The Martin Family News & Notes

Nicklas is officially a United States Marine

All the pics from the day…..

Pics from the day……

This year’s parade was longer than in past years, seemingly had a larger crowd than past year (maybe because it was 70 degrees out that afternoon) and looked more like a classic car show than ever before, but it was fun nonetheless. Both Brenna & Nicklas made off with a fair amount of candy. Everyone in attendance seemed to have a good time.

Who needs shopping when hockey is available?!?  The entire family and all the grandparents went to the Black Friday Knoxville Ice Bears hockey game.  The Ice Bears lost 5-4 but everyone had fun.

We took the kids up to see the Shadrack’s Christmas display up at Smokies Park tonight. To see what one would see while driving through the display, watch this:

While there they have a small petting zoo, camel rides, and small amusement area. While everyone took turns feeding and petting the various animals there, one lama took a shine to Nicklas:

Inside the Smokies baseball park Hot Cocoa and treats were available for all as evidenced by Brenna who said thanks for sharing the funnel cake…now it’s time for a cookie!!!

But the ‘best for last’ is when Santa told Nicklas that he needed to do a better job in picking up that mess he called a bedroom:

Nick and Brenna got invited to Makayla’s house for the holiday festivities.  They went over on Saturday afternoon armed with bathing suits, towels, shorts and p.j’s, socks and shoes.  Michaela forgot to pack shirts for both of them (Oops!).  Not that they really needed them as they were living in their bathing suits…..

They started the weekend with a picnic (BBQ)/birthday party and swimming at Makayla’s grandparents house in Sweetwater.  They finished the night with fireworks and got back very late, around 12:30.  No one got to sleep before 2:30am Sunday!  They were up and at it again on Sunday about 8am!  Both ate a great breakfast of pancakes, waffles, eggs and bacon.

Sunday was partially spent at Makayla’s house with the trampoline and swing set.  The girls were running all over.  Nick was playing Game Cube with Michael, Makayla’s dad.  Later on Sunday, they went over to Makayla’s uncles’ house for more swimming, paddle boat rides, and a cookout.

When Michaela went to pick them up Sunday evening, they were tired, dirty and grinning from ear to ear.  Neither one wanted to come home……  They must have been good and very well behaved as the invitation to come over again was extended to both and Makayla asked if Michaela could bring Nick over the next time Brenna came!

You might be asking what Paul and Michaela were doing with no kids for two days…..Well, we went out to eat at Calhoun’s.  We also went to the pet store to get a nursery for the baby fish that we noticed swimming in the tank.  We think we have baby angel fish.  Michaela decided that the kids needed to have hermit crabs as pets and got one for each.  After the pet store we went to Border’s and picked up a few books.  It was a nice night.  Sunday was spent relaxing and watching a couple of movies after cutting the lawn.

On the actual 4th of July, Michaela had to baby-sit and it was just a day at home for the family with a couple of additions.

Well, it has been a while since we have updated the site.  We’ve been busy with work, school, and adjusting to life down in TN.

Brenna was in pre-k and absolutely loved it!  She made many friends and has a really close friend named Makayla.  They were together constantly in school.  So much so, that they were given the “Reese’s Stick” Candy Bar award as they were always stuck together!  They get together now as much as they possibly can.

Nick was in 5th grade and he kept his grades up…..and down….but finished the school year with 3 B’s and a C.  He was on a basketball team through the Loudon County Rec department and when he could get the ball, he did very well.  There were two ball hogs on his team and they didn’t give the ball up very often.  Nick also participated in the Steekee Writers Fair and was awarded 2nd place for his piece.  We are very proud of him for that!  He went on a field trip with the 5th grade to Fort Loudon Middle School to see what it would be like for them in 6th grade.  He seems to be excited.  Nick tried out for the middle school basketball team and unfortunately didn’t make it this year.  He said he had fun and would try out again next year.

Michaela is taking a break from working full time and is staying at home with the kids.  She does baby-sit twice a week for a girl from Brenna’s class and her little brother.  It gives her a bit to do and Brenna has someone to play with at home.  Michaela has also gotten involved with the Tellico Community Players and worked lights for a play earlier this year.  She is currently working lights again for another one of the Players shows.  The Players will have a musical later this year and then at Christmas time, they will put on a version of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Paul is busy with work.  He has his hands full with a variety of issues and it’s generally never boring.  His company had a holiday party and it was very nice.  It was held at a country club and had a live band.  The food was excellent and the dessert table was over flowing.  Michaela fell in love with the red velvet cake.  A good time was had by all, including the kids who were home with a sitter.

That is pretty much it in a nut shell.  More updates will come during the summer and the school year.  Check back often as we will continue updating.

🙂

• Preschool & kindergarden starts the school year one week later than the rest of the school.  The preschool boys started school on the 16th & 17th.  Brenna and the rest of the girls will attend on the 18th & 19th.  The full class of girls and boys start the rest of the school year together on Friday the 20th.
• We spent the weekend (13th – 15th) digging out from the dump truck of a moving van.  While we made great strides, we still have some work to do.
• Mayflower arrived with all 11,000+ pounds of our stuff around 8:00 AM on the 12th.  Fighting rain clouds but never seeing the rain the crew of three had the truck emptied out a little after 3:00 PM.  Shortly thereafter the rain that had been threatening all day long finally made its appearance….in the form of a good ol’ southern downpour!
• Nicklas started the 5th grade on Monday the 9th.  He likes his teacher and his classmates.  Let’s have a great school year!
• Michaela & Paul drove to Loudon on Saturday the 7th.  By 4:30 PM we were finally all together under one roof again.  The kids were so excited they nearly knocked me over trying to get to Michaela to say hello!
• The moving van arrived just before 9:00 AM on the 6th.  The crew of four cranked through the house in New Haven so fast things got onto the van that shouldn’t be going and were buried before we even knew they were on board.  The truck was loaded and on its way to spend the weekend in Sterling Heights by 4:00 PM.
• On the 5th, the packers helped us finish getting ready for the moving van – which comes on the 6th.
• Both Nicklas & Brenna were registered for school on August 4th.  Brenna is so excited to be starting.  Nick, well, another school year…ho hum.

• Nicklas spent two weeks in mid July in a summer program at school.  The program was geared at giving him a leg up in reading and math for the 5th grade.  Frankly, he doesn’t need the leg up for math, he needs it for reading.  Either way, he did very well and enjoyed the entire experience….even though it was school.
• We began moving into our new home in Loudon, TN over the July 4th weekend.  The bare essentials are there and we can survive on what is here but the moving van will be in New Haven August 6th.  It should arrive in Loudon, TN around August 12th.