Day Two Hundred Thirty Five 2013

My beautiful granddaughter Shelby, who is in 7th grade this year, was chosen to be on the yearbook staff. She had to sign up to do this and petition three teachers to recommend her. She found out her good news today and is very excited to say the least. I know she’ll be good at this. She already has a good eye as a photographer, so she’s looking forward to that part of it. Congratulations, Shelby! I am so proud of you!!  Happy TGIF, everyone.

Day Two Hundred Twenty Four 2013

Granddaughter Shelby is in 7th grade this year. School started a couple of weeks ago. She usually gets her homework done at school. She didn’t get to finish it today, so her backpack was full of heavy textbooks, plus her notebook folder and other stuff. Her load was so heavy that she decided to weigh it on the bathroom scales. The grand total was 16 and a half pounds. That is heavy, even for me, and I’m much bigger than she is. It’s no wonder that these heavy loads are starting to effect her spine. The doc noticed at her latest physical exam last week that she’s become a bit crooked. Of course, she’s been urged to wear her backpack centered on her back and not try to carry it on one shoulder. And maybe one day the school system here can afford to issue each child some kind of tablet such as an iPad so their textbooks can be downloaded onto that one lightweight device instead of onto those kid-sized spines. Keep calm and carry on, Shelby. Just be careful while you carry on.

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 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 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 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.

Day Seventy Three 2013

Grandpeeps Elijah and Shelby spent the day with Neil and me as their spring break winds down. Lunched at KFC. Elijah was playing with his Jell-o and flipped some on the wall. Shelby is making the universal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ gesture. Elijah did eventually wipe it off the wall.

Landed at the DQ for frozen treats with more peeps. Daughter Holly, sister Jane, granddaughter Shelby, niece Julia, and niece Sarah having a laugh which I missed cause I was taking this picture.

And here’s one with Elijah in the mix ~ the only man in a sea of cooties. Or is that cuties?

After stuffing ourselves with chicken and ice cream, we spent some time in the sunshine. Neil pitched ball to Elijah who is signed up to play T Ball this spring.

Batter, batter, swing, batter! He can really pop them out of the park (or into the street).

I love this picture of Shelby. She doesn’t even know I took it as she walked away, going after the big ball she’d been kicking around the yard. She’s eleven and such a great kid who is quickly growing into her teenage years. Nope. Not gonna think about that right now. Sure did enjoy spending the day with my peeps. Always do.

Day Seventy One 2013

Sunny day
Chasing the clouds away
On my way
To where the air is sweet …

Grandpeeps Shelby and Elijah are on the second week of their spring break. We spent the day together, attached to our iPad minis and computer, until we realized we were missing out on a perfectly gorgeous day outside.

Sunny blue sky day with a cool wind ~ who could resist the tree swing?



We enjoyed some low tech fun blowing bubbles.



And letting the wind do the work sometimes

Hard to catch, bubbles are

Couldn’t let the sunny day go by without making a gratuitous shadow picture

Then we trekked into the woods, looking for a swinging vine to no avail. Elijah contemplated this question mark shaped stick and thought it was interesting enough to take home with him.

Shelby had a great time hanging long limbs between tree trunks. It’s the little things, you see. We don’t need no stinkin iPads to have fun!

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood which I enjoyed spending with my grandpeeps, especially once we escaped the house and went outside. I took pictures of bare trees and blue sky which always makes me happy and even found a cool walking stick [Shelby called it a ‘Gandalf stick’] [and if you don’t know who Gandalf is, Google it]. Can you tell me how to get … how to get to… ? You know the rest, don’t you? [if you don’t, Google it]
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My little sister, Ann Mabry Sissom, turns 54 years young today. Happy Birthday, Ann!! Love & Hugs from me and Neil.

Day Sixty Three 2013

spring break!

It’s spring break for grand daughter Shelby and grandson Elijah. They spent the weekend with us, and they hung out with us today. iPad mini rules! Shelby has become addicted to Pinterest thanks to Aunt Kelly.

The Grandpeeps Knox, Shelby, and Elijah.

The snow melted in this fifty degree weather today ~ a good day to bounce on the trampoline. Superman had major static hair going on.

Sometimes when you’re small, you get bowled over by the big red ball while playing with cousins on the trampoline.

Downward Facing Dawg. Don’t you love Shelby’s hot pink knee socks?

We never get too old for bubbles. Shelby wanted to try out my ‘big’ camera and got some nice shots …

… like this one …

… and this one ~ a perfect bubble ~ and you can see Shelby’s reflection in the bubble ~ very cool shot, Shelby!

And she snapped some nice ones of cousin Knox … like this one …

… and this one. She loves photography and has a good eye.

They got in some jumping when Knox wasn’t on the trampoline.

Good times Monday! I hope the kids (and teachers) have more spring weather during the break. Today felt so good. I haven’t missed the snow now that it’s gone.