MINT FESTIVAL 2010

Summer in Starke County is not all about the lake. No, in one part of Starke County - over in North Judson - the Mint Festival gives everyone a chance to celebrate the county's other harvest - the mint.

The carnival is one way to help celebrate, and Becca enjoys the rocket ride, as shown in this photo. She also enjoyed the pony rides - which she rode twice - but her father didn't get the right shot.

Can I? Huh? Can I?

Maybe if Dad is not looking, I can write my name in the fresh concrete. Wait, it's not all poured yet. Dad has to pour some more along the side. Then, when he's done, I'll write my name . . . er, initials, in the concrete.

Actually, when all was said and done, we wrote all of our initials in the wet crete. Becca was a big help.

WHY WOULD I GO TO THE LAKE AND MISS ALL THIS FUN?

Becca came out to see what her Dad was up to and discovered that he was pouring a concrete apron around the older edges of the house. At much insistence (Becca can be very insistent!) Becca helped her father stir the sack-crete so that her father could then pour it into the forms.

Overheard while pouring concrete:

"Becca, why don't you go inside and see what your mother is doing?"

"I'd rather help you, Daddy," she replied.

"Why don't you ask your mother to run you up to the lake?"

"Why do I want to go to the lake and miss all this fun? No way!"

Becca's idea of fun: Dressing up in a nice play dress and then proceeding outside to help dad with messy construction job whereby the kid gets concrete stains all over her outfit, hands, legs and smudges on her cheecks.

She's a Ratliff!

I DON'T WANT TO COME OUT OF THE WATER!

After swimming at the high school pool, the shallow waters of Bass Lake are even more fun now that Becca has swimming strokes to practice. She can't wait for her cousin Colton to finally show up and swim with her.

SHOW ME THE WATER!

Rebecca enjoys a night of open swim at the High School. She
loves to leap from the diving board into the deep end (over 12 feet deep!). She can now can jump off and swim to the side by herself.

During April and May, Becca spent a week during each month attending swimming lessons. Every day after school for a week she and other K-2 graders were taught swimming strokes and floating techniques without the benefit of floating devices.

Now, her mother and father can't seem to get her out of the deep end.

School fun night at KESC. May 14, 2010
Becca shows off one of the many prizes that she won at her school's Carnival Night, sponsored by the student council. Her Dad tried to get her to help with his event, but she said, "No way! Dad!" and ran off to have fun.

Oh, well!

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.