Bet you thought I quit knitting, didn't you?

Well...just look here:
Any time you see 'dumb' socks, you should realize they are for Andy. Andy swears that these are the only sock he can wear with his work boots. He's been known to do a load of laundry if he needs hand knit socks for work the next day. Yes, he takes a lot of ribbing, but he thinks the guys have gotten used to them as long as he avoids borrowing Kailyn's pink striped ones.

This is the first time ever, I used self striping yarn and did not match the stripes. It's so disturbing to my OCD eyes, that I am not sure I can leave the photo up here, let alone have the socks around the house. Both will probably disappear rather quickly.

'Nuff said 'bout that!

We thought, just for a second, that we would have a nice, quiet day on Sunday. Not so! Not only did most of the kids show up, but we had visitors...and one surprise visitor:
My Grandson, JR! Listen? Hear a strange noise? It's probably JR growing. If the photo looks blurry, it's because he's springing upwards! Hard to believe he's 16! Time really does fly!

The sky was beautiful, even though we were being watched by our resident big bird. Not sure what it is, but once I found out it wasn't the stork looking for me, I relaxed!


Of course, we had the usual crowd on the dock...
We invited some friends of ours to come for the afternoon. They brought their daughter and her friend. I forgot how silly girls can be...they put their life jackets on upside down and floated around!

In addition to the guests, we had the regulars...

Like Andy...
And Kailyn...
And Mark...
Oh...and never let your husband play with sharp knives...we interrupted our day with a quick trip to urgent care for 4 stitches!

Later in the afternoon, we all walked down to the dock. Probably the first time I did without my camera and certainly the first time JR ever water skied, so when he jumped in the water like this:
Who would have thought he'd end up doing this:

???

Yes, that's JR skiing on his first try...ever! and there is his grandmother, with only a point and shoot camera with no zoom!

Oh, in case you're wondering if Kailyn went out on the knee board...
Duh??? She's getting pretty fancy, isn't she?

Yesterday morning, I woke up to temps in the high 50's. Just what I had been waiting for! I made a huge pot of potato soup. Certainly, the kids smelled it...and came for dinner.

After dinner, Andy, who never gets tired of playing, 'invented' his game of t-ball-golf-with a stone:And played until he finally knocked the stone off the stick:Every family has one...Andy is ours!

Oh, and since the freshly dug earth feels soooo good, Arnie, the best dog in the world, found a soft place to lay:
This morning is another gloriously cool and bright mornings...feels almost like autumn. I love the cooler weather. I got up early and have brownies baking. I'm going to take lunch down to share with Andy.

Sigh...I am blessed!

It's no secret that I have four kids. Anyone having more than one quickly realizes that each one is different...that each brings his particular brand of joy, pride, tears and fears...

For example...Andy, my middle son: If you see his shoes beside the kitchen door...you know that you will tell him 23490283 times that day to move his shoes. Yesterday started like this:

Andy, take care of your shoes...

About 10:30 AM, Andy shouted up the stairs that Dad wouldn't let him have bubbles...would I please tell Dad to let him have bubbles. Now Andy will soon be 22 and when he's in a good mood, he's a real pain. I tend to ignore him. This time, I did.

Half hour later, I walked out onto the patio, prepared to tell Andy to take care of his shoes. This is what I saw standing by the pond:

Look Ma, I have bubbles! (notice he has on different shoes, the red and white ones are beside the door) and no, fish don't live in that pond...it's really a huge dog water dish.

An hour later...

More bubbles.

Andy, take care of the bubbles...two hours later, Andy, take care of the bubbles...(I'm sure you don't want to see any more bubble pictures, do you?

I had the whole gang up here for dinner. It was soooo stinkin' hot that Catherine and Michael (my oldest son and his fiance') arrived separately. He came in his car, she came on her motorcycle.

Everyone brought something...Mark cooked on the grill. We set up the food on the island in the kitchen. Bill protected it for us. He made sure no stinkin' crumbs fell on the floor!

The boys had an inline hockey game on Sunday afternoon so we packed up and headed for the rink.

Tony, #97

Andy, #1

They lost, but we still had a good time, cheering for our favorite players. Afterwards, they were so hot and sweaty

But the girls had a surprise for them: SLIP-N-SLIDE!!!

That's Vicky going down first!

Tony went down next and crashed at the bottom.

Bill checked on him to make sure he was okay!Andy went next. Notice his socks? Yes, hand knit hockey socks...or so he says. Repeat after me: Andy don't walk around outdoors in your socks...

Again? Andy, don't walk around outdoors in your stocking feet!Never tell a young man with the hose what to do!Guess they got tired and decided to sit and watch the girls play. Kailyn and Morgan had a blast!

Isn't it amazing what you can do with hot, sweaty hair?