Wish You Were Here....

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

The girls enjoyed playing around in the yard after we had lunch.

Dabby Do spent a week recently with her great grandmother, Dee. I'm not sure just who had the most fun. She got to stay up late, had her nails done twice, her hair cut, and ate out every day. She didn't want to come home!

Me with two of my boys. And two silly girls!

Today is Mother's Day! I've been down in the dumps as they say this week thinking about my Mother and her Mother and celebrations of years past. When I was growing up we always went to South Carolina to celebrate together. Both of my grandma's lived in the same town. On Sunday we went to the home town church together. Along the way after we parked, we went by my father's brother's house and picked some red climbing roses that grew next to his garage. If your Mother is alive you wear red roses and if your Mother is dead you wear white roses. So, my dress always had a few fresh red roses on it. That afternoon any of the family that had come ate dinner together at my Granny's house and all the cousins played in the yard together. What a great time we had.

I'm not ready to wear that white rose yet. So, I don't go to Church on Mother's Day Sunday. Kind of stupid I guess but I'd just cry all through the service so I stay home.

But, I did get to enjoy my children today. That brought me out of the dumps quickly. Trainman greeted me with a card and hug first thing. A text from CBC in NC next followed by a phone call from Marine son. And the afternoon went on. I sat around looking through old letters and cards from Buddy's family, sorting them into boxes by year. Buddy came walking in and guess what!! MoRo and Dabby Do popped out from behind him. Fireman son and JHC came down and surprised me with the girls. We ate out at Cracker Barrel and later played a while in the front yard. The last one called a little while ago so I got to talk or see all my kids. It was nice.

Blogging once again.....

2010-04-18T16:51:00.000-07:00

Dabby Do
Ok...maybe not. It's way too slow loading pictures and I have so many pictures I'd like to share.
Here is Ladybug up at the spring wading last summer.

Fourth of July Weekend

2009-07-19T14:17:00.001-07:00

Our family was able to get together for the Fourth of July at our lake place. It's been a long time since all of our "boys" have been there at the same time. But there were some missing members too. Lt. J's wife and four daughters had to stay in VA to begin the moving process as they get ready to relocate to their new duty station in NC. And the only two grandsons were visiting their Dad and his family for the holiday and couldn't make it either. Wish you were here!
Here are the grandkids that celebrated with us......sure was a small number this time.
L-R are Dabby Do, GO and MoRo.
Dan, Son #3....
KiKi (wife of #1)
Jen, Wife of #3 and GO
Son #2, Lt. J.
Son #1, Mayo (his name for himself as a toddler)
Trainman, Son #4
Granny T. and GO
Two cooks getting breakfast ready.
GO had so many cute patriotic outfits to wear to celebrate the holiday.

Trainman, GO and Mayo enjoying the the water.

GO was not impressed with the life jacket she had to wear on the boat. The main problem is that she couldn't get her thumb into her mouth.....and she LOVES to suck her thumb. Several of her cousins also love their thumbs....as did an Uncle....and maybe even a Granny T. So, to save our sanity and hers....we did a little alteration and pulled her arms in. Peace!!
GO took to the lake like she was born to it. She enjoyed being in the water with her Daddy. She is our youngest granddaughter born in January of this year to our oldest son and his wife.

Summer Time Fun

2009-07-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

Here is Tadpole using a stick to try to poke our Siberian Husky, Tug, who is laying on the porch just out of reach.
He's ready to throw a cup of water on me!
He had a great weekend.
I loved the fact that you can see our flag in this picture with Tadpole. Serve well, Jacob. We're all praying for your safety and counting the days till you come home. This little fellow especially.
Semper Fi!

I know....I'm way behind on blogging. But it's summertime and I've been having some fun. Thought I'd try to catch up a little.

Here are a few pictures of Tadpole. This was a weekend in May?? I think it was the weekend after Memorial Day so it was the last weekend in May.

His Daddy left for Afghanistan about 6 days earlier. He's living with his grandparents who are dear friends of ours. Please remember Tadpole and his family in the next few months as his Daddy serves our country.
(And no, we had not been beating him....he fell off the bed and ran into something. Being so fair skinned makes the marks look worse than they really are. Honest!!)

Granddaughter GO and Granny T.

2009-05-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, she looks scared to death for her Granny T. to be holding her. But she warms up in a little while!

See what I mean! What a sweet smile!

I'll answer that question. Yes, I'm precious!!

Mommy with GO who looks like she's already doing Patty Cakes!

Daddy with GO.

See you later!!

This evening I got to visit with my oldest son and his family. I was introduced to two lizards and got to hold one named Joshua. I believe the other one named Moses likes to bite. Joshua is a most unusual looking thing...his tail looks exactly like his head which according to B-10 offers him some sort of protection should something try to grab him by the head...hopefully they will grab his tail by mistake and it will fall off and he'll escape.

I realized when I was looking at all of the pictures we made that the boys were showering and cleaning their room during the photo shoot and basically their baby sister was the main attraction. The baby always gets all the attention. I'll have to come back and get some pictures of B-10 with his lizard and CW too. Good excuse for another visit.

A Morning with a Granddaughter-Priceless!

2009-04-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

This morning I was able to spend some time with MoRo, our 3rd granddaughter. She will be 5 in July and attends a Pre-K program at her Mom's school. The Pre-K kids met with their 4th grade buddies in the cafeteria to make their Bunny Baskets.

Because of the storms and rain today, the egg hunt couldn't be outside. The older kids hid the eggs in the gym and the Pre-K kids had a blast looking for them.

MoRo was so excited that at first she just ran around the gym. But it didn't take long until she figured out what to do.

She started getting her Bunny Basket full of eggs.And ended up with a full basket!

Here I am with the MoRo and some of her classmates during center time. Molly picked the Beauty Shop and I was the victim....I mean customer.

How do I look?? Be kind please!

Dreaming again!

2009-04-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

Trainman might give up being an engineer to drive a tractor!

The sun finally gave us a chance to do some of what we'd planned to work on all week.

Dumping a load of logs from a dead tree they cut down.

Dabby Do spent the night with us (Sister was in school.) and came over to the property to explore with us. She made up her own fun...playing with the gallon jugs of water from the hometown spring. Her aim isn't great and she ended up pouring it down her shirt....but the day ended up warm so we hung it up to dry. She was a little shy at first to go without it!

Son #3, his daughter, Dabby Do and I did some exploring during the afternoon. We managed to find our way back to the old homesite we found on our last visit.

There is a pretty little stream running through part of the property. This part is next to the old homeplace we found. Their house was no more than 30 feet from the bank. There isn't much left of the house but some old bricks, a few bottles, old metal cans, rusted sections of fence, the well and another hole we suspect was where the outhouse was. This was our second visit and the daffodils which helped us find it the first time had quit blooming. I hope to be able to move some of them up to our house after we build.

Looking down into the hole that we think might have once been their outhouse. It was close to where the house stood and downhill from the well.

That round thing is the well at the homeplace. It stands about waist high. The brick square in the front must have been part of the chimney. The well is open. I wonder if it originally had a wooden cover over the top. There is water down in it...I can't imagine getting my drinking water or any water from it....check out the next picture.

Maybe the water looked better back then??? I'm SO thankful mine comes out the faucet!!

Dabby Do resting in the wagon after a busy day playing. Isn't she adorable??

And she's really faking! Her Daddy carried her all the way back to our cars but when we put her down she was wide awake again!

To end up the evening....we all ate together. Believe it or not, the complete bottom of Chucky's glass fell off when he picked it up.....and a whole glass of tea ended up in his lap and his plate of spaghetti! No, I had NOTHING to do with it.

Camping on our Property.....Big Mistake!

2009-04-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

All the recent rain we've had made a mess of the front part of our driveway. Unfortunately, we couldn't tell before Buddy turned in with our heavy RV. Here are pictures of "the next morning". Trust me, they look great compared to what the coach looked like BEFORE the wrecker got there. I was afraid to go in to get my camera while it was tilted so far to the right. I borrowed this one from our friends next door who put us up for the night....even Tug! That is true friendship for you!

When Buddy got to our property on Friday evening about 9:30pm it was dark and I pulled into the drive in front of him. He made the turn as I watched him in the rear view mirror. I was so shocked to see him begin to tilt over....I thought any second that it would straighten up as he pulled on further up the drive. I finally realized that he wasn't moving anymore. There wasn't going to be any "straightening up". Then I began to be afraid that it was actually going to fall all the way over with Buddy, Trainman and Tug inside.

All of these pictures were made the next morning. I wish we could have gotten some pictures of it before the wrecker was able to pull it over and back onto the driveway. But, it was too dark when it happened that night and I didn't get a camera until after the wrecker had already started working.

You can see my truck which ended up being blocked by the RV. I drove on up to the clearing (where we had planned to camp) and turned around. But there was no getting out that night.

The wrecker here has the cables hooked to the hitch ball from our truck which Buddy put in the hitch receiver in the RV. They put the ball in upside down to help it hold better. Believe it or not, that tow bar was the only casulty of the whole thing....it bent from all the weight.

This is the tow truck that pulled us out. He used two tow lines that pulled 12,000 lbs. each to ease the weight off the back wheels and then slide the coach to the left and back onto the driveway.

Next with Buddy backing up the coach, he pulled him out!

And then we went to the RV park where we've stayed before!

The excitement never ends!

Trainman's Graduation

2009-03-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

We think he had a good experience here and he certainly enjoyed himself. I don't think he really was ready to come home.
I forget how much taller he is than us until I see it in pictures.

Trainman with his two bio-sisters and his niece.

Here he is with one of his best friends. Saying good bye was hard for both of them. She'll be there for another three months or so.

Trainman with some of his friends.

Our youngest son, Trainman, is Autistic and has been away at a Vocational Training facility in our home state for the past year. He recently graduated and I thought you'd like to see a few pictures from his special day. He's adjusting to being home again but he really misses his friends and the independence he had there.

He had several good job experiences and training spots while he was there. He also had driver's ed and was able to get his driver's license while he was there. We hoping that he will soon be able to get a job and be able to drive himself to work each day.

FMCA RV Rally

2009-03-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

This is the FMCA 81st International Convention sign..the Great GA Getaway in Perry, GA

The official FMCA seal.

Yep, here we are....some of the YOUNGEST attendees!! People using things from "The Scooter Store" were everywhere, along with Segways, electric 2 wheel scooters, golf carts and bikes. Buddy and I relied on our feet....or we caught the tram.

Note that we're wearing our official nametags. The brown ribbon on the bottom let everyone know that we were first timers and was their clue to welcome us and offer any help or directions that we might need. The yellow ribbon below it said that we were volunteers.

The rally was held at the agricultural center and fair grounds in Perry....that's why the statue of the mule was there. Although mules probably did pull some of the first "RVs" or was that a covered wagon?

This is one of the trams.....and what I volunteered to ride in as a guide or aide. My first tour of duty was Sunday afternoon. It was very cold and rained the entire time. Water would pool up on the top until it became too heavy or we hit a bump and then it would pour off and the wind would blow it in all over you. I called our friends to bring me another poncho which was big and really helped. Buddy's phone was in his pocket and never worked again...it got too wet. The trams were really necessary to get people that were parked in the very back up to the convention areas.

I know this picture isn't very good but it shows some of the rows and rows of RVs.

Here is another row of RVs....somehow I never got a picture made of where we parked but it looked just like this one. The tow cars went up and down the aisles ....mud was everywere.

These three pictures were emailed to us by our friends that attended too. This is a view of our row of RVs. Ours is the tan and white one that is second from the left. I always thought it was huge but looking at it parked next to the others I realized it was actually much smaller. Our friends were parked to our right.

It rained the first 4 days that we were there. This is a large puddle of water we had to wade though near our coach. We were so thankful when the sun came out on Tuesday and things began to dry out.

Being a kindergarten teacher I've really learned how to tie shoes well.

I wish you could see these fans....they were in the cattle barns where some of the seminars were held. They had 10 blades and were called "BIG ASS" fans.

Buddy and I recently went on a trip in our RV to an International FMCA RV rally. It's something that he's always wanted to do and I was happy to travel along with him. FMCA means Family Motor Coach Association and to be a member you have to have to have a vehicle that is "self-contained" to camp in. In other words, you have to be able to drive the thing. So, no pop-ups, trailers or fifth wheels. Buddy's parents owned several RVs over the years and attended quite a few of these rallys. Actually, this one ended up with a somewhat smaller attendance...there were only around 3000 RVs there...down from the 5000 or so that they usually have in attendance. But, since this was my first exerience, I was pretty impressed at the number of coaches there. We belong to FMCA National but we don't belong or camp with a local club in our home state.

We caravaned down with friends who had been before. They had talked us in to being volunteers....assured us that we'd have more fun being involved! And they were right. The four of us were assigned to "Tram duty". We had 2 assigned 4 hour shifts of riding on the trams.

Ok, I guess you're wondering why anyone would want to go to one of these rallys. Well, lots of the folks travel with their local FMCA chapters so there were groups of RVs that entered together and camped near each other and were friends. There were seminars you could attend teaching you everything you might want to know about RVing...from being full timers to caring for your electrical systems. There were craft activities too....bead making, painting, basket making, quilting to name a few. Then there were several buildings full of venders selling just about anything you might need...and a few you probably never thought of. Have you ever seen "sticky feet" shoes?? It's sort of like Post-it note glue on a shoe sole that you just step on and it sticks to the bottom of your feet...over and over again. No, I didn't buy any but I know where you can get some if you're interested! There were also RV dealers that brought in lots of the newest RV coach models from the very small to some that were worth over 2 million dollars.

We had a lot of fun...and I'd probably do it again. But I enjoy camping with our regular camping club the best. We typically camp with a group of people that are from another camping club about once a month during the nice months. They are called FCRVers....which means Family Campers and RVers. They are more family friendly and kids and grandkids are welcomed. And you can camp in anything from a tent, a trailer, fifth wheel, pop-up or RV. We've made a lot of good friends there.

Family Quilts

2009-03-05T19:52:00.000-08:00

This mahogany bedroom suit belonged to one of my Mother's sisters. This quilt I believe is a newer one, possibly made by my husband's mother or grandmother for his room when he was a child. Each quilt square has 48 small red and white individual triangles surrounding the blue square in the middle. Each triangle and square are hand stitched around. A lot of love when into this quilt.

This church bench belonged to my Aunt and her husband. When I was growing up it always sat outside on their carport. We used it to sit on and take off work boots after gardening or as a place to relax and cool off. We enjoy it now inside along the wall filled with grandchildren pictures. The pretty red background quilt shows up nicely against the white bench.

This quilt hangs in our den and is one of my favorites. A family friend made the quilt rack for us. I love the way I can also display family photographs on top. The picture on the left is of my parents about the time they married. My Mother always HATED that picture. The picture was made by putting two separate shots of them together. The other pictures are of mother as a young woman and two of her brothers.

I love that the quilts have such bright colors. The bedroom suit here was the one my parents bought when they began "keeping house". It's mahagony and I'm thinking was probable bought in the early 1940's.

This quilt hangs on our sunporch. It's got a great design. Mom's Snow Village houses run along the shelf at the ceiling and stay up all year long.

Here are the pillows that I made from the old quilt top. It was nice to get something that turned out so pretty out of that old stained and ripped top.

I have always loved family history. I've always admired quilting although it's not anything that I've ever tried to do myself. We do have quite a few quilts from my husband's family and use them as bed coverings and wall hangings.

Recently I found several old quilt tops that had been pieced but never made into quilts. One was in particularly bad shape. I'd love to know the history of it...I can't imagine why anyone would go to the trouble of piecing it when the material was so stained and old. The fabric that they used was so thin that they even backed it with another layer of fabric. Some parts of it were done by machine and some by hand. Maybe the quilt top is older than I think. Anyway, I decided to make throw pillows from salvageable sections of the quilt top. I got 5 throw pillows that are finished at 18 inches square using muslin as a back. There are two other smaller pillows for the girls room...they had pink in them. I also added some buttons as decoration from a jar I found full of them at my husband's mom's house. There are several smaller sections that I cut out and saved to work on another day.

I think the pillows turned out beautiful and we'll enjoy them alot.

Snow down South

2009-03-01T11:02:00.000-08:00

The dogwoods at our mailbox look like they're covered in ice. The daffodils and plums are already blooming around here and the Bradford pears were budding out. Looks like they are a little too early this year.

A birdfeeder brought over from Grandma Margaret's house.

Here is our Siberian Husky, Tug. I think this is about the third time he's seen snow in his nine years....Summer sports are his favorite anyway...swimming and riding in a boat or jetski rank high on his list of things to do.

It's hard to believe it but there's a big mountain straight though those trees. In the winter it's usually easy to see it through there.

Not even the birds have ventured out today.....

Can you see how the snow was actually in clumps?

This was during one of the really heavy snow periods from our deck.

Through the sunporch window.

Our wood supply....wish most of it was nice and dry today.

The truck shows up how quickly it started covering things.

A bush outside our backdoor.

We're seeing something down south today that I haven't seen in a long time. We went into church this morning with a cold rain and came out to beautiful, huge flakes...no, I don't think you'd call them flakes...they were clumps of stunningly white snow. I've made a few pictures to show you what a March 1st snow looks like in the south. School tomorrow?? I don't know. It's very slushy now on the roads and expected to drop into the 20's tonight. I'm thinking we may be walking on ice in the morning.

It's been snowing steadily with very big flakes for about 4 hours. We're even hearing some thunder every now and then. Tug doesn't like that much. Patches is asleep in a box. He wasn't interested in venturing out either.

More Grandchildren!

2009-02-12T18:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the nine grandkids together. I can just imagine what the first attempt at a professional picture with all of them will be like.

The oldest girls up in our tree. You can just catch a bit of Grammy holding Dragonfly in place.

Dabby Do is wondering what she can get into next!

Here are a couple of pictures of the sleeping arrangements....the girls had to sleep in a big walk- in closet while they were visiting because we are in the middle of renovating Trainman's room and all of his things have been moved into their bedroom. His closet was all empty and the perfect place to put a king size blowup mattress. They loved it!! Remember they are all experienced closet sleepers....that's where we've always put their pack & plays at the lake house. It's quiet, dark and they sleep late when they're there.

MoRo and Dabby do in the sleeping closet.

Here is the newest...G.O. She's adorable of course!! Can't wait to see her awake!

This is Dabby Do. I can't believe how she has grown. She shy around strangers but around us she talks all the time!

Here is Butterfly taking a break with her Grammy. They have a special bond.

We moved our party outside to enjoy the taste of early spring. I think the groundhog was right!

Sweet cargo....MoRo, Dragonfly and Ladybug.

Ladybug riding on the rocking horse that belonged to her Dad and his brothers.

Here is Princess Flower up in her favorite climbing tree. A few years ago she tried to haul our big cat, Patches, up into the tree by tying a rope around his neck and pulling him up. Getting 18 pounds of fighting tomcat up into a tree was more than she bargained for....especially when her knot slipped and he began to choke. She ran inside for help and after calming her down, Papa Buddy, Trainman and her Mom were able to save Patches....but I think he lost a life in the deal.

Here is precious Butterfly. She's going to start Pre-K at their base school next Tuesday. I think she's going to love riding the bus and making some new friends.

B-10 opening a late birthday present, a scooter. I think he liked it!

CW on his 7th birthday last Saturday. He's proud to show off his missing teeth!

Butterfly and MoRo the four year olds.

I've been looking through my pictures from this past weekend. We had a wonderful time being with all the big kids and little ones too. It was like Christmas to me!! And to top it off, the weather was beautiful...a little taste of Spring in the south....in February! So, on Sunday, we carried everything outside and enjoyed the day. Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Marine son...Wish you were here!

Trainman's Bio family

2009-02-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

Trainman's niece, Nessie loved posing for the camera.

She was so sweet and wanted to sit by me at lunch.

Here is RAE. He's six months old now and a beautiful baby. He really liked Buddy.

And look at his clothes...he already likes trains.

Somewhere we've got a picture of Trainman at about this age in about the same pose.... it's amazing to see them looking so much alike.

Trainman's older biological sisters.

A couple of weeks ago we had lunch with our son's biological sisters and niece and nephew.

Unfortunately Trainman didn't get to join us. It was nice to touch base again with them since it had been about a year and a half since we had seen them. It was our first chance to see the new baby boy too. In one picture he looks like Trainman when he was a baby.

Granddaughter G.O.

2009-02-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

G.O. and her Daddy.

She is just so tiny and beautiful!!

Papa Buddy even got a chance to hold her a few minutes.

Wow, what a yawn!!

I still haven't gotten to see her with her eyes open!!

Here are a few pictures of the first time we got to see our newest granddaughter at home. We even got to hold her for a few minutes which was a real treat. It was so nice to actually get to snuggle her close. She looks so much like her Daddy did when he was born. Her hair, her coloring and the size. It sure brings back lots of nice memories.

The Girls are Here!!

2009-02-07T12:19:00.000-08:00

Breakfast at Granny T's house.

Ladybug has an opinion about everything!!

MoRo enjoying chocolate covered strawberries.

Dabby Do's strawberries are GONE!!

Dragonfly got a little oatmeal in her hair!

Getting her hair washed at the sink. A clean Dragonfly!

Dabby Do and Lady Bug on the way to get MoRo. She had to go to Pre-K for class pictures Friday morning.
On Thursday night the "A" team were the only two spending the night.

They enjoyed a book before heading upstairs to bed. They talked and giggled FOREVER before finally going to sleep.

It's been a Grandmother's dream come true.

The girls are all here....down to see the newest addition to the family.

Enjoy the pictures...we've had so much fun together.

Seven Granddaughters

2009-01-31T07:56:00.000-08:00

Princess Flower Butterfly

MoRo

Ladybug

Dabby DoDragonfly

G.O.

Wow, I'm having to look close to tell who is who!!

Granddaughter G.O. on Friday Evening

2009-01-31T07:02:00.000-08:00

Isn't she beautiful!!

Look at the little pinkish bandage covering her right hand where the IV is.

I had a chance to see little G.O. again on Friday evening. She had just finished eating and was snuggled down with a cute cap on her head and a tiny crocheted blanket across her regular receiving blankets. She was wrapped up tight except her little hands were peaking out. I know it will be wonderful to have the IV removed from her tiny little hand.

I got a couple of new pictures. Today hopefully she will be back in the room with her Mommy and Daddy and maybe I'll actually get to hold her. :)

Enjoy!

Newest Granddaughter Pictures!!

2009-01-29T20:33:00.000-08:00

G.O. is finally here! She weighed in at 5lb. 8oz. and is 17 inches long.
Almost exactly what her Daddy weighed. He was 5lb. 9oz. and was 18 inches long. I just can't remember him being that tiny.
Here's how tiny her foot is in her Daddy's hand.

Daddy with his hand on her head.They had her wrapped up in two blankets with heat lamps. She was toasty warm.

Just precious!

Sleeping peacefully....it's hard to believe it when they say she's got quite a set of lungs.

I'm finally getting to see her. She wasn't too impressed and slept away through the whole visit.

Tonight I got to meet my newest granddaughter.

I had to scrub up first and put on a gown. Her daddy showed me how to do everything.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures....She is absolutely beautiful.

I've got to say what my sweet Mother said each time she got to see one of the granddaughters for the first time, "This one is the cutest one yet."

We're very thankful for her safe arrival and that she and her Mother are doing so well.

It's Christmas!!

2008-12-23T14:48:00.000-08:00

Our official Christmas picture with the Grands. Trust me, this was the best shot!!!

This is actually very controlled pan-da-leer-ium. Eight kids taking turns opening presents.

B-10 and CW checking out a gift from their cousins.

There was never a lack of cameras catching loads of memories.

Our favorite Marine....he ran out to the car to get his daughter's Biddy Babies because they got new outfits for them and couldn't wait to try them on .....sure looks like they needed some clothes!

Note the little hand reaching for her doll.

Last night we celebrated Christmas with our sons and their families. Our oldest son and his wife hosted the event. It was the first time in a long time that we have all have an opportunity to be together. Here are a few pictures to show a little of the wonderful time we had. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!!

A Visit to the Park

2008-12-16T06:49:00.000-08:00

We're getting ready today to head back south to home. It's been good to spend some time with our son and his family. We worshiped with them at their Church on Sunday. We've played games and enjoyed being with the children and their Mom. Buddy took care of some business a little further north yesterday.

The weather hasn't been great but we were able to get out a little late yesterday afternoon. I made these pictures of Butterfly, Dragonfly and Ladybug when I took them to the neighbor park. Princess Flower was enjoying some computer time and didn't want to join us.

Graduation and Commissioning at Quantico

2008-12-12T18:00:00.001-08:00

Graduation ceremony....front row, second from right.

After graduation we went into a building to get out of the cold and warm up. Look who we ran into!!

He's getting ready to change clothes for the commissioning ceremony.

Why is my mouth ALWAYS open??

Dragonfly slept through the commissioning.

A proud wife pinning on the Lieutenant bars.

A family happy to be together again!

The silver dollar tradition calls to be given to the person who gives him his first salute.

Receiving the first salute.

The Marine Museum outside the base at Quantico.

It's been a long time since I've had a chance to blog anything....not that I didn't have anything to say but getting ready for Christmas has taken first place lately.

Today though, we experienced a special family time that I just couldn't wait to post some of the pictures.

Enjoy our son's special day of accomplishment as he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marines.

Pictures from the Lake Weekend

2008-11-02T18:45:00.000-08:00

The weather was perfect for a cruise in the paddle boat.

Gigi catching a "fish".

Gigi keeping track of all the kids on the boat.

Papa with his only granddaughter. Who looks the happiest??

Papa and Dabby Do watching football together. When I came to bed they were both snuggled up sound asleep.

Have you EVER seen such a pot of grits!!? LG evidently forgot his glasses and couldn't read the directions or he thought he was helping out cooking for the brotherhood at Church. Needless to say, we didn't eat them all.

Fishing off the boardwalk was a hit with the kids. Everyone wore their life jackets and no one fell in.....and no fish were actually caught or hurt while making these pictures. These were really kiddy fishing poles with little plastic fish tied on the ends. You'd have thought they'd hooked Moby Dick the kids got so excited every time they reeled one in.

Gigi and Mino Twin 2

Dabby Do casting out her line.

What could be more fun than fishing off the dock??

The weather on Sunday made for a great end of the season boatride.

LG giving Tadpole a hug.

Buddy giving driving lessons. She looks like a natural!!

Dabby Do wasn't interested in driving the boat this time.......in fact

she was just about to fall asleep. Boats make for good naps.

Buddy giving Tadpole a driving lesson. He was serious about it too.

Buddy's nephew came by on his motorcycle. That was a BIG hit will the little fry.

Tadpole was determined to reach the handle bars!!

I can't believe that I forgot that I had more pictures from our lake visit. We had such a good time together as friends and enjoying our grandchildren together. So, here's the rest of the best from last weekend.

Lake House-Closed for the Winter

2008-10-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

The house has a big open floorplan with three bedrooms and three baths downstairs. The upstairs right window is the "dorm" where the overflow crowd bunks together.

The boathouse and covered porch. In the summer we have two hammocks, tables and chairs and a kids playhouse. There's always a great breeze and a good view of lake from the top.

The outside kitchen, bath and boathouse.

This lake house has been in my husband's family for about eight years. We have certainly enjoyed it over the years. The closing up of the house for the winter is always kind of sad. Aren't the sunset pictures beautiful for the last boat ride of the season. Hurry up spring!!

Fall at the Lake-Adults at the Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-27T17:43:00.001-07:00

Granny T and Papa Buddy

Papa and Mimi
Wait a minute, that's not your husband!!

Papa and Gigi

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of how beautiful the pumpkin patch we visited was. There were pumpkins scattered around with other gourds and corn stalks along with a couple of gift shops and a hay wagon ride. Add to all that a beautiful, sunny fall day and some of our best friends.

Fall at the Lake- Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

Papa was quick to figure out how to keep up with the grandkids.

Eventually Marine Papa took over the pulling job.

Really!!! You've got to be kidding!

The kids really loved cruising around in the wagon.

The pumpkins were almost as big as the kids.

Tadpole and Dabby Do enjoying a secret.

Mino Twin 2 got a little overwhelmed for a minute and wanted her Papa to hold her.

She finally decided to see what we were all laughing about!! Papa saved the day......and dried up her tears.

Tadpole with the pumpkin he picked out. Look Daddy!!

Tadpole riding a rooster. The rooster didn't stand a chance!!

What beautiful sunny fall afternoon would be complete without a visit to the local pumpkin patch? After a quick math review, we shifted kids and carseats and managed to get the 9 of us into two vehicles. I think between us we spent 4 bucks on little pumpkins. To the kids the wagon ride was as wonderful as a hay wagon. It was a fun, easy afternoon. A ride home, lunch and the kids all took long naps.....so did some of the adults!!

Fall at the Lake-part 2

2008-10-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

We were able to easily keep up with the kids by keeping them behind bars. Tadpole, Mino Twin 2 and Dabby Do enjoying the afternoon!!

Isn't it wonderful when they're young enough that anything you do is amazing to them!!

Papa Buddy is still having trouble tying his left shoe, so Dabby Do worked hard to tie it for him.

Mino Twin 2 loved the sandtable too.

Tadpole was very serious about the sand play.

We use to go to the lake with our friends and have a wonderful time together playing cards and sitting around talking, eating good food and just being together. We haven't been to the lake together for a while and this time we each had one grandchild with us. I don't know who had more fun.....the kids or us enjoying our grandkids. A thank you to our grown children who allowed us to make these memories with our precious grandchildren. We didn't play one game of cards and we got to bed early (after all, little ones don't sleep too late) but we did laugh a lot!

Fall at the Lake House

2008-10-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Playing on the porch. The sand table is always fun.

Poppy with Tadpole waiting for something to eat.

Mino Twin 2

The crew is ready for bed and all piled in together. Don't worry, we weren't crazy to leave them there. Dabby Do and Tadpole enjoyed the long time lake tradition of sleeping in a pack n play in the closet.

Mino Twin 2 had a mattress bed on the floor w/ her grandparents.

This is the time of year that our lake place needs to be closed up for the winter. Not so much the house itself but the outside has to be made ready for freezing weather. There's the outside kitchen and bathroom where all the water lines have to be cut off, drained and antifreeze added where needed. Back at Labor Day we put up all the toys, floats and chairs. This weekend we have friends who came with us to help Buddy get everything done. Although he's recovering well from his surgery, he doesn't need to be doing the bending and stooping necessary to reach all the fittings. So, we've combined a little work trip with a fun time together with friends.

And you will probably think we're crazy, but we each brought one of our grandkids.

Enjoy the pictures of our weekend and grandkids Dabby Do, Tadpole and Mino Twin 2

Buddy's Life

2008-10-17T09:48:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to give everyone an update on Buddy's recovery from surgery.

He had hip replacement surgery 4 weeks ago today.

I just made this picture of him a couple of minutes ago. Notice that he and his companions are all asleep! Patches, our angel cat, seems to know he doesn't feel well. And his faithful husky, Tug, is guarding him. Of course, when the camera flashed, none of them moved.

Buddy is actually doing well. He is walking most of the time without even a cane. He no longer has to wear his stylist thigh high support hose.... what a relief. They're a pain to get on him.

He's driving occasionally and we've moved back upstairs to our bedroom. He still has some incision pain but is consistant doing his physical therapy to work through that. As you can see, he still needs an occasional nap.

Thanks for all the prayers.

It's a Girl!!

2008-10-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

I wore this to work today to let everyone know the exciting news. This "It's a Girl!" button has gotten a lot of use over the years. We got the call yesterday from our #1 Son that their new baby is going to be a girl. Since we already have 6 granddaughters, I guess it didn't come as any real surprise. Imagine!!! Seven granddaughters. Could it be a world record?? No, of course not! We're really happy for our son and his wife. Since they already have two sons, a precious little girl will be a new adventure. Won't she be lucky to have two big brothers to watch out for her!
Congratulations!! We can't wait to welcome her to our family.

Here is our last picture of the granddaughters and grandsons together. If you count carefully, you will see that we're missing one . Little Dragonfly was born 4 months later. This picture was made on Memorial Day weekend, 2007.

New Granddaughter, look at all the fun you're going to have with 6 big girl cousins to play with.
They were spending the night with me and Papa Buddy and were all snuggled into the bed that I slept in when I was a little girl.

We had so much fun that night.

There were 6 in the bed and the little one said,

"Hurry up, we can't wait to play!!"

Family Gathering

2008-10-06T16:53:00.001-07:00

Relaxing outside. J'Re was trying out her new camera.

Looks like we're doing up a batch of witch's brew but it actually was gallons of brunswick stew.

Nana relaxing with Goldilocks.

Hey Daddy, We're ready for a ride.

Riding in the trailer or sitting with Daddy on the riding mower is something the girls love to do.
Crazy MoRo.

Dabby Do wasn't too sure at first but she soon got the hang of riding with Daddy.

Their little cousin, Goldilocks decided she didn't want to ride..

Supper time on the porch with MoRo, Dabby Do and Goldilocks. There was brunswick stew, barbeque pork, potato salad, baked beans, pickles, mac and cheese and good old sweet tea. We also had banana pudding for dessert.
Here is Goldilocks with her Mom.

We're ready to go home and you can see that Buddy is using a cane now. He's also having trouble keeping his thigh high hose up. :)

Here are some pictures from our adventure on Saturday. We had fun with our son, daughter in law, her parents, her brother and his family. It was great to get out of the house and being with family and friends made for a terrific day.

Trip Home

2008-10-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday we traveled up to the northwest corner of our state to visit family. It was exciting to get out after being somewhat stuck in the house for the past couple of weeks as Buddy continues to recover from hip replacement surgery.

The weather was beautiful, leaves are beginning to turn colors, there was a cool breeze. Perfect time to get out and about. After packing the car you'd think I was traveling with a new baby...you remember those days when you thought you'd have to take EVERYTHING. But we had a couple of coolers, a walker, chairs, change of clothes....did I remember the pain pills?? Pillow?? Throw??? Ice water to drink?? Ok, finally we had everything Buddy could possibly need. We were OFF on an adventure. A stop for gas...yes, after worry about that, finding gas wasn't a problem.

We had a wonderful time visiting with our son and daughter in law at her parent's home. They are our cruise buddies and will be our neighbors eventually whenever we get to build. It was brunswick stew cooking time and I mean gallons of stew bubbling in a big black pot over an open fire in the yard. Yum. A pork loin roasted away in the smoker too. The granddaughter's MoRo and Dabby Do were also on hand along with their cousin and her parents.

While the girls played in the yard, we sat outside and talked and visited. Just like the "good old days". Dinner was great...so good in fact, we couldn't even eat any of the banana pudding I made and bought our portion back home to eat later.

We took a few minutes to visit our property next door and check out the new gate. After opening it up we drove back to the end of the drive, cut off the car and just sat there. Silence.
But unfortunately, home is still about 90 miles away so we got packed back up and headed there.

Now, I'm not too fond of driving at night. Buddy usually does most of the driving but we made good time and I didn't have any problems. The roads are great and for the most part, traffic was light....that is, until we got back to the big city. Buddy took a pain pill and relaxed.

The perimeter around our city is always crazy and I was glad to see the turn off onto the highway leading to our part of town. Finally we were at the exit lane and I was able to get over. I even relaxed a little...after all, we were on the home stretch. That's when Buddy suddenly started yelling, "watch out, watch out!!" I had been looking at the two cars along the emergency lane and when he yelled I realized what I was really seeing was an accident happening and a third car was crossways in my lane....with us heading straight for it. I hit the brakes but I knew that there was no way to stop in time before t-boning that car. Suddenly, I steered to the left and back to the right....we missed it somehow. Five seconds maybe and our lives would have been changed....killed maybe. But five seconds and we were around the wreck and alive and unhurt. I don't think I've ever been that close to having a wreck before. It was unnerving....I could hardly get my breath afterwards. Thank you God for sparing us.

Buddy's Nurse is back to Work

2008-10-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

Today is day 12 from surgery and it was time for me to head back to teaching. But I hated leaving my husband home alone and was thankful for the time I was able to stay home with him. Of course, he is able to take care of the basics or I wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving him but it still makes for a long day when you're limited in what you can do.

This morning I got him up, helped him get his support hose on (always a fun task), fixed him some breakfast, gave him his medicine, filled his ice pack, and fixed him a little cooler with snacks to carry him through the day. Today he got another visit from the physical therapist. He got a good report from him again.

Buddy has been given permission to use a cane now too. He had been using my father's wooden cane but it was a little too short (and as a surprise to me, it was emotional seeing Daddy's cane around again. It almost made me look around expecting to see Daddy). We borrowed a couple of canes from a friend who had also had hip surgery several years ago, but hers were more like walking sticks and don't work for Buddy. This afternoon after work, he asked me to stop by the local Goodwill and check to see if they had any canes that would do. If you EVER need something like that...check it out. There were tons of crutches, walkers, potty chairs and canes. I picked a great metal adjustable one with a soft black curved handle for $3.50.

Well, guess I'd better close. Buddy's sister is visiting him and I suppose I should be socialable.

Happy Birthday

2008-09-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Wishes to Buddy!!

Born in 1950----you can do the math.

Princess Flower, Dragonfly, Butterfly and Ladybug called this morning and sang happy birthday to their Papa Buddy. He loved it. Then I told them I was going to give him his birthday whipping....they listened and counted along with me laughing the whole time. Luckily they couldn't see that I was only clapping my hands together.

This afternoon he also got a call from MoRo and Dabby Do who wanted to sing happy birthday to their Papa Buddy (or as MoRo says, "Potty Buddy"). We hope to visit with them on Saturday if we have enough gas and Buddy feels like riding up for the day. He'll get his birthday whipping from them personally. But not on the left side!!

He's gotten cards and phone calls from friends and family too. It's been a good day and he even was able to walk down the stairs to the office. Hope I can get him back up the stairs.

Next is our anniversary...coming up in just over a month. Can you remember how many years??

Recovery-Day 10

2008-09-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
Today the physical therapist took the staples out of Buddy's hip. It looks good....still a little like our granddaughter, Princess Flower, said when she saw the picture of his incision. "It looks like Papa Buddy was bit by a shark." There are steri-strips across the incision just to give it a little support.

He also was given the go ahead to use a cane inside the house. That's going well and he seems steady when using it. But the incision and hip is still sore. Tonight we've got the ice pack back on.

We also went to the grocery store together this afternoon. He enjoyed driving the electric cart around the store. I needed to be sure that there are easy to fix food available since my time off to stay home with him is almost over. I go back to work on Wednesday. My team teacher was great to work for me so I could be off these days. Now I'm going to make up the time for her and she's going to go visit her son and his family. Working part time together has been wonderful.

Also, I only have to give him Lovenox shots in the stomach two more times for blood clots. We both dread them although it's easy enough to give the shots. I had to do that for my Mom also.

So, things are looking good. Sorry, no pictures this time.

Recovery News-One Week

2008-09-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we've passed the one week mark post surgery. Buddy continues to improve daily although he sometimes doesn't feel like it's fast enough. We're amazed at how the body heals. Some parts of recovery are the same as when he had his mitral valve heart surgery just over 3 years ago. He still takes at least 2 naps each day, sometimes three. When he naps, he's in a deep sleep and typically feels much better when he wakes up. When he's hungry, he's really hungry and needs to eat quickly, although it doesn't take as much to fill him up. He is also drinking a lot of water. He takes about 3 pain pills a day. He's allowed to take up to 8 of them. Physical therapy is coming 3 times a week. Today, he's going to walk outside with the therapist. Of course, that isn't anything new for Buddy. We've been walking to the mailbox since the day after we got home. He's also doing better getting in and out of the car. Getting to go for a ride has boosted both of our spirits....even if it's just going to try and find a gas station that has gas.
Tomorrow our goal is to make it to Church. We sure have a lot to be thankful for.

Hip Replacement Update

2008-09-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

Don't want to gross anyone out but I just had to show you his incision. The Physical Therapist took the bandages off today and said to leave the covering off except to shower. I think there's about 26 staples total. Everything looks good and the staples should come out on Monday. Buddy said just having the bandage off is a big improvement. He's doing better each day. The old pain is gone and now it's just a matter of working through the incision pain. I'm thinking that's going to take a little time.

Surgery-Recovery Day 2

2008-09-21T18:33:00.001-07:00

Here is Buddy on his way down the driveway this evening. He's amazed at how he can stand up straight and how the "old" pain is gone. Now, we've just got to work through the "new" surgery pain.
Our Sunday School teacher had micro knee surgery on Friday also. He's doing great and using a cane to get around. He and his wife (former cruise buddies and camping club friends also) came over after supper to visit.While they were at our house, the visiting nurse came by to check both patients. Buddy is demonstrating his breathing ability while R.W. gets a shot.

Today was our first full day at home and the second after surgery. We had a fair first night at home. Sleeping in a different bed downstairs and going from a king to a double didn't make things any easier. We were up and down several times and tried to prop up his leg so he could rest on his right side but he couldn't relax enough for that to be comfortable either.

This morning he walked from the house the length of the driveway and back and did it again tonight. We rearranged furniture and brought in a small recliner instead of the living room wingchair we thought at first would be best. The recliner seems to be the best thing yet. He can relax in the den and enjoyed an afternoon of football....between naps.

Several friends from our Church Sunday School came by after Church and others from our class brought enough food to keep me from having to cook for several days. Thank you all so much for your kindness. I feel like we've had Thanksgiving Dinner today!!

It's been a good day with calls from our kids, some of the grandkids, visits from friends, coffee and coconut pie with friends, quiet time to rest and a nice hot shower. Tomorrow starts rehab. Wonder how that is going to be?

Surgery on Friday, Home on Saturday

2008-09-20T13:48:00.001-07:00

Here he is waiting for surgery on Friday morning...about 6am.
This picture was yesterday evening back in his room.

This is Buddy walking today....sorry I missed getting pictures of him in his hospital gown, but I was busy following along with the IV pole. These pictures are after all tubes and drains were removed and we're getting a final OK from the PT lady. How do you like the thigh high hose....well, on Buddy there a lot longer than just thigh high. And he's got to wear them for a month.

He also had to practice on the stairs going up and down. Up with the good foot and down with the bad.

The ride home was pretty rough. We couldn't get the seat positioned where the pressure was off the incision. It was a LONG ride home and he felt every bump. Our good friend met us at the house to help get him in and settled and moved a chair from the living room to the den.

It's kind of hard to believe that just yesterday morning we were leaving for the hospital for Buddy's hip replacement and now at 5pm on Saturday we've been home over an hour and he's tucked into bed and eating a snack.

Surgery went well although it was not without challenges that we were of course not expecting. Due to the length of time that Buddy's hip has had this condition, the muscles and hip socket were so tight that what was originally to be a typical hip replacement turned into "Plan B".

His surgeon had to make a longer incision...not the 3 1/2 inches we'd hoped for but more like 8 or 9. In fact, his incision looks more like the one my father had with his first hip replacement about 30 years ago. It's stapled closed. Ouch!! He even had to cut a tendon in order to be able to pull those stiff muscles aside and later reattached it. The amount of femur that had to be cut off including the head was more than was typical due to the deformed shape and when the prosteses was driven into the femur, the cut off end of the femur began to split so the Dr. had to put a band around the top to stablize it. Because of the excessive stress to the muscles and hip in general, his Dr. was afraid that there was a chance that a medical condition....I can't remember the name of it, would occur where the body begins to make too much bone to "fix" everything. In order to stop that from happening, Buddy was taken to the oncology/radiology part of the hospital, had a CAT scan, marked for radiation and was given one dose of radiation to prevent bone from growing in the areas where it shouldn't grow. In other words, the bone could possibly grow up in the socket rather than just around it and potentially "freeze" the joint.

After all of that, he got up and walked around the nurses station last night and is home today.

Thank you God for your wonderful healing powers. Please continue to pray for us in the days ahead.

Surgery

2008-09-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

My husband's hip replacement surgery is almost here...we leave for the hospital at 5 dark thirty AM Friday. Surgery is supposed to start at 7:30am. Just one more day at home to finish up the last of the preparations. Do we have the walker...downstairs bedroom ready with clean sheets...favorite foods and snacks....are we sure we have the right chair for him to sit in? Lots of instructions and regulations to follow. I guess I'm a little nervous but he's going to do great. Lots of friends and family are lifting us up in prayer. Thanks, it means a lot to us!

When Buddy was a little boy not quite 6 years old, he began to limp and have pain above his right knee. A trip to the doctor landed him in the hospital for more testing and a diagnosis eventually of Legg, Calve, Pertheses Disease. He missed all of first grade and spent second grade in a wheelchair. He was not allowed to put weight on his right leg and wore a strap around his shoulder attached to a buckle on his right shoe to keep weight from being put on the hip. When his left leg also developed the problem, which was unusual, he spent a year in a wheelchair. Eventually the right ball of the femor reginerated and he was back on crutches with the left leg suspended by shoulder strap to his left shoe. Unfortunately, the ball of his left femor healed back in a more mushroom shape. More months were spent wearing a brace similar to a polio brace fitting into the pelvis where the leg hung with no weight on it. From age 6 till around 11, Buddy was either on crutches, in a wheelchair, back on crutches or wearing this brace. He climbed trees, played with his friends and pretty much did everything possible to keep up with them. One good thing that came out of him being inside more than most boys was learning to cook. His Mother spent lots of time with him teaching him to bake...my favorite is a sour cream poundcake. He is the official baker of our family.
Over the years though, this leg has given him a lot of pain. Of course, most of you would never know it....Buddy hardly ever lets on that his leg hurts. But lately it's come to the point that he knew that it was time to get it fixed. Some nights it even keeps him from sleeping.

So, please keep up the prayers and watch for some pictures....of Buddy walking soon after surgery....and without pain. Maybe a little surgery pain but for once without that bone on bone pain he's been living with for so long.

Tugwell Property--Farm Gate is up!

2008-09-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it doesn't look like much but we had a farm gate put up across the driveway on our property. Slowly but surely we're heading toward starting the construction of our outbuilding. It will have a garage, workshop, RV storage, and living quarters upstairs. We can stay either in the living quarters or RV while the house is being built. The economy decline has slowed down our plans but we hope that won't be for too much longer. It's getting harder and harder to wait...or to come back to the city after visiting our hometown to be.

One Little Granddaughter

2008-09-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

First she practiced driving our boat...now the grocery cart car. What's next? Get ready Dad. She's going to be ready for her own car soon.

Yes, some stranger offered to make our picture together.....no, I didn't tell him our complete life story.

I think she's going to love books as much as her Granny T.We got several books and a couple of Dora DVD's on our visit to the library.

In fact, a lady was walking into the library and was smiling at Abbey and how cute she was sitting there on the bench outside and she stepped off the sidewalk and fell down. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt.....but it scared me to death.

Dabby Do working on her computer skills....actually, she was watching a Kid's DVD...Elmo Uses the Potty. She's really proud of Elmo but doesn't seem to think it's something she might like to do yet. Rearranging the chairs in our classroom. I think maybe it's a train!!

The last stop of the day was dinner at Chik-fil-a. Dabby Do wasn't quite tall enough to climb up to the top. It didn't stop Tadpole, our friend's grandson, who joined us. He's about 5 months older.Tadpole was quite a climber and loved the slide.
Ready for another story before bed.

Something very unusual is happening this weekend. We have only one little granddaughter with us. It's Dabby Do and I don't think we've ever had the pleasure of keeping just her.

Way back in early August ...or was it late July?? ..her Mommy called and asked if we could keep her for them on Friday, Sept. 12th because their babysitter was planning to out of town. Well, it just took a second to say YES!!

Papa Buddy and I met them at a Cracker Barrel for dinner late yesterday after Buddy's Pre-Op appointment at the hospital. The "keeping her on Friday" has stretched into, "we don't think we'll be able to return her until Sunday afternoon". What a deal. Today we visited the school where I teach and she played while I caught up on some planning. Next we visited the local library where we picked out some books and a couple of videos. After that we went to the grocery store to stock up on some of her favorite things....I think the last crew visiting emptied out our stock of snacks. And tonight we met with friends and their two year old grandson, Tadpole.

A quick shower and we've read a couple of the books and she's asleep.

Oh, I've got to share this story. After we got home last night, Papa and I were sitting in the den talking while Dabby Do played behind the sofa with some toys. Suddenly she began screaming at the top of her lungs...we jumped up to rescue her from something horrible to find a single dark dress sock belonging to Papa on the floor....but someone (Princess Flower, I know it must have been you!) had made white paper eyes and taped them onto the partially rolled up sock...along with a paper mouth. Dabby Do was terrified and keep sobbing and saying, "it scares me, it scares me". Nothing could convince her that it was a sock so I had to let her see me pull off his "eyes" and throw them in the trash and then throw the sock into the washer. Finally she calmed down and let me hold her until she fell asleep.

My nerves were shot!

Check back with us to see what happens on Saturday.

Labor Day- The big kids had fun too.

2008-09-10T19:28:00.001-07:00

My favorite picture of the night....

JHC and Buddy's nephew's wife...serious about cards??
She looks like the cat that swallowed the canary.

More ice cream please.
Let's play poker...who ever heard of Phase 10?

Trainman and CBC....man, I've got to come up with some blog names for everybody.

Adult kids...you'd better think up something.
Aunt KK gets to come over often since her college is about 30 minutes from the lake.

The adults at our family gatherings eventually get in some fun time too. This was late one evening when the kids were finally in bed...or at least watching a movie upstairs in the "dorm" as we call the big bedroom upstairs. It's got 5 twin beds, a set of bunks and a double futon....and a tv with a DVD player. Great way to calm the troops down after a full day on the lake.

The daughters in law had made chicken enchiladas and Grammy made brownies and we'd whipped out a churn of homemade vanilla ice cream. The brownies were sort of gooie so just picture those hot, gooie brownies with homemade icecream scooped over them. Out of this world!

We were playing cards....Phase 10 I think. Trainman had returned from visiting his grandparents and Buddy's nephew and his wife had joined us from their house around the next cove. We listened to music, laughed a lot, acted a little silly, and made some more memories.

And then Trainman came down carrying MoRo who was having a croup/asthma attack and the party broke up quickly. We put her in the steam shower and eventually headed to the all night Walgreens in town... way too far it seemed when you need an inhalor refilled in a hurry. But it did the trick and she quickly felt better.

More Labor Day Lake Pictures-

2008-09-10T18:26:00.001-07:00

Driving the boat is a very popular adventure for the girls. Princess Flower has had a few years practice so she did a great job.
Relaxing in the sun....I hope the cousins store up some great memories of these together times.

Here's our youngest one...little Dragonfly. She'll be one year old on Saturday. She wanted to drive the boat too. Not bad for a little squirt!

Dabby Do was a little unsure at first...but she'll do most anything for her Papa. Look at that death grip on the wheel.

What?? You want me to drive?? Well, OK!!

They're overboard. Some of the crew got too hot and jumped ship!!
MoRo takes a turn at driving. Wild woman at the wheel!!

The girls are ready for a ride...and so is Tug. He jumped in before we could stop him.

The water level was back up to normal after being so low at the 4th of July.

Getting the boat off the lift and back on wasn't a problem this time.
The weather was so much better this weekend. All the girls are loving being out on the water this year.
Papa Buddy and Butterfly learning to drive. She took it very seriously!

The girls this year were finally able to be out in the paddle boat---without us. How they cherished their newfound independence. Of course, we were right there on the dock watching and they were restricted to stay in front of the dock...but boy did they enjoy it.
Princess Flower and MoRo are our true water babies.
Dabby Do is just checking things out. The outside porch is a good place to be and not miss any of the action.

Hey, I decided that there were way too many cute Labor Day pictures to pass up posting some more.

As a side note, today was our "hip replacement class" for Buddy. Surgery is scheduled for Friday the 19th. Tomorrow will be a fun day of pre-op...at the doctor and hospital. Should be a long afternoon. We're working on getting things together here at the house so recovery will be a time to take it easy and relax. Hopefully, he will only be in overnight. Please add us to your prayer list for peace and healing. For Buddy he has had problems with his hip since he was six years old and developed Legg, Calve, Pertheses disease. He's been in pain with it for a long time although it has gotten progressively worse in the past few years...not that he'd let you know. I'm looking forward to him being pain free for the first time in a long time. Our God certainly has blessed us with his successful heart valve repair three years ago and now being able to have this opportunity to have his hip fixed. Please say a prayer for his Dr. Kress and the hospital staff too.

Wedding Reception

2008-09-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

Ladybug checking to be sure her PopPop's hair is just right.
Granddaughter checking on her grandfather.....Ladybug is feeding him small pieces of bread she has carefully torn into little pieces. Can you see the fork in her hand?

These pictures of Ladybug and her PopPop are priceless to me. How lucky she is to have a greatgrandfather....and she adores him as he does her. All weekend she had him twisted around her little finger and it was in his lap she slept away during the wedding ceremony. We were sitting together eating during the reception. Ladybug has brought him a second roll and is pinching it into tiny pieces which she will carefully place into his mouth with a fork. After finishing feeding him, she takes him by the hand and leads him all around the room....and he is her willing slave. These girls have had three great grandmothers and one great grandfather. I was Ladybug's age when the only grandfather I had passed away. I guess that's why I found it so touching that she has had this chance to know her greatgrandfather.

Princess Flower dancing with her little sister Ladybug.

Dreaming of the day she'll be the bride.

Our son and his wife....aren't they a beautiful couple!!
The Father of the bride giving a toast.
The happy Mother of the bride....she was everywhere visiting and totally enjoying her daughter's wedding.

The wedding reception was held at a winery nearby. It was a beautiful rustic log building set in rolling hills with the vineyards surrounding it. A wonderful setting to begin the celebration of the union of two in love.

I don't have too many pictures of it...I was busy enjoying myself talking with old friends and meeting new ones.

The Wedding

2008-09-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

Princess Flower with the groom's niece.
The groom's nephew with Ladybug.Butterfly walking down the aisle with the groom's niece, K.B.

The bride's baby sister.
The bride's big sister and Mom to 4 of my granddaughters.

The bride with her Father.

I was able to get a few pictures while everyone was coming down the aisle. I passed off Dragonfly to a family friend sitting behind me so I could use my camera. We were also trying to be sure Dragonfly didn't see her Mommy when she came down the aisle and pitch a fit wanting her. All the kids made it down the aisle without any mishaps except Ladybug didn't want to stand up front and went to sit with her great-grandfather, PopPop. It wasn't long before she was asleep....and I know her PopPop was having trouble knowing whether to watch his granddaughter getting married or his little great-granddaughter snuggled in his arms peacefully sleeping. Both were beautiful.

Waiting for the Wedding

2008-09-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

I promise that I didn't buy them the candy....honest!
Hey, where's my rock candy??

Dragonfly finally gave out and took a much needed nap.
Yum, strawberry.

Princess Flower and Butterfly sharing a bed that night. Note the PJ's Princess Flower is wearing. She was SO thrilled to get them as a present from the bride. They are American Girl PJ's and she got matching ones for the American Girl doll she's getting for her 8th birthday.

On Friday after the bridesmaid luncheon, we had some time to walk around the little town where the wedding was taking place. Our hotel was right off the square which made it easy to look around. There were eating places, antique stores and even an old general store to check out. The girls found their favorite...the candy store.

Granny Nanny for the Wedding Weekend

2008-09-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the bride and groom's nieces practicing for their big moment as flower girls.
You may recognize Princess Flower and Butterfly.

The girls are working on their dance steps.
Dragonfly heading down the practice aisle.
None of the girls wanted to play the part of the groom but they loved playing the bride. What do you think of the veil?? Dragonfly shared her blanket for the occasion.

I spent most of the weekend as a nanny helping out where I could keeping up with the girls and allowing their Mom to enjoy her sister's wedding and all the fun activities. These pictures came while I watched our four girls and the groom's two nieces who were 8 and 5 during the bridesmaid luncheon. The girls had a wonderful time together and tried to figure out what their relationship to each other would be after their aunt and uncle married.

If you're wondering where Ladybug is, she actually slept through the entire afternoon even with all the laughter.

Wednesday-Church

2008-09-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

What did you say Papa Buddy?? Dragonfly enjoyed her dinner.

Ladybug working on dinner.

Princess Flower in choir.

Ladybug joined in making wind socks.

Butterfly was facinated with choir and learning about high and low sounds.

Wednesdays are a day when our family eats dinner at Church and spend time visiting with friends and participate in Church activities.

For the two weeks that my grandchildren were visiting, they joined us for Wednesday night supper and participated in children's activities. This was something they did three years ago when they were living near us the year the Marine's changed plans caused them to stay much longer than anticipated. Princess Flower attended 4 year old preschool at our Church and Butterfly went to Mother's Day Out two mornings a week. Old friends were excited to see them again.

Family Together Again

2008-09-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

A Mom, two sons and 4 granddaughters.

I'm not sure who was the happiest.... the uncle or the nieces.

Princess Flower and her #1 uncle both share a favorite Mexican restaurant. We try to get there each visit.

The girls get serious with their coloring sheets waiting for the food to arrive.
Princess Flower Ladybug working hard on coloring.

Visiting together....It was just 3 years ago when the Marines changed plans and stranded CBC in our town for 11 month while her husband, Son #2, had to follow orders and stay in CA longer than was planned. Brother and sister in law formed quite a bond...both missing the husband and brother stationed across the country. He also had a chance to step in and be there for his nieces who missed their Daddy. Ladybug spent most of her first year away from her father. We were all attending the same Church and I think some thought they were married....he was alway helping get them out of the car and to their Sunday School classes. Since they share the same last name it was easy for the confusion to continue.....until one weekend the real husband and father was able to come home for the weekend. Imagine the surprise when she introduced her husband around. But, but, but......I thought that one was your husband.

Son #1 got some great practice in being a Daddy and taking care of little ones. Changing diapers, feeding babies and drying tears are parenting skills that will be coming in handy in a few months when he and his wife welcome a new baby to their family.

Sisters having a little dessert after our dinner together.
Dragonfly with her Uncle.

Brothers....aways trying to see who's the strongest. #1 use to use "the look" to keep his place as the oldest. Right now #2 is in pretty good shape....the Marines see to that these days.
It's so good having them together. Ok, Mom....one more picture!!

On Wednesday before the wedding, Son #2, flew in to join his family who had been spending the past two weeks with us and her parents. Son #1 picked him up at the airport and we had a quick reunion. Brothers, who go months without seeing each other, pick up as though they haven't been apart. Unfortunately, this trip we couldn't seem to get all the brothers and sisters in law together at the same time. We've learned to make the most of the time we can be together.

Labor Day at the Lake-The Granddaughters

2008-09-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

This is Princess Flower....can't believe she'll soon be 8. She's a veteran lake visitor since this is her 8th season coming to the lake house. Here she is holding her baby sister. She takes great care of her and is a big help to her Mother....and Dragonfly adores her too.
Princess Flower having lunch.

Butterfly turned four in April. She's the more reserved member of the group but really is coming around and joining in this year.
The biggest surprise with Butterfly is how much she loved the boat this time. Last year she held tight to your arm and shirt and you could tell boating was not her thing. The year before that you couldn't even begin to get a life jacket on her. Look what a couple of years can accomplish. You can tell by her smile that she's having the time of her life out on the boat.

Here's MoRo...the one who turned 4 in July. She's the one who is always in the middle of anything going on. And the reason I had to change my clothes a couple of times....never turn your back when she has the hose pipe!!

She's trying to decide what mischief to get into next....don't let that sweet innocent expression fool you!!

Here's Ladybug....the third party in the "triple threat". One minute she's all smiles.....and

the next minute you'd better watch out. Fortunately, she's mostly full of smiles!

I can't imagine why they all call her "Mini T."

The wading pool was a quick way to cool off.
Breakfast brought out the smiles.

Oops....there's that face again!

Here's the 5th granddaughter....Dabby Do. She just turned 2 in August. She's got definite opinions about just about everything.... and you'd better be careful if you cross her but this year she's moved from being the baby to one of the big girls. She slept in the dorm with the rest of the gang instead of a pack n play in the closet. ( Now don't think we've been abusing the girls but a pack n play neatly fits into a walk in closet and when the "triple threat" were all babies at the same time....trust me, a nice cool, quiet, DARK closet was a great way to get babies to sleep.)

Dabby Do loved her baby cousin, Dragonfly.

Dragonfly will be one on Sept. 13th. She took everything in stride....as long as Mommy was in sight. She was a great closet sleeper like her sisters and cousins before her....just think, next year she'll be sleeping upstairs in the dorm in the pile of worn out sisters and cousins.

I want you to imagine what the sound of 5 pairs of feet sound like at 7am when they wake each other up and start running around in the doom room....over their grandparent's bedroom downstairs.....I'm sure that elephants couldn't have made much more noise up there. But what precious sounds they were....laughs and giggles and 5 little bodies jumping into our bed yelling "get up, get up!" Good memories to hold us through the long months when they're far away.

Don't mess with me!!! And next year I won't be the baby anymore! That's right, there's another grandbaby on the way. Wonder what the 2009 addition will be??

Labor Day at the Lake- Family Visits

2008-09-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

My Mom's baby sister. I believe Mom was about 15 when she was born. She listened when a girlfriend of hers asked if she could name the baby....and my Grandma said yes. Mom always regreted not stepping up and asking to name her herself...she said she never even thought about naming one of the babies. When my parents were married, this little sister was just 3. My Dad called her, "his little sweetheart". She was 23 when I was born. Princess Flower and the "bunny ears". Keeping order is never easy.....fighting over the fishing pole.

Whatever caused that face on Ladybug??
The baby, Dragonfly, with her great, great Aunt.
Cousins....JEL was great with the girls...somehow, he got stuck with grilling and girl sitting. It was accidental of course!! No one got burned and no one fell off the dock and he managed to keep the baby swing moving and the burgers flipped. JEL...you're to come to all future family events. Thanks for all the help.

This Labor Day we had a special treat of family from "back home" visiting us. My Mom's baby sister, Aunt B. and her oldest son, JEL, came to see us. For the girls, that meant a Great, Great Aunt half of them had never met. For me, it was like being with my Mom again. I haven't seen my aunt since Mom's funeral over a year ago. I didn't realize how much it would make me miss Mom being with her sister. Her skin felt like Mom, some of their features were alike, their voices, mannerisms. It was wonderful to see my Aunt and cousin again. For a little while, I could close my eyes and it was like having my Mom back.

Labor Day at the Lake-Part 1

2008-09-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

Our cat, Patches, wanted to be sure and be included in this adventure so he parked himself on top of my suitcase while we were loading the car. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't invited.
Tug got to go with us....he loves the lake too. Don't you think he's smiling because Patches was left behind and he got to go?
Here's one of our group shots....Granny T., Grammy, Aunti KK, 6 granddaughters and two daughters in law.
Papa Buddy is wondering how in the world he ended up being the only guy this weekend.

One of our traditional photo spots...in birth order.

Just a few pictures while I have a little down time this afternoon on Labor Day! We made a ton of pictures of our end of the summer bash at the lake. Enjoy....I'll add more as I have time. It's so hard to choose which picture when there are so many cute girls.

Granddaughters-Last weekend at the lake

2008-08-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

Grammy and Butterfly relax in the hammock.
Ladybug on top of the boathouse.

Surely it's not getting close to naptime already?
Nothing better for a nap than Grammy and a hammock.

Princess Flower and Granny T goofing around.

The weather was so horrible they had to play inside a lot this weekend. But I think they enjoyed that too.
Princess Flower and Butterfly

Hurricane Fay stalled out over the lake house this past weekend. Lots of wind and rain blowing sideways. Saturday was an impossible day. Everything got soaked with water. So, it looks like I didn't get too many pictures made....and Dragonfly was REALLY there. I guess she was napping inside when we made all the hammock pictures on Sunday when the rain finally stopped.

We're heading back to the lake house in the morning for Labor Day weekend. Looks like it's going to be a girls weekend. None of the sons are going to be there :( SO SAD!!

# 1 son has conflicting plans, #2 is too far away, # 3 is working, # 4 is going to see his grandparents. So, it's just be Granny T., Grammy, a couple of the daughters in law, 6 granddaughters, one great aunt, one regular aunt and one Papa. Poor guy!! Hope he survives.

I promise we'll do better with the pictures this weekend. We'll have to do the traditional girls in the swing and girls on the wall shot. Those are always fun to compare from year to year.

Those of you who are missing from our family end of the summer bash this year.... We miss you!! It's not the same without you here!

Granddaughters Outside

2008-08-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

Friday morning we played outside before lunch and naps. It was a little windy but a terrific day to be outside since it wasn't so hot.

Why do none of my baby dolls have clothes???
Riding the spring horse that belonged to Papa Buddy when he was a little boy.

Oops...how'd she get that stick so quick??
Princess Flower made ornaments for the cherry tree from pine needles, flower petals and berries she found.
This red car was a Christmas gift to their oldest uncle way back in 1977. So, it will be 31 years old this Christmas.

She's crawling but I think walking is going to be late....hopefully not quite at last as Ladybug at 16 months. Her first birthday is about 3 weeks away.

We spent last Friday together before leaving for the lake that afternoon. Their Mommy went to spend the weekend with her sisters on the coast. Sister R. is getting married the weekend after Labor Day. That's the real reason for the trip but that means we get to enjoy the girls for an extended visit. I've been talking to their father who won't be down until right before the wedding. I don't think he's enjoying these days without his family around. He'd better get use to it because he'll soon be leaving for OCS.....and months away from his family with only an occasional visit home. We wonder where the next duty station will be. 700 miles from home is rough on visits already. There's a chance it might actually be closer....and two that it will be across country or the ocean. Pray that it will be closer!!

Granddaughter Fun

2008-08-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

Just a box of clown clothes from a circus unit I used teaching kindergarten years ago was worth hours of fun and lots of laughs. Here's Ladybug.

Butterfly loved the glasses.

Even Dragonfly let her sister put on the wig for a second.
Princess Flower and Butterfly have great imaginations.

We're having such a good visit with the girls...even with all the rain when Hurricane Fay stalled out over us at the lake last weekend. These pictures were taken at our house on Friday before heading to the lake that afternoon along with their other Grammy. You'd think that 2 Grandmas could handle 4 little girls. When we made a stop for hamburgers on the way to the lake we discovered that we'd loaded them into the car and only Ladybug remembered her shoes. Princess Flower put on Grammy's flip flops and we carried the other two. We'll be sure to double check the packing list next time!!

Enjoy some of the pictures.

Granddaughters Are Here!!

2008-08-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

At last the car turns in. Our neighbor also has a black Pilot and came through a few minutes earlier. I had my camera all set to snap pictures but it drove on past! My neighbor probably thinks I'm crazy jumping up and pointing the camera toward their car.
Princess Flower and Crystal the kitty.
Ladybug having a bite to eat.
Butterfly is happy to be here.
Dragonfly having a snack too. Her daddy use to sit in this highchair when he was a baby.

That's the best news any Papa and Granny can have. Four of our granddaughters arrived in time for supper last night after a long, all day drive from "up north". We're heading to the lake house to spend the weekend with them and their other Grammy. As you can see from the pictures, it didn't take long for the fun to begin.

Making Pickles...and other fun stuff.

2008-08-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today we went to our State Farmers Market over on the far side of our big city. It's a place that I use to go as a child...hasn't changed too much except now most of those selling things speak Spanish. And there were a few things for sale I have no clue what they're called. But being there brought back some fond memories for me.

We bought a bushel of shelled crowder peas, a bushel of pickling size cucumbers, some hot pepper, okra, a dozen of mixed lemons and limes, and of course, a watermelon.

Now, back in the "old days" we would have shelled our own peas....but seeing them there already bagged up and ready to go was more than I could resist. I can relive my past without having to shell them myself!!

So, guess how we spent the evening?? You're right, fixin' them. You can't let all this good stuff go to waste. Do you have any idea how many pickles you can make from a whole bushel of cucumbers....oh, about 10 gallons. We're making the 13 day kind. Today of course, was day one....twelve to go. I'm afraid to count ahead and see what I'm doing on that 13th day when they have to be finished.

We also "put up" the crowder peas. They have to be washed, blanched for 90 seconds (exactly) and then put in ice for for 90 seconds and then put into freezer bags. We got seven quart size bags of those. We saved out enough peas for a "mess" tomorrow. Now, if you don't understand the term "mess", it doesn't mean we're going to mess them up or something. A mess means just enough left for a good meal.

I guess we're practicing for the time we have our own garden at the new house.

I'll post the 13 day pickle recipe later...I'm ready for bed and it's almost midnight.

Tugwell- Driveway Part 2

2008-08-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

Looking out at the road from the driveway.

Looking up the drive from the road

Buddy and "the Tango". :)

This is where the driveway turns to the left by the old group of dogwoods.

There's our Edge up on the spot where we can park the RV and stay while work is being done on the property. They also put down gravel there so it won't be so muddy.
Another shot of coming up from the dogwoods and curving there to the right to the RV parking spot. Buddy heading down the drive toward the road.

All you need is a garden, a table, a box full of grocery bags, a price sign, a scale and a gallon jar to hold the money. What a novel idea!!
The famous tomato patch.
Looking for the perfect tomato.
Daddy and Dabby Do. She said she holding an "apple".

Today was an exciting day. After going to a meeting at school for a couple of hours this morning we were able to head for our home town to be to see the completed driveway. It was so great to just be able to drive right in all the way to the back, even in our little car. We pulled in to the back, got out and looked around imagining what things are going to look like and what the next step might be.

Son #3 and Dabby Do met us there and walked around with us for a little while before we headed to the local diner for lunch. After that, we headed to the famous tomato patch where we were able to gather some more tomatoes just getting ripe. It looks like this might be the end of this years harvest but it has been fun picking them and even better eating home grown tomatoes. How will we survive the winter without them?

We didn't get to see MoRo or her Mom today. They were going to head out to meet us after school but it was just too hot and we needed to head back to the big city. We missed you two! And we didn't get to see our neighbors and cruise buddies either. One day is too quick of a trip.

I'm going to try to get the pictures to load tonight. Hope it works better than last night.

Yea!! It worked!!

Tugwell- Driveway is in!!

2008-08-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

We have more pictures today from our neighbors of the driveway that was finished today. I know that it probably doesn't seem like a finished driveway but you've got to look ahead to the big picture and think about how it's going to be when the house is finished and we're living there.

You've got to remember that we've had this property for 3 1/2 years too. It feels so good to be finally getting started.

Well....we have pictures but I can't get them to load onto the blog.....you'll just have to trust me that it looks great!!

Marine Family Special Events

2008-08-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

Here is our son with his daughter, Princess Flower, after getting his new Staff Sergeant rank.
Semper Fi!!
These are pictures of our daughter in law participating in a recent Triathlon.

She's wearing a green hat.

Well, just in case some of you don't read the other blogs going on in our family, I thought I'd add a note telling a little about what exciting things are going on in some of their lives too lately.

This is about our second son, his wife and four daughters, Princess Flower, Butterfly, Ladybug, and Dragonfly. Our son is a United States Marine and stationed up north of us....about 700 long miles from here. So, we don't get to see as many of their exciting events as we'd like to.

I've tried to steal a couple of their pictures. If you'd like to see more, please check them out at: http://www.lifethrowsyousurprises.blogspot.com/.

First, daughter in law (do you have a blog name??) CBC, participated in a Triathlon recently and came in 197 out of 310. Not bad at all!! She swam 300 meters, rode 11.5 miles on a bike and ran 3.1 miles. Great job, CBC!!

Next, our son on Friday was promoted to Staff Sergeant!! That's wonderful, son. He's finished his college degree and has also been accepted into officer's candidate school which begins in October of this year. In December, he will be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. We'll be there for sure to see that!

And I'm not forgetting our oldest son who has also completed his Master's Degree and is presently working on becoming a Certified Public Accountant. He's passed three of the four tests necessary to become a CPA and I know it won't be long before he has this last one finished also.

Working full time, going to school, getting married, becoming a step-father! Their life is busy and full all the time!

For those of you that are wondering about our 4th son, Trainman, he's doing wonderful. We actually get a call from him ever now and then. He has done well in his training so far. He loves where he is and the friends he's made. The vocational skills training he chose is in lawn care. He's making good progress, is taking driver's ed. and will most likely be home by Christmas.

I've bragged enough....and I've probably forgotten a lot. Anyway, this is really just a blog about my immediate family anyway and we're sort of empty nesters now. You'll have to check out their blogs to keep up with all their happenings.

Master's Degree Graduation

2008-08-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

Here are the proud parents of the graduate!!
Waiting for things to start took a long time. Making pictures was a good time filler.
Dabby Do was a little quiet at first.
Daddy and MoRo coming back from the bathroom....AGAIN!!

Two alumni together!!
Yep, it's official!!
Started Pre-K yesterday and wearing a graduation cap today. The time will seem to go about that fast!
A family moment!! Now, let's get out of the sun!!

More camera fun...they love that timer feature!

Dabby Do is sure she play two of these games at once! Cracker Barrel for the after graduation dinner was nice. Afterwards we could shop a little and sit outside in the rocking chairs and visit.

Daddy and MoRo working together.

Today was a pretty special day for one of our three daughters in law. She finished her Master's Degree and we had a chance to go watch her graduation ceremony. Another little bonus is that it's the same college that my husband received his bachelor's degree and his was held in the same gym. Aah, memories!! It's kind of funny that she and I got our bachelor's degrees from the same college too. So, both husband and I share a little bond with her in regards to our Alma Maters.

We're really proud of JHC for getting a 4.0 while teaching, being a wife and mother.

Of course, we had fun playing with MoRo and Dabby Do while waiting for the graduation to begin. Cruise pals and neighbors to be were pretty good company too. It was a good way to spend Sat. afternoon.

I've got a few pictures to share!! Enjoy!

Tugwell- New driveway!

2008-07-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

How exciting to get pictures today of the transformation of the logging road on our property into a real driveway. This work was done yesterday. There was a thunderstorm yesterday evening that dumped too much water for the crew to work today. Hopefully, they will be able to continue working tomorrow.

With the rest of the chirt packed down and the gravel added we should have a good driveway. Until now, the only way we could get to the logging road was with a 4 wheel drive truck. That place where you can see the pipe was really rough and bumpy. Which has been good because it has kept out people who shouldn't be there. I guess we're going to have to be thinking about putting up a gate now.

Thanks neighbors for sending us the pictures!!

Birthday party for MoRo and Dabby Do

2008-07-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

The girls love Thomas the Train. This was their train cake.

Kisses anyone???

Daddy with MoRo.
Mom with Dabby Do. Daddy and his girls taking a break from jumping.

Auntie and their cousin who is just two days younger than Dabby Do.

This is their Mom's brother and their daughter.

I've been in trouble for not posting pictures from the girls recent birthday party.

MoRo turned 4 on July 7th and Dabby Do will be 2 on August 12.

We had a great time and I thought I share a few pictures from the party.

Play Ball

2008-07-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

That's us up there in the stands waiting for MoRo to get to say "play ball". There was a rain delay and the stands weren't crowded right then. Our local FCRV camping group was with us.

Dabby Do is a little too hot to smile tonight!!

The kids are enjoying a snack...the second box of popcorn after the first fell and scattered.Mo Ro and Mom waiting for the big moment!
Finally, she's out on the field with the big girls. She'll be a cheerleader before we know it!!
What do you want to do?? "PLAY BALL"!
MoRo gets to pose with Cat Woman.

Saturday night of our camping week we went to watch the local Farm Team play ball.

MoRo was picked to be the one to say, "play ball" and start the game. Her Daddy was having to work and hated not to get to see her. So, he called Mommy's phone but the National Anthem was being sung so she didn't answer. Next, he called my phone. I just opened the phone so he could hear the anthem....but they were going to have MoRo next so I quickly told him I couldn't talk and hung up....all he wanted was for me to hold open the phone so he could hear her. He tried Buddy next but it was too late....I felt horrible when I realized I should have just left open the phone. But her Mommy got it on video and he got to watch that. Sorry son!!

We had fun and the home team won!!

Fun In Cedar Creek

2008-07-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

MoRo loved the water...and eventually sat down completely!
Son #3 with Tug. It's a lot deeper than it looks....Tug's swimming.
Dabby Do was ready for a nap. She did have fun in the creek earlier but I was having trouble standing up on the rocks, holding Tug and managing the camera at the same time so I missed a shot of her when she was happy.

One of the fun things about our latest camping trip was getting to visit with family, especially two of our granddaughters. They spent one night with us in the RV and one fun afternoon walking in the creek.

When we build our house there, our son and his wife will be building on the property near us. How fun to get to be close enough to see the girls often and watch them grow. Our other near neighbors will be their other grandparents and our Alaska cruise pals.

Actually, we've started the first step toward getting our place built. Yesterday and today, the logging road is being turned into a driveway. Can't wait to get back up there to see what's been done. I believe that the drive is about 600 feet before it turns to the left toward where the house and out-building will be. Now we can drive in with a car and not need the 4 wheel drive truck. The goal is to be able to park the RV on the property where we can stay and check on building progress. A spot is also being cleared and readied as a place to park the RV.

PS...I decided I didn't like the girls insect blog names so I'm changing to their nicknames.

MoRo is 4 and will be starting Pre-K on Friday at Mommy's school.

Dabby Do 2nd birthday is in a couple of weeks!!

Siberian Husky Camper

2008-07-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

Now that we're sort of empty nesters, we aren't camping with our sons much any more but we have a new camping partner, Tug, our Siberian Husky. We would have never pictured him as a suitable camping partner but after his "near death" experience of the spring, he's settled down and enjoys being with us in a CALM manner and we don't mind having him along.

I thought you'd like to see a few pictures of him enjoying the RV and Cedar Creek on our trip.

What a life he leads!!

And no, he doesn't ride up there when we're moving!!

Retirement Town

2008-07-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Buddy and I spent last week in the little town which will become our hometown before too much longer. We camped there on the banks of Cedar Creek only a couple of miles from our property.
It's such a peaceful valley, beautiful with crops looking mostly green this summer with more rain than the last few years. The soybeans were a lush green, cotton plants were blooming, and a funny looking corn like plant....Milo? Sorghum? Not sure what it is but there were fields of it looking more parched than the rest.

Our most exciting find was a field of tomatoes. We passed by a sign for "Tomatoes for Sale" and couldn't resist stopping for some homegrown ones. Now being from the big city we felt a little strange because there was no one there actually selling the vegetables. I got out and went over to the table and couldn't believe what I found. There was a box full of grocery bags, a sign saying that the vegetables were a dollar a pound, a scale and the biggest surprise of all, a gallon jar with money in it. Imagine!!! The honor system!! Someone trusted us to pick, weigh and put the money in the jar!! And that's just what we did. For a couple of folks that love home grown tomatoes and haven't had any this year, it was like being in a candy store. We walked the rows picking out some juicy red ones and others just turning red. We also picked some yellow squash. All together our sack weighed in at 12lbs. So, we opened up that jar and put in our money. We made a second trip on Saturday before heading home. It was wonderful!!

A friend sent me a picture he took while we were raiding the tomato patch.

Fourth of July- Lake house part 2

2008-07-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

Grasshopper just never could quite belive that our pillow fish were not real. She kept showing us her finger where the fish had taken a nip. I'm sure she was hoping we'd give her a coveted "bambage" for her finger. The fish spent most of the holiday put away in the closet.

Niece and Uncle enjoying cartoons together.
All the girls love "Ethnic Santa" who sits on the hearth. We have quite a few pictures of the grandgirls sitting with him. He never seems to mind. Sometimes as we pass through the den we'll come on one of the girls taking a few quiet minutes sitting on the hearth and visiting with him.

Tug enjoying the boat. He's only seen snow a couple of times. He's a summer water sport dog.

The idea was to take a late quiet boat ride and the girls would fall asleep. That never happened!!

July Fly posing on the boat.

This really surprised us all. Grasshopper LOVED the jet ski. She and Papa Buddy made quite a few circles around the cove. She kept her hands up on the handles just like she was driving.

July Fly had a great time riding with her Mom.
And of course, Grasshopper had to get back on for another ride.

Today is Sunday and we're finishing up the not so fun part of going to the lake. We got quite a bit done last night so today isn't so bad. When everyone pitches in to clean up it makes the work go much faster. Thanks J.H.C. for all the hard work you did! The jet ski is loaded back on the trailer and will be heading to the shop for a tune-up. We're hoping to get the boat back on the lift but we're not having a good feeling about that. It was hard to get it off with the water down so low. This drought has finally hit our lake too. We'll probably have to leave it tied to the dock and come back and try again in a few days. What a great excuse to come back soon!!

I hope you enjoyed these pictures. There has been a little change of plans. We've decided not to go back tonight. We're going to take Son #4, "Trainman" back to his school and come back to spend the night here at the lake. Hopefully the traffic heading home will be much better in the morning....ahh, one more night at the lake. What can be better than that!

Granddaughter's Splinter

2008-07-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

Mom checks out the foot.
Looks like a big one this time.

Papa and Mom work on the splinter.July Fly justs wants to know if it's out yet. She was brave! Princess Flower, do you remember all the splinters that Papa Buddy has had to take out of your feet?

It seems that every visit results in one of the girls getting a splinter in their foot from the dock. It's just so hard to keep shoes on them...summer is for going barefooted isn't it??

Papa is ready with his trusty knife and the first-aid kit. This visit's splinter winner is the July Fly!

4th of July- Lake House

2008-07-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

July Fly is helping her Daddy drive the boat.
July Fly with her Nana (and our Alaska cruise pal).

Grasshopper isn't too happy about wearing a life jacket.

Tubing really wears them out!

Remember doing sparklers when you were a kid? The grandkids love them too.

Fourth of July at the lake house this year has been kind of a quiet affair but lots of fun, food, friends and family...just not a big crowd this year. Beautiful weather and terrific fireworks.

We've had a good time and enjoyed the water....swimming, floating, tubing, jet skiing, and canoeing. Picture 4 float chairs and a tube tied to the dock with us spending the afternoon enjoying floating around in our cove holding on to each other. Guess what! It's a wonderful way for a toddler to get a great nap rocking in the waves.

Princess Flower, Butterfly, Ladybug and Dragonfly....Your Granny T. and Papa really miss you being here with us this year. It just hasn't been the same with out you. See you in August.

Granddaughter Visit-Day 2

2008-07-01T18:41:00.000-07:00

Resting in the grass after dinner.
Hear no evil, speak no evil and see no evil. Must be some other grandkids.
Hang on, we're going off roading! Note they all have the same "crocs".

Great idea kids!!

We made it without a hitch today. Visiting neighbors and jumping on their trampoline made for an easy 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon. Dinner this evening out with friends and their 2 year old grandson. I'll call him Tadpole. It was fun watching the kids playing together after dinner in the front yard that my boys grew up playing in.

Tadpole and Grasshopper hug goodbye. le and Grasshopper hug goodbye.

Granddaughter Visit

2008-06-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Grasshopper and July Fly enjoy the shower.

(Yes, I decided to give them nature blog names to go with their cousins.)

Drying off and waiting for PJ's.

Yes, they brushed their teeth. Well, sort of.

They picked out a couple of books from our afternoon library visit.

We're all snuggled up ready to read together.

And what good visit with a grandkid isn't complete unless they bring one of the granddogs. Here's about 8 month old Piper who loves her Granny too.

A great way to spend part of summer vacation from school and work is a visit from some of the granddaughters. Two were dropped off this morning for a couple of days before we meet up with their parents at the lake for the 4th of July. This is their second visit this summer since they came home with us for almost a week after Memorial Day weekend at the lake at the beginning of the summer. I hope that they will have good memories of the time with their Granny as I do of spending weeks in the summer with my Granny. My Granny always seemed so old to me but counting up our ages makes me realize that when she was my age she only had two grandgrandchildren and was only two years older than me now when I was born. She had 11 grandchildren from 4 of her 8 children. I have 6 grandchildren born from 2 of my children. Wonder if I'll catch up? Just kidding!!!

Four of my granddaughters have blog names already. Princess Flower, Butterfly, Lady Bug and Dragonfly. I don't think the two visiting have blog names....I'll have to check or make up some. Ok, I'm going to make up some....hum....MoRo and Dabby Do I think are what they are affectionately called at times. Of course, we could continue the nature theme. How about July Fly and Grasshopper. I'll probably get slammed for this but I'm going along with the bug theme.

Pictures are of July Fly (almost 4) and Grasshopper (almost 2) getting cleaned up this evening after our fun afternoon together and ready to read some of the books we picked out at the library today.

First Port- Ketchikan

2008-06-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

Ketchikan was our first stop. The name is based on a Tlinglit word meaning basically, "thundering wings of an eagle". Ketchikan began in 1883 with salmon canneries, lumber and of course gold. Tourism today is a thriving industry. We enjoyed walking the town and investigating the shops. Ketchican gets an average of 150 inches of rain a year but the sun was shining for us most of the day!
Our favorite stop was watching the Lumberjack show.

Alaska or Bust- Home to Vancouver-June 4th

2008-06-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Pack light?? The new airline restrictions fortunately didn't apply to us because our tickets were purchased enough ahead. We were able to check 2 bags each. Going there we had weight to spare but coming home was CLOSE to the 50 pound limit in the big bags. We even had a couple of boxes shipped home. Do we look like tourists?? No, really? We traveled from home to Toronto to Vancouver. We were picked up at the airport in Vancouver and taken to the ship on a tour bus. This is our ship, the Carnival Spirit.

The room was nice. We also had a balcony and big picture window. With friends and inlaws on each side, we had the balcony divider doors opened. It was a great gathering spot to relax and visit and take in the sights.

The port of Vancouver from the ship from our balcony.

Traveling companions to Alaska

2008-06-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

The Florida travelers.

The ladies at the pre-cruise party.
The men at the pre-cruise party.

Our land tour group the night before heading home.

Co-worker, tour director, long time friend and husband.

Some of our bestest friends.
Baby it's cold outside and yes, we did go out looking like this....several times.

Donkey Boy!
Donkey Boy w/ Mom.
Donkey Boy tied to Dad so he wouldn't get lost.

Relaxing on the balcony----where is your coat??

Freezing on the balcony....two sisters.
Do you remember the show "F-Troop"?
Indiana Jones??

Papa and PawPaw together.
Three amigos.....or is it Larry, Moe and Curly?
Getting ready to go shopping!!

It's Nana on the balcony.

Our vacation group on the cruise part consisted of 11 cabins and 23 people. Before the cruise the local group got together for a pre-cruise party to get to know each other a little better. Seven of us work together in a local elementary school. Others are related by blood, seven were husbands, a daughter, sisters, some were "in-laws", several close friends and one middle-schooler (aka: Donkey Boy). We met in Vancouver from California, Florida and Georgia.

The land tour group was half the size. Three co-workers, husbands, one Donkey Boy, and two assorted "in-law" couples....let's see, that makes 11 I think. It was a great trip...and amazing. We ate together when we could, toured together when we wanted to and went our separate ways at times. And everyone got along...didn't we??

So, the pictures are of some of our traveling companions.

Alaska Vacation Pictures

2008-06-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

I couldn't get over the beautiful colors of everything there. I think it's the long hours of daylight they are having right now and the amount of rain they get. The land along the inside passage is considered a rainforest. Most homes and businesses had beautiful hanging baskets that were covered with trailing petunias and other colorful plants. Of course, the wildflowers and ferns growing naturally were equally beautiful and the dandylions were huge!

Pictures from Alaska

2008-06-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

A mountain seen from the train....I think!!
This is the Mendenhall Glacier which we saw
on a side trip out of Juneau.
A bald eagle resting on a rock near Sitka.

Mendenhall Glacier is in the background. See,

we really were there!!

I love this picture off the ship one evening.
Can you see God's hand? See the thumb and
finger?

Home from vacation-Day 3

2008-06-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

Today is the third day home from our Alaska vacation. I'm thinking that it's sort of like the third day after surgery...you know everyone says that's the hardest day. Maybe the fact that today is the day I started operating on Eastern Standard time rather than Alaskan time is the cause of my tiredness. Going to bed at 2am and getting up at 11am the next morning is much more fun. After all, in Alaska it would only be 10pm and getting up 7am. But I've got to get back to the real world sometime....and a quick nap after lunch today did help a lot.

I've been working on pictures...hundreds of them. It's hard to believe that we've actually seen these beautiful sights. If you haven't had a chance to go, start planning now. My Mother always wanted to go to Alaska. I'm so sorry that I didn't make a bigger effort to take her. There always seemed to be the raising three sons, work, Dad's illness and when it finally got to the point where we could go...it was too late. Don't wait until it's too late. I thought so much about Mom on this trip. I wore her rings and walked in her Reeboks. I kept asking her if she could see these sights...and you know what I heard back? If you think Alaska is beautiful, you should see what I can see now. So, I think maybe I got to see a little bit of Heaven in Alaska. How much more beautiful are the things our God has planned for us.

Vacation to Alaska- June 4-15, 2008

2008-06-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

Hi, We are back from our Alaskan vacation. It was wonderful....a view of some of God's most spectacular gifts of nature to us here in America. We started our trip on June 4th, flying out early in the morning with 12 of the 23 people leaving together. Our plane trip took us to Toronto, Canada where we had to gather our luggage, go through customs and recheck everything before boarding another plane heading to Vancouver. We met up aboard ship with the other other 11...all of us connected somehow either as friends, family or as co-workers. And so the 12 day adventure begins.

Grownups enjoy the lake too!

2008-05-29T20:40:00.001-07:00

Our blended family

2008-05-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

I enjoy looking again and again at the pictures of our family.... together because life has so many different twists and turns....what you start out with isn't always what you end up with and you never know what wonderful miracle is just around the corner. Marriages, death, divorce, second chances, births, adoption, autism. The blending of so many lives together to make this family. Our God has certainly seen us through some rough, sad times and blessed us with more than we could ever dream.

More Memorial Day pictures

2008-05-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

Family Pictures from Memorial Day

2008-05-29T10:23:00.001-07:00

Memorial Day at the Lake

2008-05-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend was spent at our lake house with most of our extended family. What a great time it was having all SIX of our granddaughters visiting at the same time. With our sons and their families spread from Maryland to North Georgia, it's hard sometimes to find the time when everyone can be together. This Memorial Day included three out of four sons and their wives and daughters. Son#1 and his wife and two sons had conflicting boy scout camping plans and couldn't join us this year.

2008-05-27T06:21:00.001-07:00

Hi I am Granny T.