Day One Hundred Fifty Four 2010

An Ordinary Day ~ I Think Not!


Grand kids Shelby and Elijah snuggled together watching 'Spongebob' from floor level this morning. Shelby was softly singing a Taylor Swift song she likes and wrote out all the words to using the music video from You Tube. It took her over an hour and about four sheets of paper, but she got it done.

Chocolate pudding kisses at lunch at KFC.

Monkey see. Monkey do.

While visiting my mom at her place this afternoon, sister Ann, niece Julia, grand kids Shelby and Elijah threw rocks in the pond, then discovered cherries laying all over the ground. Light bulb moment: wouldn't it be fun to toss cherries in the mud by the pond and hear them go Splat!? Well, of course. And it was.

Julia holds cherries picked fresh off the tree. Elijah gathered his off the ground. I bit into a red one. Very sour.

The willow trees that grow around the pond are beautiful--fun to just sit under and listen to the wind blow through the long limbs and fun for making wreaths to wear on our heads. Someone (might have been Julia) told Elijah his was an emperor's crown. He liked that and wore his even when we went back inside.

I forget we have plants like this in our back yard until they suddenly bloom, which is always a nice surprise--something extraordinary. Nice day.

Day One Hundred Twenty Nine

Happy Mother's Day!

I am the proud mom of two awesome daughters, Holly Myers and Kelly Kimbrough, and the proud granny of two awesome grand children, Shelby and Elijah Myers. They are a blessing to me and make my world a better place to be every day. Thank you again for my beautiful cards and the cool presents. The best present was simply getting to spend time with you this weekend. I love you all!!

My sisters and brother and I think our mom is the best mom on the planet. Here she is surrounded by a few of her peeps: daughter Kay Ranft (me!), daughter Ann Sissom, grand daughter Sarah Foy, grand daughter Kelly Kimbrough, daughter Jane Foy, and grand daughter Julia Foy. Just want to say thanks for having us, Mom! We love you!! Happy Mother's Day to MOMS everywhere!

Day Forty Nine

The lunch bunch at our mom's place today--around the table from left: brother Ken, niece Sarah, MOM, sister Ann, niece Julia, and sister Jane. It's not that often that we all get to hang out together at the same time. But this day (snow day!) we got to pig on Krystal's and subs and peanut M&M's, and generally misbehave and make a lot of noise which turns out to be mostly laughter. Good for the psyche and the soul and maybe even the circulatory system, who knows. Hope we all get to do it again soon.
And a shout out to my son-in-law Jerry who turns 32 years old today. Happy Birthday, Jerry! Hope you get to go bass fishing soon. We love you!

Day Three Hundred Fifty One

Christmas Party At Morningside

Shelby, Santa, and Elijah share some smiles and candy canes.

Julia, Sarah, and Holly add some bling to the tree.

These people have had too much sweet tea to drink. Holly, Sarah, me, and Ann....doing who knows what.

Mom/Granny and Kelly share some holiday smiles.

Jane knew Kerry would look better with some rabbit ears. Ken and Don = life of the party.

We let brother Ken get away too soon before Kelly took this group shot of Mom and the kids. Me, Ann, Mom, and Jane. Oh yeah, girls rock! We all enjoyed a jolly good time and a tasty meal and hope to do it all over again this time next year.

Day Three Hundred Twenty Four

'New Moon'! And Happy Birthday, Cynthia!


Daughter Kelly, son in law Kerry, sister in law and birthday lady Cynthia, sister Ann, Cynthia's sister Christina, and hubby Neil (and I) arrived at Providence cinema in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, bright and early this morning with our preordered Fandango tickets to see the 10 AM screening of 'Twilight Saga: New Moon'. Neil was glad that he wasn't the only male to show up for the movie. We've anticipated 'New Moon' for a year now, and Cynthia was thrilled that she got to see it on her birthday. We all LOVED it and want to see it again soon.

Cynthia's birthday lunch at Ruby Tuesday was a yummy meal and a lot of fun hanging out, laughing and talking (yeah, Kelly got pretty loud). Cyn got a kick out of her cards (and presents!)

Around the table from left are Kelly, Cynthia, Ann, Christina, and Neil. (Kerry had to leave after the movie and head to work) I'm so glad I got to celebrate Cynthia's birthday with her (she's 31--ssh--don't tell). And glad too that we finally got to see 'New Moon'. Happy Birthday, Seestor Cyn!! We love you and wish you the best of everything today and always!

P.S. After lunch, Kelly and Cynthia went back to the theater to watch 'New Moon' all over again :-) P.S.S. for the record, Kelly tells me they didn't see the movie again.

Day Three Hundred Two

Fangs For The Memories ...

My sister Ann brought a bag of chocolate caramel candy corn to lunch with Mom today, and things got a little wacky.

Big brother Ken grew some candy corn fangs, too.

And even Mom got in on the act. It was funny because hers kept popping out. We had fun together and lost track of time. Good times!

Day Two Hundred Eighty Six

Each day just goes so fast. I turn around it's passed. You don't get time to hang a sign on me .....
'Love You To' ~ George Harrison

Got together for lunch with Mom, sisters, brother, nephew and nieces at Mom's place today. Ann, Ken, and Mom get ready to dig in.

Julia, Jane, and Ann caught in the act of some serious chowing down.

Ken and Chris share some laughs, while Sarah gets ready to pop open the pudding cup. We always have a great time getting together for lunch with Mom, especially during the school breaks. We laughed and cried and laughed some more and sang Beatles' tunes and ate Mom's left over cake she didn't eat because it had too much icing. Go figure. It all just goes so fast ... Good times, great memories!

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 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 One Hundred Ninety Seven

We visit our mom at her place every week for lunch, and
on Summer days like this we end up outside on the porch
swing, in the rocking chairs, and of course out by the pond
and the willows.

Ann always takes the kids up on the hill to throw some

rocks in the pond. This is Elijah's favorite part of the day.

Elijah gets a closer aim at the pond with his rocks while

Ann watches and Julia snaps pictures of the day. She always

takes such great photos. Check out her blog at

http://imagine.blogspot.com

Elijah relaxes under one of the beautiful willow trees that

grow along side the pond.

Most of the gang is still here after lunch--that's brother Ken,

niece Sarah, Elijah, sister Jane, sister Ann and Mom. I always

enjoy our time together. Good times, great memories!!

Day One Hundred Ninety

Shelby, Ann, and Elijah made wreaths for their hair out of
willow branches during our visit with my mom at her place
this afternoon. And of course Ann took them up on the hill
for the traditional rock throwing into the pond. The kids
love that!

The new kitty here at the house is a big hit
with Shelby. She loved on it and played with
it most of the day. The kitty loves her, too!

The new kitty is also a big hit with Elijah who
sometimes has to be reminded that the kitten
is not a stuffed toy. Mostly he carries it around
and tries not to squeeze it too hard.

"Sally" is a pretty kitty. I hope she can survive all the
good lovin! :D

Day One Hundred Sixty

Hooked up the sprinkler under the trampoline this morning
so Shelby and Elijah could jump and splash. Nice hot day for
this activity.

We visited my mom at her place and ventured outside for
a while. The kids (that includes sister Ann!) love to throw
rocks in the pond and make wreaths out of the branches from
the willow trees that grow by the water. Grand daughter
Shelby looks like a child of the Sixties.

Sister Jane and grand son Elijah relax on the front porch.
Sipping icy drinks sure does take the edge off the heat!
It's always fun hanging out with my family! Love you guys!

Day Seventy Six

Couldn't resist posting more than one picture today. It's Spring Break for schools here. We all descended upon our mom's residence at the assisted living home where she lives and had a good time together. The top picture is my brother Ken, my sisters Ann and Jane, Jane's daughters Sarah and Julia, and my grand kiddos Shelby and Elijah hanging out in our mom's room. She recently moved to this new room, so we hung her pictures and arranged stuff on her new cork board.

The middle picture is Ann, Sarah, Julia, Shelby and Elijah soaking up the sunshine down by the pond where they threw some rocks in the water and made wreaths for our hair from the willow tree branches.

The bottom picture is Jane and Mom, also soaking up that sunshine and watching the kids play (that includes Ann!) and the geese diving for good eats in the pond.

We had a good afternoon together. What more can we ask for? Life is good!