Flat Stanley Visits The 'Noke

During this Presidents' Day weekend we went to Roanoke to visit with my family. We had a great time hanging out and watching their new flat panel tv. It was pretty nice. We even watched "Over The Hedge" on "Movies on Demand" in "High Definition". (I may have overused the "quotation marks".)


While we were there, we went to The Star. Roanoke is called "The Star City of the South," because of this giant star on top of one of the mountains. On just a side note, not too long ago, my cousin worked on the electrical components of this star when it wasn't working. So, he is kind of a local hero I guess. :) Back to the story, normally we wouldn't go to the star when it is snowing, cloudy and FREEZING, but we received a Flat Stanley in the mail from one of Andrew's cousins, Hannah. So, now we need to take pictures of Flat Stanley in lots of interesting places so Hannah can make a report on it. If you really want to read interesting facts about the star you can click on the picture below and enlarge it to read the sign. Don't get too excited.


Along with The Star there is an overlook that looks over all of Roanoke. It is actually very pretty and usually more enjoyable in the Spring or Fall when it is a more comfortable temperature. You can't see many of the mountains around because it is snowing in the distance.


This is Flat Stanley enjoying the beautiful views. This is what Flat would look like if he were a girl with a pink skirt on.

The Mountaineer

Well, we finally heard back from the dealership about Andrew's car. And guess what? There was absolutely nothing wrong with the windshield wipers. They checked them all day long and they work fine. Well, that is a little embarrasing. (I promise they weren't working before.) But, that didn't keep them from finding a long list of other things that were wrong. The major things they found were the two front ball joints. I believe Andrew can pinpoint the time that they broke while going over a speedbump (that was poorly marked, according to him). Ever since then, the car has been making a "thud" sound while driving. It sounds as if something is falling out of the car every few miles. Well, we tried to ignore the "thud" sound. But, apparently it could have killed us. Because, the next thing that would happen is that our front tires would fall off. Yep, just fall right off. And that wouldn't be good going 75 mph on the highway. So, even though this discovery kind of hurts the pockets. We are thankful that God made our windshield wipers stop working long enough for us to find this other problem. And on top of that, I don't have to go to work tomorrow. Yipee!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Well, I am a day late. But, I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Andrew and I both had a great day. We both got the day off because of the ice and snow. That was a wonderful first present. Then, Andrew got me flowers. But they were supposed to be delivered to school. So, we aren't sure where they are at this moment since school was closed. But, thanks honey, for the flowers. Andrew also surprised me with pottery lessons. So, soon we are going to be quite the creative and artsy family with lots of glass and clay accessories.

We tried to go to a movie yesterday, but by the time we got the car scraped off, the windshield wipers decided not to work. So, we had to scrape my car off. (The one day that we actually need a 4WD car, we can't use it.) It was a little more than an hour later that we finally pulled out of the parking lot. Needless to say, we missed the movie. But, we had a great dinner at Red Robin.

So, Andrew's car is in the shop today getting fixed. It is kind of good though because his door handle hasn't been working too well and it causes the lock to get stuck. It was kind of funny because the guy at the shop that had to move his car asked me if we were having any troubles with the lock. I told him, yes, and that I had already explained it to the guy at the desk. He said, "well, I just had to climb out the other side of the car because I couldn't open the door." I thought it was funny because he was a rather tall guy and I could just picture him stuck in Andrew's car. It just struck me funny.

Anyways, I am enjoying another snow day. And hoping for one more tomorrow. The roads are still kind of bad up here. So, it is still possible.

The Cavanaughs

We had a lot of fun on Saturday with the Kim and Ian. Ian is an old friend of Andrew's from Junior High and they met back up on MySpace. (So, myspace really is good for something.) They live in Harper's Ferry, WV which is only about 40 minutes away. So, we try to hang out every couple of months or so. This past Saturday we taught them how to play Settlers. (We have to get our practice in for the tournament in March.) Kim liked it so much she wanted to start another game at 2am. But, we decided we should go to bed so we could go to church in the morning.

This picture is from the last time they came to visit.


And no, I am not trying to look at Andrew's cards! By the way, I, Naomi, won the game. Watch out Nolls!

More Glassblowing

This is Andrew's latest piece. It reminds me of a dreamsicle. It is orange on the inside and then he put white on the outside. As he was putting on the white he dipped it into water and it made the crackle effect. Pretty cool huh? He also got me the sweet yellow tulips. awwwwww!

Valentine's Cactus

Most people get Christmas cactuses. Some actually bloom around Thanksgiving time. But, taaaadaaaa! We have a Valentine's cactus. Well, actually it is a Christmas cactus. It just didn't get the memo that it was supposed to start blooming 2 months ago. Hope you enjoy the beautiful blooms. (sorry for my lack of interesting subject matter.)

Glass Blowing

Andrew has found a new hobby that he loves maybe even more than fish. These next pictures show his progression from the beginner class through the intermediate class.

This picture is of his snowman. This is how he learned how to gather glass onto the pole.


After he learned how to gather glass, he learned how to blow the glass to make bowls.

He then learned how to make a vase. His didn't quite turn out like the teacher's (the second picture) But, it is really good for small flowers from our wildflower garden.

After he learned how to blow glass he learned how to add color using "Frit". (I am not sure if that is how to spell it.) He roles the piece he is making into little pieces of colored glass.

After his beginner class, he went in on his own to make a few things. He made a great tea light holder, candy dish, and we aren't sure what to do with the last piece.

During his intermediate class, he learned how to add solid colors instead of just rolling color on with the Frit. He also learned how to add feet and handles. He made a fun parfait and cappocino mug. He actually had a cup of hot chocolate out of his white mug.

I think this is my favorite piece.

During another intermediate class he learned how to make lines of color.

Sadly, he has finished his last intermediate class. So, I think he is ready for the advanced class.