will move it.

One critical component of all drainage devices is the simple matter of making sure the water can run down-hill. In the distance you can see that I, the wonderful and multi-talented husband (not to mention handsome), am using a transit to ensure the water will flow from top to bottom. This is a photo of Cortni "helping".

For our yard, I decided to use a bubbler emitter on the end of the drain to let the water out of the pipe. This emitter will allow the pipe to completely fill with water and slowly drain out and spread evenly throughout the yard.

Once everything was in place, dirt is moved back on top to cover up the masterpiece.

Of course it helps if the dirt is packed in. Here you can see I am using a fancy tool to do the required job – my feet.

The process didn't come without difficulties though. The builders who built our house decided to dispose of excess bricks and rocks in the front yard and incorporate them into the soil. Oh well, nothing is easy right?

Our builders also decided they would save some money in the building process by covering our clean-out spout with an empty tub of butter. Very professional!

Once the drain was installed, I thought it would be a good idea to test it out by running water through the pipe.

As you might be able to tell, it worked! Job well done!

I Scream, You Scream...

...for S'mores. Okay, so there isn't a rhyme for s'mores and I didn't want to think of one. So there.

When we were looking for a house to purchase last summer, a fireplace was not even on my list of requirements. I still feel like having a fireplace, that doesn't warm the entire house, is a waste of wall space and limits my choices for furniture placement. But, I'm liking the ambiance it creates on a cold winter day and that Mason can make s'mores any time we have graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows.

I find that, on evenings as cold as it has been, I am disappointed to come home and not find a fire in the fireplace. Who would have thought? Plus, I enjoy the smile on Mason's face when he discovers a package of chocolate bars in the pantry.

The Visitors...

Grandparents are special people. These two grandparents are particularly special – they are Mason's grandparents. They live in Kansas and, despite the distance, they still manage to be loving, supportive and a big part of Mason's life.

I don't get a lot of opportunities to interact with girls, being that I have a son. When my nieces come to visit, it's a whole new ballgame – ribbons and dresses, boy bands and giggles. Not unlike mother and son relationships, I have found that grandpa and granddaughter relationships are very special...

...so special that a Grandpa with few computer skills will assist his granddaughter with online Webkin activities.

Oh, the joys of grandparenthood...snuggles and kisses, hugs and special time together.

Clown Dog on Christmas...

Christmas is the time for family, food and gifts...electronic gifts. Mason received a remote-controlled helicopter and Brian was giving it a test run when Callie decided it looked like it might be fun...

...she was hesitant at first.

And then the circus dog came out in her. She caught some air trying to get to it!




Mason got a turn too. Fun was had by all!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve is Coming...

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...in the hopes that Grandma and Grandpa would soon be here!

And Mark, Elizabeth, Brooklyn, Jordan and Madison! Whoa! It's going to be a busy holiday season around the Fleske household.

The Christmas tree has a lot of room to breathe this year. There are lots of presents to be unwrapped! We can't wait!!!

Polar Opposites...

I had the pleasure of meeting a childhood friend of mine in downtown Atlanta over the weekend for a mini-portrait session. As a child, Cara was painfully shy, but certainly has blossomed over the years. It was interesting to meet her boys....

Austin, her oldest, is as outgoing as any child could be. All smiles and energy, he's a photographer's dream. I'm sure he would have let me take his photo all day long. I even got a hug when I left. Cool.

Then there is Trent. He's of the "very serious" variety and so much like Cara that it was scary. This is him just being stoic...I didn't ask him to stand this way – he just did. He didn't seem to mind me snapping away, but I certainly wasn't going to get a smile out of him – even if I did make a fool out of myself. He wanted no part of me and every time I got close, he would bury his face in Cara's neck. He he. Good luck with that, Cara.

I am hoping the next time she and her family come to town that we can spend some time together. Let's hope her husband doesn't get deployed to El Paso again. See you next time!

Thanksgiving in Summerville:

It had been several years since our family made the short trip to South Carolina to visit my Aunt Ginny and Uncle Lynn. In those short years a lot has happened: Aunt Ginny had a stroke and has made a full recovery, Dale was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes, Brian and I bought a house and my brother died. It's been a long year – for sure.

I got the opportunity to spend some time with my favorite uncle at my brother's memorial in September and, since it had been so long since we had visited them in Summerville, I invited myself to Thanksgiving dinner this year. My only request – fried turkey. I know you're thinking, "wait a minute, you invited yourself AND made a request?" Yep.

As you can see, I got my request and then some! There was a traditional baked turkey (far), fried turkey (the only turkey in focus) and infrared baked turkey (front)! Wow!

There was also smoked Boston Butt. Not that there is ever any shortage of food at my Aunt and Uncle's, but this is over the top!

I had the pleasure of meeting my Aunt's niece. Don't ask me how that relates to me...it's confusing. My cousin, Lynn Jr. (far), and my Aunt's niece's husband, Larry (front), had the privilege of carving the turkeys.

Again, the amount of food was over the top! Mountain o' turkey, here I come.

And there was this. This is sweet potato casserole. Notice there are no marshmallows? Those are delicious, toasted pecans on top. Only one word to describe that – whoa! Move over boring marshmallows...pecans are in the house!

I really think Uncle Lynn missed his calling in life. He stood in that very spot for most of my visit...he may have been fattening us up for the slaughter.

On Saturday morning we had homemade oatmeal. Now, this may not sound like a glamorous breakfast, but it's loaded with butter, brown sugar and raisins. OMG. Yum. What a great way to start the day! Thanks, Uncle Lynn!!!

I promised Mason we would make the drive to Charleston to collect shells at Isle of Palms. Most people like to go to Folley Beach in Charleston, but we know Isle of Palms is the best-kept-secret of the Charleston area. It's never crowded and parking is easy and free....absolute perfection. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone!

It was quite chilly on the water on Saturday morning, but we found quite a few treasures and enjoyed walking on the beach. Note the hesitation to get close to the water....

...until the water came to him! Brrrrr!

We arrived at the beach shortly after the tide went out, so there was a myriad of things to discover on our walk. This is the carcass of some kind of crab...I think.

Naturally, Mason wanted to put it into the bucket and carry it home. I had to put the kybosh on that idea. Ew.

"Take my picture with it!" Ew.

The patterns left in the sand from the tide were beautiful and felt really interesting on my feet.

It was a great Thanksgiving! Maybe we'll go back next year. I think I can get into this not cooking thing. Hopefully next year Brian can join us.