Granny Liz

It has been one week today since Gordon's Granny passed.  And what a long, full life she lived. She was 98.5 years old.  Granny Liz lived the life of luxury, traveling places near and far...places that I hope to one day visit.  All things to be said about Granny will certainly bring a smile back to my face.  She always made me laugh ;)  We attended the service at Hollywood Cemetary on Saturday in a cold drizzle. 

ELIZABETH NORFLEET


NORFLEET, Elizabeth Houseworth, passed away on October 26, 2011. She was born in Orange, Va., on May 13, 1913, a daughter of Cora Newman and Alfred Valentine Houseworth. Mrs. Norfleet was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Leon Willingham Norfleet; and by her five siblings, Joseph, Wallace and Robert Houseworth, Mary H. Tyson and Eleanor H. Shervin. She is survived by her daughters, Elizabeth N. Sanders (Julius T. Jr.) of Charlotte, N.C., and Ruth N. Penick (Gordon F. III) of Cardinal, Va.; her grandchildren, Elizabeth Sanders Walker (David) and Julius Taft Sanders III (Whitney) of Charlotte, N.C., Gordon Finch Penick IV (Catelyn) and William Norfleet Penick (Ashley) of Mathews, Va.; and her great-grandchildren, Callie Penick and Liam Penick; as well as a number of beloved nieces, nephews and dear friends. Mrs. Norfleet was a member of First Presbyterian Church and The Country Club of Virginia and was a former member of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Windsor Farms Garden Club and the Tuckahoe Woman's Club. A celebration of the life of Elizabeth Norfleet will be held at Hollywood Cemetery on Saturday, October 29, at 3 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 4602 Cary St. Rd., Richmond, Va. 23226. Arrangements are by the Central Chapel of Bennett Funeral Home.

Spooks, Haunts, Tricks, Treats, and BOO!

Happy Hauntings on the 31st of October!  We enjoyed trick or treating on Main Street.  Callie (and most of the rest of us, too) was a witch.  After 25 years I still love to dress up..  I don't think that will ever change.  Callie never let go of her candy bucket and never took her eyes off of the monsters.  She calls them mons.

Callie

Callie, Courtney, JR

Ellyana Grace

There's me

Cal and Carrie

Old Woman soliciting help from Elly, Callie, and MiMi

Colter.. aka Batman

Gordon and Mike Myers

And this little Monster wasn't with us tonight...we sure did miss her.  But seriously, have you seen a happier dragon?



Chessie on her First Halloween

Happy Halloween 2011!

One Month Has Passed...and October has come and almost Gone

And my Sis says my Blog needs attention.  I guess I'll let you know what we've done the month of October.. and we've done A LOT..so maybe I'll just tell ya about the fun stuff.  I think it's all been mostly fun.  So here goes..

*Chessie came to visit (and then later in the month WE ALL visited her).

*Mimi got a new puppy. A Havanese. Zeddie.  He's a cute, furry, handful and a spitting image of Hunni.

*GiGi had a birthday and we went out and then came back home for cake and playtime with Liam.

*We had a playdate with Abigail at Chickfila.  This is fun stuff.  Aren't they precious girls?

*Momma, Dadda, and Cal went to see Elmo in Norfolk.  She loved = We loved

* We started Kindermusik on Wednesday and it is a wonderful class full of music, stories, etc. 
*Next up was our trip to "the Mountains" for the Fall Festival.  It was a gorgeous weekend and we camped or rather we roughed it in what you might not call a cabin by the river.  We spent endless hours by the campfire and ate eons of roasted marshmallows.  I regret not taking enough pics, but the memories are certainly there.  I did get some pretty good shots of the kids out at Roaring Run.  We danced the night away at Kristen and Matt's Saturday night.  Michael Jackson lives on in the eyes and hearts of Ellyana, Colter, and Callie!  Mimi's Birthday fell on the last day of her trip...so she of course got Halloween cupcakes on the go!

*The following week was full of Stella and Dot for me and by Friday it was girl's night..

*Take that back...On Thursday Del, Callie, and I headed to Farmville.. so it was girl's day.  It was a crisp Fall day and a perfect one for furniture shopping at Greenfront.  We spent all day looking at furniture and ate a great lunch at Charley's.  Callie started out with a bout of car sickness but that passed and she was such a joy.  She loves her 'Del' so much!  Kelly bought a divine looking chair and couch for her new apartment in Richmond.

*Friday - Happy Birthday Kelly!  And so we hung from the poles... ouch!  Pole Dancing...hands down, hardest workout ever.  I was sore for 3.5 days and I am so doing it again.  We ended the night with PF Changs. YUM!
*An exciting tidbit is that Ellyana is going to be in a production at the Ferguson Center on January 27.  Callie and I took her for an audition that her music teacher suggested her for on Monday.  We waited outside the audition like it were American Idol.  It is for the King and I.  And we are all stoked.  She has a musical part with several other children.  She is after all, the first born!

We've visited with new babies, gone to showers, decorated for fall, worked on building a swingset from scratch(mostly G)...baked a little, and the list goes on.  It has certainly been a busy one.  This weekend is busy, too.  We hope to make it to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend..something we have not done.  So while this post is a little long and boring, I hope to get back to normal posting soon ;)
 
Until then....  Happy Fall Y'all!  It has been a beautifully busy one.  We are loving every minute of it with our 3 foot 3 inches ever so tall baby girl. xoxo

Callie's Day Out

 It was just a regular Tuesday (last week). So we went out. First for some "STAWBUCK"s...first time Momma let Cal in on this (Aunt NeeNee has been guilty before). She enjoyed a cool-hot chocolate and Momma a White Chocolate Mocha. We sat at a table and she entertained... the staff loved how she recited Starbucks and she waved to everyone coming and going.

#heart melting picture.this could sell some starbucks

And then we headed over to The Gloucester Library.  I wanted to read Callie some books, and Callie wanted to play on the tiny computers.  She wins!  She had a great time playing with all sorts of things... AND she caught the CROUP (likely here). 

I LOVE YOUR 2-YEAR-OLD SELF CALLIE CHAMBLAIN PENICK!

xoxo, Momma

Happy 4th Colter!

Happy Fourth Birthday Colter James Allan Callis!  We've Been Celebrating SuperHero-BounceHouse-Mohawk Style for a few days now..and it's been all fun and games.  Here are some pictures to prove it. 

The B-day Man Himself

 

Dee-Dee (Me) for some Bounce House fun with the kiddos

Chessie came the distance to celebrate, too. <3 her

Uh. Oh. I won't mention which Birthday Boy sent Poppy diving into the cold river after an aluminum serveware platter. 

The girls were worried about Poppy

So..that was the Big Party on Sunday.. an early celebration for Colt's birthday

Callie and I picked Colt up from school today.  Aren't they cute?! I think so.

And we took him straight to Tangled Up for a 4-year-old MOHAWK. We all love it (with the exception of Uncle G).  His Mom and Dad dig it-- whew since I am the one who took him.. and most of all, Colty really does..and I quote him, "everyone is gonna think I am so COOL now".  Well basically, I'm thinking he thinks he's so cool and so do I!  *he was also a very good boy for his haircut

We ended up celebrations with dinner & cupcakes at Mimi and Edgar's tonight.  This photo op proved unsuccessful on every take..but there you have it. Our crazy life!

XOXO to my Nephew the Birthday Boy

Hunni Poo.

Hunni and Us on our wedding night, 5/5/2007


I brought her home 12 years ago.  She was cute that day my friends and I picked her up off the street; and she became much more in the days and years to come.  Even though she said we weren't keeping her, Hunni's been by Mom's side for the past twelve years.  I know she was the best gift I ever gave to Mom. 
On Saturday (9/10/11), we said an emotional goodbye to sweet Hunni.  It was a good run and we'll always remember you..  I love you, Hunni.. Rest in Peace.  

Welcome Home & BuhBye Summa

I can't seem to bring myself back to my blog much lately.  I have so many photos and so much I want to post about..but I am lacking in the time to do so..or the time to organize the posts.. so here is a little mixed bag of short blurbs.

We came home from our short(ened) vacay on the Outer Banks on Saturday.  Hurricane Irene kept us from getting there on time and did quite a bit of damage down there.  Oceanfront is good and well, but the Soundside, Southern Shores, and Hatteras did not fare as well.  On the homefront, power outages were widespread.  Vacation was nice and relaxing (those pics have not been uploaded yet).  Callie and Liam had a ball with each other!

We were welcomed home by our FRONT DOOR ... one of the home projects we've had in the works.  A lot of umppfh for a little ole front door and we like it!  There's some new paint on the inside of the front door, too.  And it is wild, also!

This weekend was the unofficial end to summer and we said a little goodbye to New Point Island as our Sunday Fundays there seem to end here.  I need to do a little photo rundown of our busy, busy summer.  I feel like it just began.  Fall calendar is filling up fast starting this weekend...full of birthdays and Chessie Baby is coming to town.