Day One Hundred Seventy Seven 2013

Granddaughter Shelby and grandson Elijah spent the day with me today. We finally took a break from veg'ing out and headed to one of our favorite sweet shops for yummy doughnuts. This may have been the highlight of our whole day. It’s Summer, so we’re allowed.

Day One Hundred Fifty One 2013

KNOX GETS HIS FIRST HAIRCUT ~ ELIJAH GETS A MOHAWK

Everywhere he goes, people say, “What a cute little girl!” Even when he’s wearing obviously male clothing~like dinosaur or super hero shirts. Grandson Knox will be 18 months old June 2. His hair has grown long and sometimes wild, so his mom decided [reluctantly] it was time to cut those pretty curls.

Our long time friend and local barber, Russell, did the honors. Knox sat in his grandpa’s lap and got to wear the puppy-decorated cape.

Major dislike for the barber began when Russell wet Knox’s hair and started cutting.

At first he was resigned to the situation. Can you see that teardrop on his sad little face?

Curl after curl came off. His mom saved every one that could be saved.

Then full blown rebellion set in when the barber turned on the buzz clipper.

When the deed was done, his hair was shorter, the tears dried up, and he totally enjoyed the sucker Russell gave him. Now he looks like a little boy. Those curls will most likely grow back. As it turns out, he’s naturally got curl to his hair.

Grandson Elijah was also ready for a haircut. His mom thought he should try a Mohawk. At first, he rebelled against that idea.

The more he thought about it, the more he figured he might like it. So Russell went to work shaping and clipping.

Elijah was a bit unsure during the whole process.

Russell put some styling product in it, blew it dry and made it stand up.

He ended up liking his cut. I think it looks kind of edgy and pretty cool.

Great job, Barber Russell! And I’m so glad Neil and I got to witness this historic appearance-changing occasion. It’s T G I F, y’all! Hope yours was historic.

Day One Hundred Forty Three 2013

School is out. The grandpeeps Elijah and Shelby were hanging with me today. This morning they played with their iPad and Nintendo 3DS. Right before lunch, they flipped on the TV and ended up on Animal Planet, watching ‘Gator Boys’, which I’d never seen. As you might guess, it’s a ‘reality’ show where some guys and a couple of girls hunt and capture alligators and remove them from somebody’s backyard swamp or swimming pool or garage or wherever [even one small one from a restaurant fountain]. They take them to an alligator sanctuary so the gators can live in joy and love and peace and harmony with other gators. Not a bad deal, actually. And that’s what we did literally the whole day ~ watch ‘Gator Boys’, one right after the other. Apparently, it’s Monster Week on Animal Planet. We enjoyed being slugs all day, but I have to admit, I’m a little burned out on gators right now.

Day One Hundred Forty One 2013

SCHOOL’S OUT!

I am crazy proud of these two. Grandson Elijah has all A’s for the school year. Shelby has all A’s for the school year, minus one. Math tripped her up a bit this year, but that’s OK. When I was their ages, I would have been thrilled with these grades. They’ll be moving on up come the end of July ~ Shelby to 7th grade and Elijah to 2nd grade. Oh, how time flies! But for now, school’s out for summer. Time to relax and have some fun and look forward to that beach trip coming at them in June. So proud of you both! Love you!

Day One Hundred Twenty 2013

Grandson Elijah lost his second upper front tooth today. He could wiggle it, but it was nowhere near as loose as the other one that finally came out a few days ago. I told his mom yesterday that it would be weeks before this one dropped out. Shows you how much I know.

He says he really won’t be able to eat apples now, just apple slices. But Pop Tarts and bananas ~ no problem, cause they’re soft. His new teeth are already coming in. Cool kid, with or without teeth.

Day One Hundred Eleven 2013

My sweet grandpeeps~Knox, Shelby, Elijah~so glad you got to spend time together today.

The laughter of a child is the light of a house   ~African Proverb

 

Day One Hundred Eight2013

Granddaughter Shelby is totally into the whole Hobbit thing, having seen the Lord Of The Rings trilogy movies. She wants to read the books, but when she saw how big the whole thing is, decided to start with something smaller [or Hobbit size, you might say]. So she began reading ‘The Hobbit’.

And now she’s almost finished with it ~ only a few more pages until The End. Way to go, Shelby! I’m proud of you for your love of reading. Maybe you can tackle the trilogy one day.

Grandson Elijah is in the process of losing baby teeth. The front two bottom teeth are long gone and permanent teeth are already growing in. His top two are loose, especially this one. Each day he brings home that empty Ziploc bag the teacher gave him to put the lost tooth in. Maybe tomorrow, Elijah. Just maybe that stubborn thing will fall off when you least expect it.

Day One Hundred Two 2013

T G I F

Trying a new recipe ~ Hearty Beef and Barley Soup in the Crockpot

I bought a very small bag of pearled barley (I want to say ‘Pearl Bailey’ ~ if you’re under the age of 50, you have no idea who I’m talking about ~ anyway ~ I digress) because, let’s face it, who cooks with barley? Not I. But the soup recipe called for it ~ three-fourths of a cup. Lots left, of course. I put the rest of it in this vintage freezer Ball jar. I collect old jars. This one’s pretty rare.

One of the reasons I bought that jar is because of the galvanized lid. The original owner (I’m assuming) apparently put up some cherries and wrote the date on the lid ~ which dates back (way back) to when I was but a sixteen month old baby. Pretty cool. And old.

Neil took the day off to do some much-needed yard work. He bought a couple of truck loads of black mulch and spent most of the day spreading it, which will (we hope) look good and keep the weeds at bay.

Couldn’t have asked for a more awesome day which was a cool-ish 60 degrees. Felt more like spring after the eighty degree heat wave this past week. The rain yesterday evening washed away some of the pollen, thank you very much.

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~Robin Williams

“Tell me the story about how the sun loved the moon so much that he died every night just to let her breathe.”  ~Anonymous

The strong wind yesterday blew petals from our cherry trees around like pink snow ~ a very pretty sight to see but wish they’d stay on the trees a bit longer.

Grandson Elijah after school. He was thrilled that it’s Friday and did a happy dance when he got inside the house.

Grandpa Neil, granddaughter Shelby and grandson Elijah (and moi) treated ourselves to some Mae Pearl’s frozen yogurt. Elijah got a brain freeze.

This is a terrible washed out picture, but the Hearty Beef and Barley Soup turned out great and was pretty tasty. Barley adds an interesting texture and flavor. We’ll have it again. Leftovers, you know.

“There's a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they're absolutely free. Don't miss so many of them.”
~Jo Walton

Happy TGIF, y’all!

Day Ninety Eight 2013

I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game.
~Walt Whitman

Grandson Elijah is back in the swing of things this evening, as he played his first T Ball game of the season. He’s a seasoned player on a team made up mostly of newbies. He’s definitely the tallest player on his team ~ The Sharks. They played hard but lost the game, 25~4.

Day Eighty Seven 2013

Easter Egg Hunt

Peeps! My grand peeps Shelby and Elijah got a half dozen chicks in time for Easter. Daughter Holly brought them to my house today so Elijah’s first grade class could enjoy them during their Easter egg hunt.

Holly and one of the other first grade moms came to the house this morning to set up for the egg hunt and lunch. I love those Easter egg plates and checked napkins.

Elijah has been looking forward to his class egg hunt all month long.

Neil and I enjoy hosting the kids’ egg hunts. Our yard is conveniently across the street from their school. I’m so glad they had a beautiful sunny day for the hunt.

Each egg is numbered, and each child looks for the eggs with his or her number on it. Elijah is number 16. Finding your eggs takes time because you have to look at every egg to see if your number is on it. Makes the egg hunt last longer.

Elijah and his classmates gathered for a group shot. Love those smiles.

They were surprised by the chicks and got a kick out of watching them in the cage. One of the chicks escaped a couple of times. We had to keep a close eye on them. Our neighbor kitty Lily was very interested in the peeps.

Who wants pizza? I do! I do! They had pepperoni pizza and cheese pizza. Most of them chose the cheese. I can tell you it was yummy.

After lunch they played games like egg toss and this game where you try to walk while balancing an egg on a spoon without dropping it. Classic. I think all the kids had a great time at their Easter party. I know I had fun just watching them having fun. The Easter egg hunt is such a wonderful tradition. I’m happy to still get to be a part of it with my grand peeps.

Day Eighty Five 2013

SNOW DAY [again]

Grandpeeps Elijah and Shelby were thrilled to have another snow day today. We enjoyed lunch at Arby’s.

I’m thinkin’ curly fries.

It was another cold day with snow flurries. I always enjoy snow flurries and watching the birds on the feeders.

Does anyone know what kind of bird this is? I thought it was a Mockingbird. I don’t think I’ve seen one like this in our yard before today. Maybe some kind of wren?

The woodpeckers crack me up when they’re hanging onto the feeder and trying to eat at the same time.

Blue Jay Away

Enjoyed some yummy frozen yogurt at Mae Pearl’s this afternoon.

Elijah was in desperate need of a haircut, so to save his mom some time after work today, I took him to Village Barber Shop where Russell trimmed him up neat and nice.

Shelby spent time this afternoon making a colorful Happy Easter picture while Elijah played some ‘Zelda’. They both had fun playing Wii Sports and Mario Karts together, too. I’d be surprised if they didn’t go back to school tomorrow. The snow has melted and it’s supposed to be warmer [forties maybe?]. Elijah is looking forward to his first grade class Easter egg hunt on Thursday, and then Friday they’re out for Good Friday. Two day school week = not too shabby.