Day One Hundred Eighty Nine 2013

PLAY ‘TIL YOU WIN!

We ended up at CiCi’s Pizza today for lunch. The kids, big and small, were attracted to the game room where  Kelly and Shelby sparred in a game of air hockey.

Elijah drove a race car ~ mostly on the side of the road. No seat belt.

And ~ uh oh! ~ Knox spied …

… Elmo buried in that impossible quest where you drop the claw on top of the toy you want and pray that it latches on so you can pull it out of the pile. Grandpa knew this particular quest would bear no fruit ~ Elmo ~ so he didn’t even try. Walked away. Left Elmo buried. Uh oh.

Shelby found a game ~ with a similar claw ~ that scooped up candy and cheap plastic toys. Not as difficult as that other game.

They scooped out all sorts of goodies.

The name of the game!

But, alas, Elmo got left behind, buried in the machine, and there was no consoling Knox, who cried big tears, and wailed for Elmo all the way home. We’ve never seen him so distraught. But time heals all wounds. He soon forgot his heartbreak and finally moved on with his life, thank goodness. School of hard knocks [Knox?]. Lesson learned. You don’t always get what you want. It must be Monday or something.

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 Sixty Eight 2013

Cousins Knox and Elijah enjoyed some Cheerios for breakfast this morning while watching an episode of Scooby Doo. Eighteen month old Knox loves being around six year old Elijah, but not so much the other way around. For now, anyway. I hope they’ll be good buddies one day.

Day One Hundred Sixty Six 2013

EVER LOVIN’ SATURDAY!

My Hydrangea bushes are full of beautiful blooms. They are one of my favorite summertime things. I read in a magazine about this photographer who uses things like screens, cheesecloth, and pantyhose over her lens as filters to get different effects, which intrigued me, so I gave it a shot. I stretched one of my knee high hose over my lens and this is the results. I think it’s pretty cool.

Grandson Knox and his momma Kelly are here to visit. He loves eating Mulberries right off the tree.

“Mmmmmm!”

It was a gorgeous evening to visit Dogwood Park and run around in the fountain.

Grandson Elijah, his momma Holly and sister Shelby joined us and had fun chasing each other through the water spouts.

The water is cold, but the kids didn’t seem to mind.

Peeps in Dogwood Park: grandson Knox, daughter Holly, grandson Elijah, hubby Neil, granddaughter Shelby, and daughter Kelly. And then home again to eat Krispy Kremes! [Thanks, Kelly!] Happy Saturday, everyone!

Day One Hundred Thirty 2013

G R A N D P E E P S !!!

Granddaughter Shelby

Grandson Knox

Grandson Elijah


Hope your Friday was grand!  Happy T G I F, y’all!!

Day Ninety One 2013

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” - Confucius

The weather on Monday sure made up for the weather on Sunday. Even though the wind was cool, the sun was warm and the sky was blue. A perfect day for a walk. Or in the case of grandson Knox, a run.

He found a nice place to plop down and hang out and commune with nature.

What a glorious day! Give God the glory.


Picking flowers in the back yard

And doing a little spring cleaning. He LOVES brooms.

Granny’s violet. Thank you, Knox.

Knox was happy when his cousin Elijah got home from school.

Grandson Elijah is an award-winning guy. I’m so proud of him.

Grand daughter Shelby and her mom stopped at the store after school and bought a big blue ball for Knox to play with. I think Shelby got the biggest kick out of it.

We enjoyed a great supper at Cracker Barrel to close out our afternoon together. Waiting for food can be fun when you’ve got electronics to keep you busy. Good times. Good Monday.

Day Nineteen 2013

Grandson Elijah bounced back from feeling down and out puny yesterday and was able to play with his Vision Basketball team in their double header today. Thanks to his sister Shelby for taking this picture of him just after he made his shot and got another two points for his team. They ended up losing both hard-fought games. Well-played, Elijah! And thank you, Shelby, for letting me use your photo!

Day One Hundred Forty Five 2012

Afternoon In Dogwood Park

Today was my first visit to our newly expanded Dogwood Park, which is a gorgeous green zone right smack in the middle of old town Cookeville. At the center of this little piece of heaven is an awesome fountain where kids of all ages can run around, get wet and cool off on a hot day. I took grandpeeps Shelby and Elijah there this afternoon. Elijah wore his vacuum-sealed rubber boot over his cast so he could splash, too. The day was hot but the water was cold, as you can see by Shelby's tense body language. Elijah plunged right in, but it took Shelby a long while to finally get soaked. They had a great time. Who wouldn't? I sat in the grass under a tiny tree which offered enough shade to escape the heat of the sun. That is my only complaint about the park--it will take decades before the small trees are mature enough for some real shade. Otherwise, I'm blown away by this place and can see myself spending time here as often as possible. I know I'll be taking my grandpeeps back again (and again) this summer to play around that way cool fountain.