It's getting warmer!

I spent the afternoon with my Dad and his newspaper kids. While outside the school waiting for students to get picked up, I found this rock to pose upon. Dad thought it was so cool that he started taking pictures. You can find the other pictures on my Dad's facebook album.

But, for now, this one's for you, our blog readers!

Love,

Becca

Time to get some exercise!

We've had an unusually warm spring, so we figured it was time to invest in some exercise equipment.

So, off we drove to Merrillville, IN and the closest Sam's Club and we found this little darling, a 15-foot trampoline. We also erected the safety netting with strapped down zipper door to keep curious little jumpers out.

As you can see, the trees are still bare, but branches are beginning to bud. It won't be long and the trees will be in full leaf and gardens will be growing.

I made this myself!

Much to the chagrin of Bizzy, Becca took one of our favorite fuzzy blankets and, with scissors, carved out the holes for her neck and arms. Our first indication that something was up when . . .

"Mommy! Can you help me!" Becca called from the back porch.

"What do you need?" Bizzy asked. Around the corner waltzed this little darling.

"I need you to help pin this up," she said, motioning to the long blanket trailing behind her. She was already wrapped up, giving no indication other than she dressed herself. That is, until we undraped her after shooting several cutsie pictures, that Becca was stark raving naked underneath!

At least the fuzzy blanket kept her warm!

Spring Break Vegas Style

While on Spring Break, we had the opportunity to see a real live Vegas Magic Show, starring Rick Thomas and his disappearing tigers. Grandma and Grandpa had more fun at the show as Rick picked them to help perform one of the show's premier tricks. Grandpa was sure Grandma broke his watch until it surfaced in a box no one touched during the show complete and back together.

Afterwards, we were able to take a picture with Rick Thomas.

LOSING THE TEETH! Becca's front teeth are gone. She lost her first one Feb. 16 and then the second deserted her on March 9, 2010. The front (buck) teeth are finally starting to come in, and will hopefully be sufficient to tackle corn on the cob this summer.

Then, the smaller teeth on either side began loosening as the big teeth started coming in, with one being lost June 8.

"The Best Little Patient in the World"

The time came for Becca to have her tonsils taken out. Since last October, Becca's tonsils were becoming inflammed almost bi-monthly, like clockwork. Three times we took her to our doctor for these nasty throat infections.

We were referred to an ENT specialist who then decided it was time for the tonsils to come out. We arrived the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 24, four days after Becca's sixth birthday, to complete the procedure. The doctor noticed at this point, her tonsils were becoming infected yet again. As you can see in this picture, Becca was ready for it to be over and done with. The previous couple of nights, however, were a different story. As smart as she is, she KNEW exactly what was expected and going to happen in the operating room.

Overheard the night before as Daddy rocked Becca to sleep: (sniffling) "I don't want to have surgery, Daddy."

"They have to come out, Becca. They keep making you sick."

"I think Mommy should go first."

"Mommy already had hers taken out, when she was sixteen."

"Then you go first, and I'll go after you."

"They won't be able to take mine, they're all shriveled up."

We took Becca to a "surgical center" - not a hospital - an outpatient surgery center owned by a group of physicians who operate on their patients in one central location. Talk about a slick operation; we arrived at 6:15 a.m. Becca was admited by 6:40 a.m. (after completing admitting paperwork), taken into pre-op by 7:15, into the operating room for anesthesia by 7:30 a.m. with surgery completed by 8:15. Into post-op where Mommy and Daddy greeted her when she awoke, sobbing, but trying so hard to put on a brave face. We left by 10:00 a.m. and home by 11:15 a.m. Yes, we were up super early, but the medical team that took care of Becca were highly quick and efficient. We couldn't have asked for a better situation.

Father God was surely smiling on our little one today. The nurses fawned over Becca as though she were the only one there and commented that she was certainly "the best little patient in the world."

The Snow Princess poses . . .

Becca poses for a picture prior to pitching an icy snowball at Uncle Chris. Becca took advantage of the near melting temperatures that made for great snowball making to have a snowball fight.

We take this moment to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Have a great start to your 2010!

Love to all . . .

The Boys at the Game . . .

Charles, Chris, Colton and Dad went to the Indianapolis Colts and NY Jets football game in Indy last Sunday. We received tickets as a Christmas present. We were in the southeast corner, sixth row off the goal line. What great seats!

Then, we learned at the beginning of the game that the starters, Peyton Manning included, were going to sit out the second half! The Colts lost their first game of the season and we were bummed!

All in all, however, it was fun and we had a great time. While we were in the game, though, Indianapolis came under a winter storm watch, and we were almost stormed in. The snow was already coming down on the walk in. See for yourself. Good thing we parked close!

We're still pulling for the Colts in the Super Bowl, even though they may lose the last game of the season . . . hehe!

Christmas Dinner at the Lake!

We had Christmas dinner at the lake cottage. Mom fixed a turkey and we ate in the front room looking out at the melting snow and ice. It warmed up, melted off and snowed again that night when the temps dropped.

Grandma and Grandpa pine consistently for the warm temps of Arizona!

Christmas Eve . . .

We have had an extremely busy fall, hence the lack of postings. We apologize for that.

Everyone arrived for Christmas week and we held Christmas Eve at Yellow House. In this photo (from left) Leslie, Biz and Mom, with Becca standing in front, have their picture taken in the new Addition with the Pastor Peyton light in the background. Bizzy has had the light for years and has not had a chance to hang in nine years, sitting instead on top of her piano, both in Bullhead City and in Plymouth, IN. Now, we have managed to hang it.

Rebecca Ratliff, Kindergartner

We now have our Kindergarten pictures. Here's Rebecca - doesn't she take a great picture? Becca has been having a wonderful year, and, recently, begun to sprout again. She has slimmed down (due to loss of appetite prior to a spurt) and now seems to be - in our eyes - an inch taller. Her hair has gotten slightly longer in the back (this picture was taken in late September) and her face has lost some of its puffiness.

We can hardly wait for Christmas pics!

Enjoy!

Off to a great start!

We got off to a great start with school. We cannot believe it's October already! Becca started Kindergarten and loves it! After the first few weeks, Daddy had to go off to a three-day conference and Mommy took Becca to school and, to get her to the elementary on time, she put Becca on the bus in front of the high school so that she could ride over with the rest of the kids. After that she decided riding the bus was really cool. Now, Becca gets up an extra half hour early and rides the bus in from Yellow House (two miles exactly from the front of the high school).

The weather is starting to cool. It was wet most of last week with temps in the 40s and 50s, just in time for Homecoming. At the football game Friday night, Knox beat Bremen 13-7. The Redskins are now 2-4 having won two games in a row. They have one or two more games left to play, so we'll see how the rest of the season goes.

Dance of the Halloween Mask

Becca loves to dance and perform for the family. Here she's showing off one of the Halloween/Opera Masks Bizzy found at Richard's of Toto. Becca thinks she might wear the mask with her witch outfit.

Enjoy!

Becca goes Blueberry Festival Again!

Even though we moved from Plymouth, we still love to attend the Labor Day weekend Blueberry Festival. For those of you who love to watch the morning news shows, Good Morning America named the Blueberry one of the 10 best Labor Day weekend festivals in the country. More than 300,000 people attend over the course of four days.

Yellow House loaded to the Rafters!

"Must expand!" says Bizzy!

After spending much of the summer (July) moving from Plymouth House to Yellow House, we discovered that Yellow House was smaller by 250 square feet. We poured the back patio with the intent of expanding on the back, pouring the concrete with footers, etc. The idea was to build on next year.

After moving, however, we decided it was necessary to expand this year. As you can see in this picture, the walls were just going up in early September, right after Labor Day. We are now close, with roof done, drywall and siding nearly completed and only final trim out on the electric and flooring to be completed in the next couple of weeks.

This will give us nearly 500 added square feet, taking our little cottage from 1550, to 2030 square feet. As Bizzy says, "We needed the extra cushion against the cold Indiana winters!" Yes, Bizzy's gas stove will be installed in the back corner to better warm the room.

More completed pictures to follow.

BECCA RIDES HER BIKE!

Becca showed her Mommy and Daddy a new trick today. With Grandpa's help, Becca took her first ride on a bike without training wheels. After several days of chasing Becca in a golf cart around the lake, Grandpa decided Becca was ready to ride without the help of the extra wheels (which were bent upwards anyways!).

Next thing you know, Becca will be riding her bike off the end of the pier!

Dr. Elizabeth "Biz Sanders Ratliff named principal of Knox High School

After serving three years as assistant principal at Plymouth High School, Biz bade farewell to her students and faculty after being named last week as Principal of Knox High School.

Knox is 23 miles west of Plymouth, and is the community in which much of her family resides. Her father, Claude Sanders, graduated from Knox (Class of 1956); he and Biz's Uncle Bill are both members of the Knox Athletic Hall of Fame; Bass Lake is 5 miles south of Knox and is home to Biz's parents. Yellow House lies on the outskirts of Knox, only 2 miles from the high school. She is very excited about taking on this new responsibility.

Charles has also been offered a position at the elementary school, with a possibility of moving to middle school language arts within a couple of years. He is looking forward to beginning his new position and getting Becca settled into Kindergarten. He and Leslie have begun book 2 of "The Bass Lake Bunch" and have a full slate of signings scheduled for this summer.

Biz begins her new job July 1, so there won't be much of a vacation this summer. We are in the process of moving to Yellow House permanently and have spent a lot of afternoons swimming, boating and, oh yes, moving furniture, much to Charles' chagrin and aching muscles (hehehe:)!

BECCA GRADUATES PRESCHOOL!

We are proud to announce that Becca finished preschool and has been pronounced ready for Kindergarten! Here she receives an achievement award for most improved reader.

We were trying to decide where to enroll her for Kindergarten: in Plymouth or in Knox. After much discussion and a recent change in events, Becca will be attending Kindergarten in Knox with her Sanders cousins!

TIME FOR PEPPERS

With the advent of spring, we planted a variety of peppers at Yellow House to add to our stock for the delicious fajitas Bizzy makes. Here Becca does the planting for her dad. Along the fence row we put in Mexicali Bells, Jalapenos, sweet Yellow Bells and others.

We do love our peppers with our fajitas!

OUR LITTLE GLOBETROTTER!



Becca is having so much fun at Winter League basketball. She sports her new uniform t-shirt, her number is 3, and holds on to her "Harlem Globetrotter" basketball. She took her warm-up shots before the two games and her warm-down shots after the game. She sports her red IU game shorts proudly! Sorry, Grandpa! (ISU!) and wanted to know when the third game would be. We told her next week.

"You ready to go, kiddo?" asked Daddy!

"NO!" Becca emphatically shouts. "I'm never leaving this gym! I love basketball and I want to keep playing!"

"But, Becca, we have to go get something to eat!"

"I'm not hungry!"

As she starts to dribble toward the basket, Daddy says, "I'll make you a hamburger and french fries."

"Awright!" and off we go, heading for the car. Daddies always know how to get their daughters moving in the right direction.

Right?