Category Archives: Family

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Daddy H Job/Chores

. Family . , , ,

My house isn’t a show place, and I doubt it ever will be.
There are 2 adults, 2 almost three year olds, 5 indoor, declawed cats, and 2
dachshunds living in it. It’s our home. However, in the past three years, I’ve
learned that our living space HAS TO BE STRAIGHTENED, and the kitchen HAS TO BE
CLEAN. The surprising thing is that I thoroughly enjoying cleaning, but it’s
finding the time to do it. I am very glad Carter and Ammon can do some small
chores, but, of course, they cannot keep focused on the tasks. I am also very
thankful that Carter and Ammon can go to Mamaw’s house for a visit while I
clean or grade my university students’ work from online. I have 24 students
this semester.

At 9:00 A. M. on Wednesday morning, I was enthralled to
begin cleaning. It was like being shot out of a cannon. What had happened
between dropping off Carter and Ammon at Mamaw’s house at 1:00 P. M. on
Tuesday and 3:00 Wednesday afternoon when they returned???? (This will be more than items in a series! LOL………heeeeeeeeeere we go!)

I came home and started downloading 24 assignments from the
UTC Blackboard (online teaching base) and began laundry. Next, I went into
Ooltewah for a few groceries to make dinner. I then returned home to start dinner.
I started grading the 14 undergraduate assignment (one the average about  4 pages per assignment). Next, I finished
preparing dinner. After eating, I washed the dinner plates and pans. Following dinner
Sean and I jogged our 50 minutes. While doing some other chores in the kitchen,
I was able to watch Glee and enjoy an
evening cup of decaf coffee. After Glee, I began to grade the 10 assignments
from graduate students (They have 5-6 pages to grade). I then wrote each grad
student a note regarding the positives and things to improve on. I went to bed
around 10:45 but listened to cats run back and forth through the house playing,
hissing at each other, eating, and using the litter box for about an hour.

At 6:15 Tuesday morning I began writing notes to the
undergraduate students, and then I emailed all 24 students. So, back to 9:00
Tuesday morning. I was enthralled to do chores: sweep, mop, wash and dry
clothes, make the beds, scrub toilets, and feed dogs. I made appointments for
Sean’s car and the carpenter to come and measure for new handles for the
kitchen cabinets, shaved, showered, went to Sam’s Wholesale for Carter and
Ammon who are in charge of snacks for the next two weeks at preschool, went to
Collegedale for some Little Debbie Apple pies (Carter has to provide an “A”
snack …Ammon has “B”,and she will provide Blueberry and Banana muffins), picked
up some “m” objects at the Dollar Tree for Ammon and Carters’ “M” bags at
preschool, picked up some chicken for Sean’s lunch tomorrow, and then I
returned home to start Tuesday’s dinner. Carter and Ammon came home at 3:00,
and I began my Daddy H responsibilities anew. I’ll say it again, and you
may not believe me. I thoroughly enjoy chores. I’m so grateful God gave me
Carter, Ammon, my health and my home. Thank you, God. I am truly busy and
blessed.

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Daddy’s Birthday (September 19, 1939)

. Family . , , , , , , , ,

He was born in Varnell, Georgia on Tuesday September 19,
1939. He was the first of only two children born to Troy and Naomi Caylor. He was
born at his Nanny Alexander’s house (Nanny, Granddaddy, and Daddy lived with
Nanny Alexander until January of 1941). I forgot the name of Daddy’s doctor,
but Nanny Alexander was in the room when Daddy was born. During the whole
pregnancy, Nanny knew in her heart and prayers that she was going to have a
girl. She had grown up with two younger sisters and was surrounded by girly
things for so long, she just knew she was having a girl…God had a surprise!

When Nanny woke up from the anesthesia and learned she had a
boy, she had a split second of disappointment. She even had Daddy’s name picked
out as Hannah Rebekah (both from the Bible); however, when she heard the news,
she, of course, had to give up all of her plans. Knowing Nanny the way my Nanny
Alexander and Granddaddy did, they knew she wouldn’t mind if THEY named him (I’m
serious. They knew she wouldn’t mind, and she didn’t). While Nanny was sleeping and Nanny Alexander and Granddaddy gave Daddy his first bath, they named him Oliver Haven Caylor: Oliver from Nanny’s father, William Oliver Alexander, and Haven from
Granddaddy’s father, Luther Haven Caylor.

I could keep writing and writing about Daddy, but emotionally it’s kind of
difficult, so I will say just one more thing. From 1979 until his death on May
28, 1982, my father and I shared a multiplicity of wonderful times together. My
favorite times that I have stored in my heart were when he and I traveled back
and forth to church together and discussed the Lord, the Bible, school, life in general, and Coonhounds. It was such a wonderful and fulfilling experience having Daddy
as both my earthly father AND brother in Jesus Christ. That precious bond is
something that death and time cannot erase. Happy Birthday in heaven, Daddy.

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Granddaddy/Grandmaw Stone

. Family, Parenting . , , , , , , , ,

September 10th (yesterday) would have been my
granddaddy’s 94th birthday. Once again, his name was Troy Dewitt
Caylor. He was born on September 10, 1917, and he died on March 29, 1979. He
was one of those grandfathers that could almost be an ideal cliché: He smoked a
pipe, he could do carpentry, was an excellent farmer, loved yard work, could
fix anything that had an engine, could make crafts and holiday sceneries, and
most of all, he loved his family. I was almost 13 when he died, but I have so
many cherished memories of that man. I loved him dearly, and he loved me. As I
have said before, he showed all of his grandchildren so much love. I have
someone else to add to my “Happy Birthday” to Granddaddy message. I simply know
her as Grandmaw Stone.

My granddaddy’s
family was hit hard by the Spanish Flu of 1918. Granddaddy’s parents and four
siblings were gravely ill, and, unfortunately, one of his older sisters, Billie,
died. The family lived in Varnell, Georgia. Granddaddy’s grandparents, the
Caylors, lived there as well. However, afraid of the flu themselves, they did
not enter my grandfather’s house for fear of catching the dreaded disease. They
would bring food and supplies to the house, but simply leave it all on the
porch and return home. Grandmaw Stone did not live in Varnell. She lived in
Chattanooga, Tennessee. She was Granddaddy’s step-grandmother. My great-grandmother Mattie Stone Caylor’s mother had died when she was a young girl, and her father remarried the woman of whom I am writing, Grandmaw Stone. Well, the family was “falling by the way-side”: They were all sick, and Billie had died. Enter Grandmaw Stone: A woman of faith, courage, and love of family.
She had other children and grandchildren
to worry about, but she left her “disease-free” home in Chattanooga, took the
train to Varnell, and walked right through the front door of my Granddaddy’s
house. She took over! She nursed my great-grandparents and Granddaddy’s three
surviving, older siblings, cooked food, cleaned the house, and started the
laundry. When everything had calmed down, she found my Granddaddy who had been “tucked away and forgotten” basically resting peacefully in his crib without, praise be
to God, the flu. She picked him up, changed his soiled clothes, and fed that
boy. She told my Nanny Caylor years later, “That boy was just about starved to death!”

My Nanny and Granddaddy were married in 1938, and I know
Grandmaw Stone was still alive then. My Nanny loved her! Nanny said she was so
kind, loving, and had lots of pep for a lady her age. Nanny said one thing
Grandmaw Stone always said for the years left that she knew her was that when
she saw Granddaddy, she said, “There’s my boy!” She had several other grandsons
and nephews, but no one else was “her boy” but Granddaddy because of that bond
they shared. So, thank you, God, again, for Granddaddy, and thank you for Grandmaw
Stone . Oh, my, the admiration and love I have for Grandmaw Stone, and she died
many, many years before I was born.

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Babies and the Couch

. Family, Parenting, Parenting Strategies on the Go . , , ,

 

Carter and Ammon haven’t been sleeping too well these past few nights. Carter woke up during the early morning hours at approximately 4:00 (I think…my eyes couldn’t focus on the clock…LOL) I rubbed his back, and, eventually, he went back to sleep; however, he was mumbling a bit. Because I didn’t want to keep getting in and out of bed, I gathered up my gear to sleep on the couch that is in the living room right outside Carter and Ammon’s room in case Carter or Ammon cried again. Oh, it brought back some memories….

When Ammon and Carter were newborns, we all three slept in the living room. They would be fed at 10:00 at night, and I would put them down to sleep in their bassinets. I then would plant myself on the couch anticipating a few hours of coveted sleep. About 2:00 AM one of the two would make a peep, I would dash off the couch, grab whoever it was, change it, feed it (with me being half asleep of course), get it back in the bassinet, grab the other one (awake or asleep), change it, feed it, and return it to its bassinet as well, and all was done! Right before they started sleeping through the night, I had the process down to right at an hour. Routine, routine, routine. I miss my newborns, but I am so thankful that the OVERWHELMING majority of the time, I get a complete night’s sleep, and I get to play and communicate with my toddlers. Time moves on.

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Cute “Good byes!”

. Family, Parenting . , , , ,

I know you all get to hear cute things from your children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, but I have wanted to write this one for months now. We have a set of 7 cypress trees, and Ammon and Carter started calling them “Christmas trees” last December.
During that Christmas season if we left our driveway to where we had full-view
of the “Christmas trees”, Ammon especially would wave out the car window, and
she would say “Bye Christmas trees!” She still does that every once in a while;
however, on our way to church yesterday morning, and as Carter and Ammon made
their way out our kitchen door, down the step into the garage, and headed to
the car, they both said, “Bye house!” I loved it, and it made me smile and
laugh.

How many of us do the same in our minds as we leave our
homes, our places of work, our schools, or our places of worship. Ammon and
Carter even said, “Bye church!” as we left worship on Sunday morning. Well, you
may have completely given up what we may think of as “childish” acts, but,
seriously, in the recesses of your mind, do you ever do something like say, “Good
bye, house” in your mind as you pull out of your driveway? As I’ve gotten older
and developed my relationship with God, I always add a prayer to my “Good bye
house” (which I have done often as an adult even before Ammon and Carter) with
a “Thank you for a blessed home. Please keep me protected until I return to it,
and please bless it until I get back to it.” I’m still a child: A child of God.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone.

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“Peace be unto You”

. Family, Holidays, Jesus Christ Follower . , ,

Jesus the Master Teacher: Lladró

John 20:26

“…Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in their
midst and said, ‘Peace be unto you.’”

As I said a few days ago, I wanted to introduce you to my
favorite piece of Lladró. In 2000, I landed in Spain June 7, and I returned
about June 27. For almost three weeks, I searched from Madrid to Málaga to
Santander back to Madrid for the perfect piece of Lladró that fit my budget and
my life. My next to the last day I found it: Jesus the Master Teacher. Not just
Jesus the Master Teacher, but Jesus my friend, my brother, and my Lord and
savior. I also got several other pieces.

Jesus sat on my Nanny’s sideboard until 2004 when we moved
into the house we live in now.  He then took his rightful place over the fireplace mantel that is in our living room which is situated in the middle of our house. No matter what season of the year it is or what seasonal decorations are in the living room Jesus doesn’t leave his place. All decorations as well as the entire house have Jesus as its center. It is symbolic because he needs to be the center of my peace and my life. I hope this picture helps you  fix yourself for a few moments on Jesus, and I
hope the words I’ve written fall upon your hearts  and help bring you peace today.

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Lladró (Porcelain, not a sneeze) ;o)

. Family, Jesus Christ Follower . , ,

In July of 1990, a friend of mine, Kim Legg, an American who
I met at the University of Madrid in Madrid, Spain asked me if I wanted to
accompany her to shop for some Lladró. If you don´t know, Lladró is porcelain
that is made exclusively in Valencia, Spain. It is also world renown. In 1990,
I had NEVER heard of Lladró, but I told Kim, “Sure. I will go and learn.” I
didn’t find any that I liked that day nor did I see any I wanted to buy until I
returned to Spain in 2000. It was then that I bought several pieces. I plan to
show my first and most important piece this coming Sunday.

The Father’s Day of 2008 Carter and Ammon were still
gestating. However, Sean and I bought each other a Father’s Day gift when we
were in New York City. It was two pieces of Lladró (both the same piece) by the
name “Fatherhood”.  Both of them are placed on our mantle, and it is a constant reminder of how God blessed me to be a father. I am in constant prayer that I will not let Him down.

In the next few weeks, I want to share some of my most treasured Lladró pieces with you. I hope you enjoy them.

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Praise the Lord for Mamaw

. Family

Mamaw & Carter Summer 2011

Mamaw & Ammon Summer 2011

I’ve mentioned how grateful I am to my mother for helping
take care of Carter and Ammon. Well, I am doing it again, and it won’t be the
last. When I leave Ammon and Carter with my mother (their Mamaw), I don’t have
any worries. I know they will be fed, clothed, played with, entertained, and
most importantly loved. If I knew I had to die in a few hours, I would be
satisfied knowing that Carter and Ammon would have a lot of love and nurturing
from Mamaw in the coming years. I have never known anyone who loves children as
much as my mother does. I was so blessed that God gave me my mother and my
father to be born to.

Carter and Ammon were with Mamaw on Monday night. There are so many things to get done at our house and in our yard, and Mamaw (Aunt Karen helps too…thank you Aunt Karen!) allowing them to stay with her for a couple of days and a night every now and then helps me get them done.  As I left them
with her on Monday morning (and as we always do) we all said “Good bye! I love
you. Be good, and be careful.” We also gave hugs and kisses. I left my babies
playing and happy, and I had no worries. Thank you God, for my wonderful and caring mother, and thank you, Mamaw for being who God made you.

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Summer’s Corn on the Cob

. Family, Learning, Parenting . , , ,
Ahh, the Memories of Corn!

Ahh, the Memories of Corn!

I love fresh corn on the cob especially Silver Queen (oh,
man I’m salivating just thinking of the ears of lightly-salted corn dripping
with melted butter/margarine). I could eat it for every meal for who knows how
many days in a row. On our way home from town Wednesday, Carter, Ammon, and I
stopped and bought some just-picked Silver Queen corn. The smell and later the
process of shucking it, brought back a plethora of memories of me and fresh
corn.

Shucked corn July 13, 2011

It was May 8, 1982, and it was also the day after my 16th
birthday. My father, my mother, and I had planted a good-sized garden, and we
had approximately 6 rows of corn that were each about 40 feet long. The corn
stalks were young and about ankle high. My father and I decided to give my
mother the day off as an early Mother’s Day gift, so he and I, alone, worked in
the garden. As I hoed the corn, we talked about Copper and Chief, the
coonhounds were we raising, but I also spent hours listening to the tales of
Daddy and the hound dogs (King, Queen & Bolivar) he grew up with.
Surprisingly, the warm, May morning flew by. Three weeks later, my father was
no longer with us. He died with an aneurism on his main aorta of the heart on
May 28.

In the middle of July, my mother and I harvested and shucked
the corn that my father had planted and taken care of. At different points
during the process, I cried and cried as I remembered my father. This week on
Wednesday, I shucked the corn and thought of my father and what a wonderful man
he was. I hope Carter and Ammon will make and nurture such memories of me even
if they are of corn on the cob.

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“Bubble-bubble toil and trouble…”

. European Destinations, Family . , , , , , , ,

Do we have any Shakespeare fans out there?  Some of you may not know that the title of the blog today is a quote from Shakespeare’s MacBeth. If you do, you may also recognize
Cawdor Castle, Scottish King Duncan’s castle from the play as well.  As enthralled and dedicated as some of us may be with the literary genius of William Shakespeare, he always didn’t write with historical accuracy…….ohhh, no! LOL King Duncan did not die at the hands of Macbeth but during a battle at Pitgaveny, Scotland on August 14, 1040. Cawdor Castle was not built until the late 14th century.

Ammon, Carter, Nana, & Haven: MacBeth’s Cawdor Castle

On Monday June 6, 2011, we took a tour of Cawdor Castle.  It was a few hours after we hunted for the
Loch Ness “Dinosaur”. It is still a real home after 700 years! The family moves
out for the spring and the summer so tourists can see the historical residence
(and get a few British Sterling Pounds as well.. woo hoo!)

Cawdor Castle

Cawdor Castle

As you can see by the pictures, it was quite beautiful.
Ammon and Carter had a great time. They were allowed out of their strollers and
got to experience the castle as free people…okay, except for the leashes.