Day Two Hundred Forty Three

Pollen Party


This moth and a dozen others like him, plus several bees and other insect critters, were having a pollen party this afternoon on these pink flowers in the backyard. They must have been celebrating the deep blue sky and Fallish temperatures.

Day Two Hundred Forty Two

Let's Take This Show On The Road!

Eddie Kitty is an endless source of entertainment for us. And Kelly loves making him jump. We got the biggest kick out of watching him jump for the toy this afternoon. It was better than any circus!

Day Two Hundred Forty One

Cool Cat

Eddie Kitty tried on daughter Kelly's sunglasses this afternoon. Perfect fit. It don't get no cooler than this.

Day Two Hundred Forty

Family Fun Night Alzheimer's Fundraiser At Morningside

My mom Hamp Mabry, niece Sarah Foy, great niece Ashley Mabry, sister Ann Sissom, great nephew Ethan Mabry and niece Julia Foy pig out on grilled hot dogs, potato chips and drinks.

Brother in law Don Foy, hubby Neil, sister Jane Foy and nephew Chris Mabry down some dogs and chew some fat to help raise money for Alzheimer's research.

A 25 cent ticket will get you a painted face, or a shot at the corn hole board, or a spot on the cake walk. Sarah and Julia did it all and brought home some goodies.

Real men (Chris) wear painted lady bugs on their bearded faces--for a good cause. And just cause it's fun.

"Nowhere Man" from 'Yellow Submarine'! (It's really Julia...sshh...don't tell).

And then things really get crazy when Mom gets in on the act. She's a party animal, she is.

The cake walk haul--assorted muffins won by Ashely, Ethan, Julia, and Sarah. Can you say "Breakfast!" ?

We all had a blast at Family Fun Night. We made a lot of noise, took a lot of pictures, enjoyed each other's company, and as usual, closed down the place. I don't know how much money the fund raiser brought in, but every little bit can make a difference in Alzheimer's research and we hope someday a prevention and a cure.

Day Two Hundred Thirty Nine

Two Approaches To Relaxation....



Shelby winds down from her school day by becoming one with the couch as she watches 'Fred' videos on You Tube. And if you haven't seen the 'Fred' videos, you must be living under a rock or something.

Elijah, on the other hand, never winds down. We hit the trampoline this afternoon and did a bunch of other stuff, too. He got on the tree swing and I pushed him in dizzying circles, while he giggled uncontrollably. Now that's the way to chill.

Day Two Hundred Thirty Eight

Snake Killer--Killed Snake


This is the face of a snake killer.

This is the killed snake, left belly up on the deck this afternoon. I don't know what kind of snake it was. I'm just glad it wasn't anything poisonous, or else the snake killer would have been dead meat. Ah, the joys of living with a cat.

Day Two Hundred Thirty Seven

Keep Your Eye On The Ball

Swing, batter batter! Elijah Man keeps his eye on the ball and smacks it out of the park. Or at least knocks it onto the deck so Granny won't have so far to walk when she retrieves the ball. "It's your turn, Granny," he says. So I get to bat, too. He's a sweet kid like that.

Day Two Hundred Thirty Six

Wish I Was Here...


Summer is fleeting. Autumn will arrive in less than a month. August in my neck of the woods has felt like Fall lately anyway, which is crazy. Nice, but crazy. I think I'm starting to miss Summer already and longing for the beach and the Emerald Coast. So here is a scrapbook page from our trip to Destin, Florida, back in July, 2007. This was the first time grand daughter Shelby ever saw the ocean. She had her own little disposable camera and captured her own special snapshots of this awesome view. Maybe we can go back next Summer. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the Fallish weather we're having and visit Destin in my dreams.

Day Two Hundred Thirty Five

Kerry

This is our son-in-law Kerry Kimbrough. He turned 32 this past Tuesday, August 18. I was totally remiss in not wishing him a happy birthday here on 365. He's married to our daughter Kelly, but he's been a part of our family long before they got married a little over a year ago. Kerry is so very one of the good ones. He already knows how much we love him and that we wish him all the best on his birthday and every day, but I'm sure he won't mind hearing it one more time. We love you, Kerry Berry!! (Ma and Pa Ranft)

Day Two Hundred Thirty Four

Attack Cat!


To begin with, I can't believe my hubby Neil sat there and allowed this to happen. Not only that, he let me take this picture. It's hard to take a clear photo when you're laughing. This is the second shot. Neil has definitely mellowed when it comes to cats. I'm sure those of you who have known him for a while will agree.

Day Two Hundred Thirty Three

Happy 27th Anniversary, Ann and Terry!


My sister Ann and her husband Terry Sissom were married August 21, 1982. Here they are back in their dating days (Terry looking like Lindsey Buckingham) and Ann looking way too young to date! Flash forward 27 years later and they're still the same loving,
happy-to-be-together couple they've always been. Thanks for showing the rest of us old married folks how it's done! Wishing you both every happiness today and in all the years to come! Love you guys! You rock! And roll!

Day Two Hundred Thirty Two

Monkey Boy

Here's Elijah man acting like a monkey this afternoon while he sat at the desk, watching a Scooby Doo movie on the computer. He likes to watch his movies on the computer. Not sure why. I try not to question anything that works.

Day Two Hundred Thirty One

Harbinger?


This little Maple leaf was floating in a birdbath in my yard yesterday afternoon. Looks like it has designs on Autumn already. I think it sailed in from a Maple tree that lives across the street. Her top most leaves can't seem to wait for Fall--my fave time of year, but hey, let's not rush it.

Day Two Hundred Thirty

Portraits Of Two Buds


Look what God made! Cute little flower bud....

Look what else God made! Cute Bud(dy) Cat....
Okay, that's my attempt at humor for the day. Hope it made you smile just a little.

Day Two Hundred Twenty Nine

Happy 3rd Birthday, Elijah!

Today is Grandson Elijah's 3rd birthday! Here he is on the day he was born and this past Saturday at his birthday celebration. His Grandpa and I love him to pieces and are so blessed to have him in our lives. He's a terrific kid who always makes us smile when he's around.

And here he is today. His mom and dad took him fishing at Center Hill Lake this afternoon. He said he caught some goldfish. (I think they were blue gill) I was so happy to get to see him today, as he usually spends his Mondays with his other grandmother. And I was very grateful for the opportunity to take his picture on his birthday. We love you, Elijah Man, and hope all your birthday wishes come true, today and all your birthdays to come!

Day Two Hundred Twenty Eight

Wings For Supper?

Hubby Neil flies radio controlled airplanes and usually stashes them in what I call his airplane hangar after he's done, but for some reason, this one ended up in the kitchen this evening.

This is just one of several in his collection and I hope will soon find its way back outside and into his hangar, also known as his "man cave". I don't venture out there very often, which is why there are never any pictures of airplanes on here. I feel kind of bad about that. His planes are pretty cool. I'll show them to you sometime.

Day Two Hundred Twenty Seven

Elijah Celebrates His 3rd Birthday


Grand son Elijah celebrated his 3rd birthday this afternoon with a Scooby Doo themed party and his family and friends at his house.

The giant slide has become a birthday tradition. Here's Elijah man coming down fast!

He loved his new Spiderman bike from Granny and Grandpa and took it for a spin down the hallway.

Another birthday tradition is each kid taking a swing at the candy-filled pinata. Elijah enjoyed opening his gifts (tossing the clothing aside, of course), playing on the big slide til he was red in the face, and loving every minute of his day of days. I'm sure he'll sleep well tonight!

Day Two Hundred Twenty Six

Eddie Kitty sez, "This vet stuff is for the birds!"


Eddie returned to the vet this afternoon for his temporary shots, including the Feline Leukemia vaccine. Poor kitty. He was not a happy camper. I had to keep a firm hand on him or he would have high tailed it out of there. Eddie weighed in at a whopping 2.14 pounds at about ten weeks old. His age is mostly an educated guess. He was pretty scrawny when he showed up at my house just after the fourth of July. He eats like a pig these days. I can only imagine he must have weighed less than a pound a month ago.

Grand daughter Shelby was my helper for Eddie's trip to the vet just after school. She loves animals. I can picture her becoming a veterinarian some day. After two shots in his skinny bottom and some worm meds and ear cleaning, Eddie was good to go. Little does he know I've scheduled another appointment for him in four weeks when his manhood will be stripped away (Ouch!) without his permission. I hate that for him, but it must be done. He'll also get another round of shots--most likely a rabies vaccine. Poor thing. He cried all the way to the vet but was strangely silent on the way home. Maybe he overheard me making that appointment....

Day Two Hundred Twenty Five

Grand son Elijah turns 3 years old on Monday, August 17. He's going to partay this Saturday. He wants a new bike, so Neil and I got him this one at Wal-Mart tonight, along with a helmet to wear when he's burning up the road at his house. Shh...don't tell him.

Day Two Hundred Twenty Four

The First Day Of School--Start To Finish


Shelby, the reluctant third grader, poses for a first full day of school picture before making the long trek to the school building (which you can see directly behind her). She's got that "Aw, man! I can't believe this is happening to me!" look on her face.

Elijah, the dutiful little brother, has said his goodbyes to his big sister, grabs Eddie the striped kitten, and heads back inside where mini waffles and Scooby Doo await.

Elijah attended the open house for Mother's Day Out this morning and met his new teachers. For lunch, while his sister slaved away at school, he pigged out on a cheeseburger and apple fries at Burger King, then did some heavy climbing on the BK playground. It's a tough life, but somebody's gotta do it!

This was the weirdest and kind of saddest thing we saw at the BK playground. Elijah was the only kid in there and put his Crocs in the rack. But there was this one little pink sneaker just sitting in there all by itself.

I thought this was odd because it's an expensive Converse All Star tennis shoe (sneaker if you grew up in the fifties). Probably belonged to a three or four year old little girl.

Neil and I kept calling to Elijah to go down the slide. He called back to us that "There's something in here." I immediately flashed on the kid in The Shining (by Stephen King) who encountered "something" inside a big drainage pipe. And there was that one little Converse sneaker left in the shoe rack.....I was totally creeped out. Then Elijah called "It's a wasp." Oh well. I have an over active imagination sometimes. He did eventually go down the slide.

After lunch, he was down for the count for a couple of hours in my bed, then wandered into the living room and crashed again on the floor.

Time for Shelby to come home! He ran to greet her.

The devoted little brother watching for his beloved big sister to come home from her first day of school.

Here she comes, crossing the street to Granny's house. The school day finally came to an end!

Elijah gets left holding the bag as they march toward Granny's house where there will be Popsicles and mindless television after a day spent quite possibly growing some new brain cells.

As a tired and flushed face Shelby grabs the remote to channel surf, Elijah sits down next to her and asks, "How was your day, Shelby?" It was the sweetest thing, and it totally made my day.

Day Two Hundred Twenty Three

The Last Day Of Summer Freedom


Today is Shelby's last day of freedom for a while. Tomorrow school starts. The kids chose Ocha for lunch. Here are Holly, Shelby and Elijah after a big meal of rice and spicy chicken.

I was trying to get a picture without the rabbit ears, but it wasn't meant to be. This is our last weekday lunch with Shelby until the fall break in October I think. She is now a third grader and Elijah will be attending Mother's Day Out two days a week.

The Coke can says it all. Summer 2009 is over for school kids in my neck of the woods, even though Autumn won't come around for another six weeks on the calendar. It ends too soon.