Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers. I ‘m looking forward to blogging to you all from England. God bless you all.

When we swam Sunday evening it was chilly. Ammon
enjoyed the pool. She would swim for about 30 seconds or a minute then she
would say, “I need to get out.” She would then sit in our lawn/pool chairs for
a few seconds then say, “I want to swim!” , so then she would run back to the
pool steps where I awaited her with open arms. Carter stayed in the pool for
two minutes, swam to the side and firmly stated, “I’m cold, and I want to go
in.”

However, on Wednesday when it was warmer and the pool water
was warmer, our friends, Lizzy and Gavin, came for a visit, and they played
soccer (thanks again for the net help, Gavin) and swam with Carter and Ammon.
They had a ball! All four enjoyed the swim, and Carter finally decided that he
liked the pool. Good start to our pool season!

Our Pool!

Folks, I love the color YELLOW. I have also been known (with
frequency) to have rooms in a house painted yellow. Yes, it is bright and helps
my mood index. The color makes me happy. Now, I cannot wear shirts that are
yellow because with my ruddy complexion the two colors really clash. However,
if my shirt has a yellow stripe, I can “pull it off” LOL (Dolce and Gabbana are
going to read this and BEG me to be a fashion editor for them!)

The summer before Ammon and Carter were born was the last
summer we had the bird feeder going “full force” (before the squirrel debacle
where they broke our bird feeder). We had a multitude of goldfinches coming to
the feeder. I remember the summer vividly because the parent goldfinches taught
their babies to fly in the back of our house where our pool is. I could tread
water on my back, look up to the sky, and watch goldfinches zip above. It was
such a treat!  Well, they have started coming back again since the new feeders are up, and it is amazing how the whole yard around the feeders LIGHTS UP when there is a goldfinch  perched there: It brightens the area, and it brightens my soul.

Has anyone heard of, have knowledge of, studied about, or
been to Waltham Abbey in London, England? Well, I plan to visit it during my
upcoming visit to England. The family and I are doing a round-trip cruise of
the British Isles. It will be our first with Princess Cruise Lines. It will
Ammon and Carter’s 7^th cruise! Okay…back to the Abbey

Folks, this abbey will probably be dum, dum, dum,… the
setting to Haven Caylor’s first novel! I will divulge pieces at time between
now and publication (probably late autumn), but the time is late 12^th century (approximately A. D. 1190) and the majority of the setting takes place around an abbey. Now, Waltham Abbey will only be a physical plan because my setting is fictitious. My novel is historical fiction. The story-line itself is about life, love, friendship, and our relationships with the Lord Almighty.  The novel may take place in the Middle Ages,
but it’s themes are timeless and 100% pertinent to the 21^st century.

Please, if you do have some information on Waltham Abbey or
have friends/family who are Medieval Times buffs send some comments/help my
way.

I feel kind of bad. I just read where I should have put out my humming bird feeder in March! It’s almost June! I hope they forgive me! Oh, well, assuming that they do forgive me there should be some humming birds any day now. I hung the feeder from the front porch eaves Saturday but none came (I’ll bet those hummingbirds didn’t come that evening because they were waiting for Jesus’ return and the end of the world…LOL).  But seriously, the feeders are up, and I am ready for those little stinkers to enjoy their sugar-water nectar! Sippin’ time! Come and get it!

Update-Monday May 23, 2011: As I was typing on the front porch swing on Sunday night, a hummingbird visited the feeder. I was pleased, and I think he was too.

….but I am shooting their butts off our bird feeders with the BB gun.

I’m so tired of squirrels eating all the birds’ food. Right now we have the pleasure of seeing purple finches, gold finches, indigo buntings, brown thrashers, chick-a-dees,  tufted tit-mice, cardinals, and many more adorable birds, but the dang squirrels keep eating their food, and the birds don’t want to come around to empty feeders.

It’s best when we have our dachshund, Buddy, or our mother coonhound, Katie, to run them off, but neither of them is out at 6:00 in the A.M. when the squirrels begin their dining terrorist acts. Those squirrels broke our last bird feeder! At one point during the past 7 years, I had a stove pipe around our shepherd’s hook where we have the bird feeders, and the squirrels jumped from the nearby magnolia trees to on top of the feeders. The squirrels have PLENTY of trees and nuts (hickory, black walnut, etc.) as well as scraps I throw away (far from the house), so I know they have other food sources. So, I am back to using the BB gun. I get some good target practice, and the dogs start their fun and excitement as soon as they hear me cock the rifle. Wish us luck.

In all seriousness, the best title I could ever want is “Daddy”. On Wednesday, I was reminded that I have an Educational Doctorate. Any person that has left the upper echelons of his or her profession/occupation to answer to the summa operis called parenthood knows what I mean. We kind of “lose” who we are professionally. Will I ever be called back to the world of español in the classroom whether it be in a high school or in the hallowed halls of an ivy-covered university? Will I do useful, longitudinal action research studies on the effects of computer-based technology that will appear in both prestigious foreign language journals and technology journals? Will I be sought after and paid to share my research and data? Woo hoo! Oh, the dreams of a Spanish professor!

A Haven-lead personal triumph: My Doctoral Dissertation

 http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1354097

All the above stuff could happen; however, I’m Daddy right now and loving it. It’s where I need to be. When I “Googled” my name (really looking to see if it was associated with my “Haven’s Ideals”), my published, doctoral dissertation popped up on the search, and it brought to mind the things I thought were so necessary to my life in July 2006 when I defended and obtained my doctorate. Five years later, I have two necessary things: Ammon and Carter. My Haven-led Educational Doctorate was a personal triumph, and it was great. However, my God-led blessing of being a father to Carter and Ammon is the BEST!  I am also blessed to be writing and to have you all reading and sharing with me.  

God-led Blessing: Being a father to Carter & Ammon

During the past two months, somewhere in some room in this house, there lies a Lego block or two! Carter and Ammon are CRAZY about Lego blocks. It all started about two months ago. As I walked into Mamaw’s house to pick up Ammon and Carter from their play day with Mamaw, I was greeted by Carter who happily shouted, “I build house!”. He then ran to Mamaw’s playroom where she keeps all the grandchildren/great-grandchildren’s toys. I followed him, and there in the middle of the floor stood several “houses” made of Lego blocks. Ammon sat comfortably in the middle of the Lego rubble, looked up, and said, “Hey, Daddy!” and continued with her Lego creation. Mamaw (for late-comers, this is my mother) said, “They have occupied themselves with these blocks for several hours today.”

Several days later, we bought Carter and Ammon their first Lego set for here at our house. We then bought another set for them to play with while Nana baby sat them in our New York hotel.  The blocks are very light, so they pack well and are not heavy for luggage. The two sets we now have are a zoo and the alphabet. Carter loves to build “houses” tall. He also enjoys making different cars with the blocks especially if the Lego set has that wheel base Lego piece. Ammon will build “houses” that are wide and symmetrical. She built one on Tuesday that had an awning in the middle of two perfectly symmetrical columns. Truthfully, I had no idea they would love them the way they have. Thank you, Lego, for your research and production of blocks and sets that challenge the imagination and creativity of youngsters! They really help out when I need to get a few chores done!

You will find this on my permanent “About” Me from now on…however, I am using it for Monday May 16, 2011 as well…LOL

Carter, Haven, & Ammon: May 2011

My name is Haven Caylor, and I am a married man with two wonderful children, Ammon and Carter. I am a stay at home father who teaches on line for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. I am a Christian, and my main goal at the point in my life is to raise my children in “…the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4). My second goal is to write, and God is blessing me with wonderful opportunities especially with this blog.

When I started writing several months ago, a friend who is an editor for an international magazine commented that she liked the way I write because it is a “slice of life”. One problem I have in writing is when I “get lost” in details. When I am writing my blogs or my short stories, I have to review, and “reel in the details” so people will not get lost while they are reading.  All the way through my doctorate in education, I have had to read and whittle away at the details of a reading to get to the main point of a story, an action research study, or a novel, and when I write my blogs, I try say what I mean with as little “fluff” or details as possible. However, when I do write my novels, I will expand as far as I can without being boring.

Thank you for visiting me/us on my blog. I hope you can glean something for yourself, put it in your heart and mind, and apply it to your own life. God bless you all. Haven

1^st line of business: Happy Birthday to our great-nephew and Ammon and Carter’s cousin, Orrin James Mynes. He is 4 years old today, and it is so hard to believe! We love you, and we hope you have a terrific day!

Orrin and Haven

2^nd: Since I began this blog in March, I’ve wanted to magnify and laud the name of the restaurant Texas Roadhouse. I have to begin with saying that it has delicious food: Steak, hamburgers, chicken, and pork! Their vegetables have great seasonings. Even the green beans taste good! Our favorite meal is no longer on the menu, and you have to “special order” it: The Hot and Bleu Salad…grilled chicken with hot, bacon and honey mustard dressing topped with bleu cheese crumbles, yum, yum, yum! It is also worth mentioning that like many other roadhouses, they have delicious peanuts and rolls.

If we’re in town without a special function (church dinner, family birthday party, etc.), we go to Texas every Friday evening for dinner. The people (maitre ds’, waiters, bar tenders, assistant managers, managers (manager’s wives) have become our friends and part of Ammon and Carter’s family. We are so blessed to have all of them. I would name them all, but I would leave someone out, and I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. However, folks at Texas Roadhouse, we love and appreciate you all, and thank you for loving and playing with Carter and Ammon since the first day they were carried into the restaurant in their baby carriers.