Vacay

In case you are keeping up with my days....I am on a break from 30 DAYS OF KEITH.  I was playing so much with my princesses last week that I wasn't able to get ahead on my posts.  So....I will pick up with Day 10 next week....enjoy the break!
I know I am enjoying my time on the lake.

Day 9

 Fishing with his daddy summer 1990.

Look at that string of fish!

 Keith's 8 yr old bd.  Ninja Turtles theme. 1990

Picture with Goofy in Disneyland

I see that fanny pack underneath the jacket. 

Day 8 (30 days of Keith)

 First day of First grade at ECS

Aug 1988

 Magic Kingdom March 1990

 Memphis Zoo Summer 1990

That merry go round is still there today.

Opryland :  It is not there today.

Day 7 ( of 30 days of Keith)

As I continue on my 30 DAYS OF KEITH tribute, I will now pick memorable pictures and highlight them..
Below is when Keith was ring bearer in Tami's wedding in October 1987.  He was (and still is) so handsome.

 New Year's Eve posing with Erica 1987

Keith's T ball uniform.  I still have that baseball glove. 

Keith and not too happy Erica fishing with Daddy.

Notice his buzz!  He kept that style thru 7th grade.

Keith's 6th birthday.    July 12, 1988.  

Happy Erica in the background.  

Keith's 5th year

Keith's 5th bd was celebrated in Tannenbaum and at home .
Had Scarlet Fever a second time.
Attended ECS 5 yr Kindergarter.
Memorized Luke 2: 8-14 at Christmas.
Learned to ride a bike without training wheels and got a big boy bike.
Got the chicken pox.
Played T-ball.  He was the catcher
He loves videos and cartoons
Keith did Gymnastics in the recital

Pictures from yesterday's post

 Keith and baby Erica

Emmett's sand pile

 Erica and Keith watching cartoons

Keith's three wheeler

Keith's 4th year

Keith and Magevney Davis ( next door neighbor) had a joint 4th bd party.  It was at McDonald's and they invited all of their church friends.
He got his first battery operated 3 wheeler from Grandma.

I made his family cake:  Mickey Mouse!  Clearly Erica is better than her mom!  Alvin and Chipmonks theme

Had Scarlet Fever
His baby sister Erica was born in Jan of 86.
He can roller skate and enjoyed Tiny Tots skating every Thur at East End.
Attended Pre-K at PVBC Preschool.

Party Day.

My Little Man

Keith's 3rd year

After his 2nd bd.....he really started becoming a little person and was growing and changing and learning new things.  He went to the Circus, Sesame Street live, the Mid South Fair.  Christmas and Easter were fun holidays for him because he knew what the real meaning and enjoyed them to the fullest.
He can swing, swim, and even rode on the old fashioned surf board at Tannenbaum.

He was born in the generation of wired landlines!
He has an Uncle Emmett that he loved and always wanted to ride with him on his tractor when we visited the country.  Emmett called Keith "Short Stuff".  Emmett found out that Keith loved sand so he made Keith a sand pile so he could play in it when we went to the country.
A tradition on the Mills side is an Oct hayride and cookout.  Keith always enjoyed that and has been able to bring his own family to that ongoing tradition.

This is Emmett and Keith on Oct 1984.

Keith's 2nd year

Well....now we are starting his 2nd year.  I will now just list some memorable happenings.
13 months:  wore floaties and jumped off of the diving board

14 months:  cut his first bottom tooth
14 months:  first busted lip.  He sucked on a Popsicle to help with the swelling.
15 months:  first Zoo trip
15 months:  First Mills family hayride and cookout.
19 months:  switched to his toddler bed (Why did we do that so early?)
23 months:  started Happy Times Daycare and really enjoyed it.
24 months:  started potty training but he wasn't in love with the BIG BOY undies.
2 year old party:   SMURFS theme....Smurfs cake...Smurfs big wheel.

Keith's first year.

It seemed like his first year flew by.  We loved watching him develop into a little person.  He went through the developmental stages and I tried to write everything down.  I had this calendar that my friend Sue Gaia gave me and it had stickers that helped to keep up with the highlights.
He went everywhere with us and I loved taking him shopping with me.
He walked early at 8 1/2 months and we were both happy and sad about it.  Happy because he was now mobile and could explore easier than crawling but sad because he was moving towards the toddler stage.  Our infant was growing up before our eyes.
He didn't cut his first tooth until almost 14 months, but that didn't stop him from enjoying table food.  He loved Popsicles, bananas, and apples.   If I didn't watch him closely, he would even eat the apple core.  I would sit him on our front porch with an apple and he was totally occupied while I mowed our front yard.  I would keep checking to make sure he wasn't down to the core yet.

Keith eating a raw hot dog.  He loved them! (Kinda has an Ethan look)

The sad part of his first year was that he had TIBIA TORSION which meant his toes turned in and his legs were bowed.  We had to sleep him with bug chunky shoes on him to hold his legs in the frog position while on his tummy.   That worked fine until he learned how to roll over from tummy to back.  But thankfully, the dr said that it had corrected so the shoes were off and the boy could wear footed sleepers again.  YAY.

WE had planned to keep him only on healthy foods like fruits and veggies and no sugar.  Well...grandparents were giving him sugary things when we didn't know it.  My dad was putting grape jelly on his pacifier.   And Larry's dad was giving him jelly beans.   Of course they didn't tell us until one time I saw a purple tint around the pacifier!  My dad was busted.   Then, Keith had a green tongue over at Larry's parents....jelly bean!  Busted again.  But....all in all....he still ate good foods for him.  NOW as a grandparent myself.....I have always tried to honor the parents' wishes....most of the time.

His first bd was at Chuck E Cheese with our family.  I am sure he doesn't remember it at all.  So glad CEC is still around because I love taking my grand kids there to play.

Happy 1st bd Keith!

30 days of Keith

My son is 30 today!   Can't believe it has been over 30 years ago that he was born.  I was so happy to become a mom and was surprised when I had a boy.  I came from a family of alot of girls and I just figured that I would continue with the girls.  ( I did get my girl 3 1/2 years later)

Keith was born at 5:22pm on Monday July 12, 1982.  He was 8lbs 15 oz and 21" long.  He was 10 days past his due date and it was a scorcher of a July.  He was born by C-section since he was in fetal distress.   So glad that I didn't really know what that meant at the time.  I am grateful that he was born and healthy and grew into a healthy man.

Isn't that the cutest newborn face?  

In his honor I am posting a blog for every year of his life for the next 29 days.  Having a son has been a joy and blessing that Larry and I could never have imagined.  We had a great time parenting him and now we have the joy of watching him parent his children with his sweet wife and our daughter in law Aundrea.  WE started praying for her when we found out that we were pregnant.  We prayed for a Godly woman as a spouse for Keith and that she would love God first and then love Keith.  God definitely answered our prayers in a mighty way.  Stay tuned for year #1

Here is a wall hanging I put together of Keith's sports years.

Microfilm_Microform???

I went with Erica to U of M last Friday (July 6) to "help" her with an assignment.   She needed to find the newspaper archives for an essay assignment.  I say help because I knew she needed microfilm and she asked me to go since I knew what that was and told her I had some experience with that back in the day.  And now we are talking about 35 years ago.  Can you believe it?

Well....I got "schooled" when I went with her.  Now....microfilm has been replaced with the word Microform which includes a new type of machine, the old filmstrips, computers, and storage.

This is the machine I was used to.  It was fun to manually scroll through the newspaper articles.  We felt so "cutting edge"  

Well....now it is an energy star smaller machine and is linked in with the desktop.  When you find what you need....you can store it in your student online storage file or save it on a jump drive or print.   Students now are allowed 500 pages of printing...after that you pay more to your account for more paper.  Sure does beat that old slick paper we had to use and take care not to smudge it since it was still wet after the printing.

I actually had fun learning about the new systems.  It is operated from an onscreen control pad.....or you can manually turn the spools by had.   That was my job.  It was easier to turn the spool and save it that way.  She never had to move her mouse.....I turned to the next page and she hit the save button.  We made a good team . 

 This is Erica doing her part of the team effort.

Here is the new and improved Microform machine.

We had a good time and she stored her material to work on her essay from home.  AND we did it in under 1 hour since visitors have to feed the parking meter!

And then....I had my picture made with the Ramses statue.  A fun field trip with my girl!

It was good to see the campus again and see all of the improvements with my own eyes.  And I still know my way around....mostly.
So....microfilm vs microform?  I embrace the new and improved Microform.