Here's the Key

 Actually, there is no key.

Let me start at the beginning, or even before that.

Last Friday Mr.K went to Tractor Supply for dog food.

Later that day, Mr. K could not find his car keys.

In this house, we have two complete sets.  We each have keys to both cars.

On Saturday I took my keys apart and handed him a key for his car.

We were fine...well, almost fine.

That's when he noticed that his inspection sticker expired in JANUARY!

We made it through the weekend and then Monday morning I was headed to Tony and Mindy's to babysit Henry while Mindy took Luca for his one month check up.

I grab my purse (where I always keep the keys) and hit the ignition.

It says the key is not in the car.

A quick dump of the contents of my purse on the front seat.

Nope, no key.

I asked begged Mr. K to help me find the key.

No key to be found.

The only car we have with a key is his out of inspection Kia

(that incidentally is parked in the drive because Kia recalled it and said not to park it in or near structures because of fire danger)

I jumped in his car and drove (very carefully) to baby sit.

This morning, the first available time for inspection the car was legal!

Still no key for my car.

Mr. K started making phone calls.

Finally, he spoke with Nationwide.  They agreed to help find a towing company that could get my car out of the garage and tow it to the VW dealer where they would program the new keys...when they come in on Monday or Tuesday.

We were just getting ready to eat dinner with a guy comes to our door.  He came to tow my car to the dealer.

Now, I usually park in the garage with my window open.  Don't ask why.

The guy knew how to put the car in neutral, but he could not get the window up!

Mr. K helped him put plastic over the window!

So there I was...

Watching my darling VW on the back of a tow truck...

Headed for the VW dealer to be parked in their lot with the window down?

Until Monday or Tuesday.

Somehow I could not make sense of it all, but in guy-talk, I was wrong...

The service manager (and I have plenty of bad experiences with them)

said he would send someone out to throw plastic over it.

The key is...there is no key!

But to brighten my day...

Henry and Luca took their first bath together!

~sigh~

Grandma life!

Scraps of Life...

 Just some bits of this and that from the past week...

Photos the kids shared, things I did...

Places my brain went...

First off, I'm in up to my wazoo with my mom's estate.

So many things to do, questions to ask, STUFF to deal with.

I remember that for the past ten years, each time I visited my mother  she tried to give me things out of her house.  I usually refused, saying I had more than enough STUFF at my house already.

Now I see that it would have been easier to take the contents of her house piece by piece than to deal with the whole mess at once!

I'm learning...look out kids!

It's been difficult working on the legal stuff.  I've known my attorney for for than 55 years.

He was a fuss budget in junior high and has only gotten worse.  We're both old and cranky.

I think he should have retired years ago...just kidding, Stephen!

Of course, there was my Tuesday dinner with Locklan.  Wouldn't miss it for anything.

I try to find something to play while we're waiting for our dinners.

This week it was dominoes!

He loved it and took the tiles home to play with his mom.  

He claimed he usually won but occasionally Teagan won.

Yesterday afternoon, the kids stopped by for an afternoon visit.

Within minutes, they gathered furniture from every room to set up their theater.

They took turns as master of ceremony and performing.

Teagan danced, Locklan sang.  The big problem was that when Teagan was Master of Ceremony, she would introduce herself, introduce the performers and thank everyone for coming.

That included going out and hugging everyone in the audience which included 3 bears, 2 cabbage patch dolls and a few stuffed animals.

She's amazing...

We had fun but I was beat after all that excitement!

I was happy to see Andy helping put my house back in order!

Tony sent me this...

Brothers having lunch?

Last night, he shared this...

I think they like him!

Wow!  That was a week!

Next week I get my second covoid injection, Mr. K has had both of his...

And (grandma) life goes on!

~SIGH~

Let's Clean Up!

 I know that I have so much to talk about

but I'm still playing 'catch up' after being out of commission for all that time...

But I want to keep in touch, and I want to share my family...

Now I don't know if you know, but I'm a Norwex junkie!

Just before Ashley was going back to work and I was going to watch Locklan

My neighbor introduced me to the products that would clean your house with just water...

No Chemicals!

I fell in love.  I had a crawling baby...I didn't want chemicals on the floors!

It took a while, but little by little Ashley fell in love with them too.

She's now a consultant, which means we own at least one of everything they sell...

But seriously, after 5 years...

She posted these photos...

Now I don't know about you, but if I found a 'magic' cloth that would make my kids want to clean...

I'd buy two!

Seriously...

My boys were very helpful around the house.

Once, when my dad was in the hospital, his pastor said the would stop at the house for coffee.

Before leaving for the hospital, I wrote a note for the boys...

"Pastor Jeff coming.  Please do not leave your dishes in the sink."

That afternoon I came home to find the sink full of shoes and the dirty dishes on the floor beside the back door...

Kids...and you were wondering why I stopped at 4?

Okay, time to get busy...

Love to all...

Back to Back Weekends!

Whew!

Seems that I no sooner recover from one weekend, 

here comes another one!

This one was a little easier, 

We stayed at home on Saturday and got things done around here.

Early Sunday, we got a text from Tony,

He was at camp, ready to install the ladder on the new dock.

Later, he sent photos...

We were happy that he got that done.  

So much work to be done this year, 

The new dock, reworking the ramps,

installling hardware,

I'm so thankful for all the work the guys put in so we could enjoy ourselves.

This week, Mindy invited her family to come up and kayak.

There was Mindy, Tony and Henry; Dawna, Mindy's mom, and Mindy's sister, her boyfriend and dog were already out on the water when Mr. K and I got there...

just coming in...

Henry LOVES to kayak, in fact all three of our littles love it. 

Locklan got his own kayak this spring and when Teagan saw it, she had to get one too.

So far, she's not ready for the open water, she practices in her Great Uncle Mike's pool!

After we got everyone ashore, we ate (too much)

and caught up.  

I hadn't seen Dawna in nearly a year!

Then we decided that it was time to take a boat ride!

Henry was so excited.  He loves the boat.

He did get to help his dad drive...

Ashley (Mindy's sister), her boyfriend Kyle wanted to go tubing.

Looks like fun, doesn't it?

Of course, you were never towed by Tony...

He can be brutal!

Finally, we were on our way back to the dock.

Kyle was in charge of making sure the tube didn't blow away.

Forrest made sure her daddy didn't blow away...

~sigh~

It was a good day.

Henry, who is usally on a schedule, did not nap.  

He was so excited to have everyone around at his beck and call...

It was almost 8 when we left.

That's his bedtime when he has a nap.

He was still going strong as Tony strapped him in his car seat.

Two minutes later...

What a great day at Camp Manfred!

What a weekend!

I thought this would be a nice, easy weekend

Ashley was out of town, Andy had other plans...

Tony and Mindy and Henry decided to come to camp.  

Later that day, we got a text from Mark's brother, wondering if we were going to be at camp on Saturday.

They sent a few hints...

And on Saturday, they came up to take us for a ride!

What a great boat!

Henry liked that he could move around more than he could on our boat...

until he got tired...

Finally, he fell asleep on Dada's lap.

We certainly hope that Mike and Michelle invite us to go for another ride!

After Mike and Michelle left, we settled down for some 

serious Camp Manfreding, if that is a word...

Tony took Henry out on the kayak to get to the other side of the river to throw rocks and wade, 

we had a good dinner and a slow and easy boat ride!

On Sunday, by time Mr. K and I got to camp, Andy  and kids were already there, along with Tony.  Mindy and Henry would join us after Henry's nap.

Tony and Andy decided to take the kids across the river to (of course) throw rocks and wade.

Of course, Tony had to ride the kayak down the hill into the water.

It's tradition!

Teagan was ready to go!

After dinner, we decided to take a ride up river...

The guys threw in the anchor, donned life jackets and jumped in!

Teagan always wants to do what the guys do.

and she usually does!

There is a rope swing upriver from us.

It's been there since before we moved in, 11 years ago.

Of course, the guys have to take a turn or two.

Andy went first!

Then Tony...

And then Locklan wanted a turn.

Suddenly Teagan decided she wanted on!

And of course, Daddy and Uncle Tony made it happen!

Where was Henry while all this was going on?

At first he seemed interested...

Then he decided he'd rather play with Mama's phone!

Just wait until next year!

By time we got back to camp, the kids were so tired that they let Andy photograph them.

What a day!

We're so blessed that although we are staying safe, we can still spend time with family.

How about you?

This and That

 Mark's brother, Uncle Mike, invited Mr.K and I, Andy and Tony and their families down for a swim and cookout.  Michelle, Mike's wife, made us Primanti Sandwiches, made famous by the restaurant in Pittsburgh.  They looked kind of like this...

Yes, there's french fries (and Michelle made the real deal fries), coleslaw, cheese, tomato and meat...

I never had one, so I made a deconstructed sandwich (no bread).  The combination was heavenly!

The main focus for the kids was...

The pool, of course.

Although it was a fairly nice day, as soon as the sun went down, it got chilly.

Even so, the kids didn't want to stop swimming.

It was a great night, good company, good conversation and 

great people.

I feel so blessed to be included in this family!

Now THAT'S Corny!

Tony sent me this photo of Henry and I thought it was too cute not to share...

That kid loves his 'corn on the bone' as Tony used to say...

Oh Henry!

Actually it's Henry O. (for Oliver)

and he's quite a character!

More often than not, when they face time me,

he has something on his head...

a bucket, a box, occasionally a hat.

This was last night...

Tony took this one while we were talking...

Apparently, earlier in the day Henry found out that markers don't taste as good as they smell...

Tony found out that washable doesn't mean it comes off your kid.

What a kid!

Last night I heard him say grandma!

ahhhhhhhhhh, grandma life!

Now stay home, stay healthy and stay safe!

Tuesday Bluesday?

Tuesday, you got me again...

knocked me down, but not for long!

Remember, yesterday I said it was re-refridge day?

I said that because when we called the store on Monday,

they told us that we were scheduled for delivery on Tuesday.

Since we put the cleaning service on hold, it was the only excitement for Tuesday.

I was up and at'em early...

About 10, Mr. K called the store to get an approximate time only to be told that they weren't sure where our new fridge was, but they could say that it was not at the store and would NOT be delivered that day.

Bummer...

Then I got a call from Locklan.

They were delivering cookies to the hospital

 (where Ashley worked for years)

and they were going to stop in to say hi.

Stopping in means they backed into the drive

 and stood in the driveway

while we stood on the porch.

It was a great visit, I wish I had thought to take photos.

I miss those kids soooo much!

The day was getting better!

Then Mindy called.  She was going to pick up their groceries,

 did I need anything?

Just dish soap.

She put it in our mailbox!

Leftovers for dinner...

Then my brother called!

His situation is even more difficult.

His daughter and grand daughter live next door.

His son, daughter-in-law and three kids are staying 
with my brother for now...

My sister-in-law is staying with her mother who is undergoing chemo.

My brother is the baby sitter (from a distance), delivery guy and feeder of the cats.

He lives in the middle of nowhere, on a stream, 
with 4 dogs and a slew of cats.

His grandkids wanted to play in the mud puddle.

Here's my brother's grandkids...

Totally made my day!

I had a nice, long talk with my mom,

I got to facetime Henry...

Tuesday didn't totally suck,

but I still have that fridge in the middle of my kitchen!