Living History

The week before school started, Ivy had Belle Spurlin come and stay with her while I had to work. This summer was the first time Ivy had a real babysitter. She loved Belle. One of the days Belle kept her, Mrs. Amy Spurlin asked if they'd come to the Springdale to act as Indians during a live history performance. I borrowed this picture from the newspaper.

Successful first week of Kindergarten

Ivy did it!! She successfully made it through her first week of Kindergarten. I was pretty worried as who she'd get as a teacher. Since Ivy is such a unique character I prayed hard for a teacher who would accept her as she is and encourage her abilities. My prayers were answered when we found out Ivy would have Sherry Pouncey. Ivy started off Sunday saying she didn't want to go as she wanted to stay home and watch netflix all day. But on day two, she said Mom, you were right i'm going to LOVE kindergarten.

Ivy and Madison at Corner Market before their big day.

Scott walking in Ivy.

Ivy and Madison with Mrs. Pouncey.

Ivy with Mrs. Pouncey.

Madison rode to school with us so they could walk in together.

Day 3 we rode by ourself and thank goodness a teacher I work with was in line ahead of us and Sara Beth waited on Ivy to walk her in. Such a sweet girl.

This is a pic of Ivy's class. They are some precious looking kiddos. Ivy's already making new friends. I hope this week will be a reflection of what the entire year holds for my baby. I'm sooo proud of her!

2nd Houston trip summer 2011

As we returned home for a few days I knew that I would shortly be returning to Houston as my dad was extremely sick. On Wednesday, July 20th, I received a call from my dad's doctor. My dad was unable to receive dialysis that morning as his blood pressure was dropping immensely. The doctor called me to inform me that my dad would only live a few more days if that. At that point in the morning he was still responsive. They asked me if I wanted him to be on a ventilator. I immediately said yes, and that I would be on a plane immediately. I arrived that afternoon to see my father. He was in a coma. I had just talked to him the day before. I was upset to not be able to have a conversation one last time. I talked to him, the nurse said he couldn't hear me, but at one moment his eyes did tear up. I just held his cold hand. We had the preacher come in. The next morning I had to make a VERY hard decision. I asked to remove the ventilator and blood pressure meds. I stayed with my dad until his very last breath. He left so peacefully and I only pray that he is in heaven with my mother now. Being with my dad the week before was sad, but great as we were able to iron out some things that had been going on with us. Although, we weren't soo close he was still my dad. Watching him go has been sooo hard on me. Lately, I go to bed every night thinking about him and how young he and my mother were to leave this world. Although, he isn't here his legacy will continue with his business Ron's Downtown Auto. While at my dad's funeral I had so many costumers tell me how he was the most honest mechanic in Houston.

This is Scott and Ivy watching the planes leaving out of Pensacola before I boarded my flight.

While in Houston I visited my grandfather's resting place.
This was dinner with my aunt and uncle.



This is a pic from our first trip of a ukulele that Scott got Ivy.
This is Ivy covering her face with a napkin as she was sooo shy she didn't want people to watch her. Next few pics are from Chuck E Cheese.







This is my sweet Mimi Koutsodontis. She has alzheimers. Bless her she was sooo upset about my dad.
This is my dad's shop. It's downtown on the corner of Bagby and Dennis.
This was a memorabilia table set up at the reception after my dad's funeral.

This was the last pic I took as we were driving downtown towards my dad's shop. Not the biggest fan of Houston, but my dad loved it there!

When we returned from Houston the first trip, Ivy wanted Madison to come over for a sleep over. I took the girls to tennis. They played Mario Sports on the Wii, did a craft and watched movies from the movie store. They had a great time.