Oh my!

I got these photos from Andy and Ashley the other day...

 

They were at the tree farm...

 

The same Christmas Tree farm Mark and I always took the boys to when they were young!

 

 

 

 

Other than the fact that Andy used a chain saw,

it was so much the same!

 

 

 

When I saw this photo of the tree on the back of Ashley's jeep I did say oh-oh...

 

 

But Andy's spatial perception has always been good...

(not like his mother who once got a school bus stuck on a

 bridge that was at the bottom of a steep hill )

 

So I was shocked when he sent me this photo...

 

and told me that this was taken AFTER he cut 12" off!

 

 

Oh well!?!

'Tis the season!

 

Getting there!  Locklan is getting excited and so am I!

 

Baby Mango?

Ashley recently posted this on Facebook:

 

 

Amazing to think that in 19 or so weeks, this mango-sized bundle of joy

will become a full size pooping machine!

 

I remember when I was expecting Andy...

The first time I checked the book said:

 

Your baby is the size of a lima bean and has lips.

 

From that moment until we met him face to face

we referred to him as Beanie!

 

~giggle~

 

I'm getting so excited!

 

It figures!

I'm up and at it early...

 

It's still (as Locklan says) darking  outside...

 

It's Monday, the wedding is Friday...

 

And I am sick!

 

I have a wicked sore throat, runny nose, everything hurts...

 

Oh well, it's not about me, it's about Tony and Mindy.

 

While Mindy, her mother and aunt were out doing girly pampering things (like massages and pedicures)  yesterday,

 

Tony came to do guy things (like watch football and talk sports stats) with Ron...

 

Tony was sick!

 

Go figure!

 

On a brighter note...

 

This...

 

is what's trying to lure me back into bed this morning!

 

Mom and dad worked the earliest shit this morning, so he came to spend the night!

 

After his bath, when he was all warm and cuddly,

we jumped into grandma's bed to get under the "awesome" blanket and read.

 

That was at 9.  When I woke again at 3AM, I decided to break all rules

 and just cuddle for the rest of the night!

 

~sigh~

 

Life is good!

 

 

 

Leaf Me Alone!

We don't have a tree in our backyard...

 

The neighbors around us have many.

 

Our back yard is fenced in...

 

Can you say Leaf Collection Site?

 

Seriously...it's all good...

 

The leaves collect in the back yard and on our patio

but having a son in the lawn care business makes it all okay!

 

The other day, Andy and his sidekick, Locklan came over to do the second leaf-sweep of the season...

 

 

Andy did the grunt work and Locklan supervised

and handled the heavy equipment!

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't he a hoot?!?

 

Andy would get a shovel full of leaves and Locklan would blow them off.

 

 

Andy's back pack leaf blower is much too heavy for Locklan to move...

 

 

It didn't seem to bother him!

Andy is so patient.

 

And...

 

Last week, Andy, Ashley, Locklan,

Mr K, Tony and Mindy went out to dinner

and on to watch my nephew, Tyler's hockey game.

 

Remember this historic game from a few years ago?

Miracle on Ice!

 

Tony has retired, but Tyler is still playing!

 

Locklan enjoyed working the crowd more than the enjoyed the hockey game...

 

 

But we had a great time!

 

Now for the 'no photo' section...

 

Last night Andy, Tony, Mindy, Locklan, Mr K and I headed down to my mom's for a pizza

party.  There we met Michael and Catherine and my cousin Mark and his wife Anne who were in from Chicago.

 

I love getting together with my family!

 

Now, it's time to get dressed for church.

 

God is good, ALL of the time!

 

 

 

 

 

This is how it's done...

Occasionally, when they are easy on time,

Andy and Locklan will stop on their way to my house in the morning...

 

For Donuts, of course...

 

The donut of choice is one with sprinkles...

 

 

I did not take this photo.  Photo credit goes to

https://www.howsweeteats.com/2015/06/strawberry-buttermilk-sprinkle-donuts/

 

Locklan LOVES sprinkles...

 

This is how donuts with sprinkles should be eaten...

 

 

Photo credit goes to https://www.redsockmama.com

 

Yes, I took this photo, just after Locklan said they are done!

 
Gotta love him!

 

He's such a blessing in my life!

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

From my house to yours...

 

Prayers for a peaceful day...

 

Spent with good things, be it food, people, good thoughts or all of these.

 

See you on the other side of  the holiday!

 

Love,

Jan and the Redsockmama gang!

The countdown begins...

One day last week, I spent the afternoon going through photos...

 

Of this guy...

 

 

You know him...

 

 

Yes, it's Tony!

 

Mindy asked me to dig out his photo box

(I was a photographer, not a scrapbooker.

We had a million photos, just no organization)

 

What fun to take that trip down memory lane!

 

The countdown to the wedding (I think it's ten days now) starts NOW!

 

 

 

 

Go! Go! Go!

A while back...so long ago that I can't remember just when,

Mr K was out of town on business. 

Since I like hanging out with my family,

I talked (some of) them to hit the local Go-Cart track.

 

 

Andy and Locklan (and sometimes Andy and Tony) have been

zipping around in their Go-Cart, so it might have not been such a big deal for Locklan...

 

 

 

 

 

But it was for Grandma!

 

 

Of course, Uncle Tony and Aunt Mindy were thrilled to hang out with him too...

 

 

 

 

 

Ashley wasn't feeling up to driving in circles, so we let her act as our photographer

while we hit the bumper boats...

 

 

 

 

 

And then we all got together and watched the other families enjoy themselves.

 

 

 

~sigh~

 

It's all good!

This might take a while...

I tried and tried to get Locklan to get dressed...

 

He was more interested in reading to pappy...

 

Finally, we struck a deal...

 

If he got dressed, we could go down in the basement so he could ride his bike.

 

Since he loves his bike, I thought it would be an easy deal...

 

We put on his shirt and I went to button it...

 

He said those magic words,

"I can do it myself!"

 

Ten minutes later...

 

 

He was so proud!

 

 

Grandma promised...

 

 

 

~sigh~

 

I love that kid!

 

 

 

It runs in the family?

Remember a few posts back when I shared this photo...

 

I said, "I forgot what it was like to have a boy or better yet, a boy who climbs."

 

Mindy asked me to get out Tony's photos so she could display some of them at the wedding reception.

 

I found this...

 

 

Yes, that's Tony.  Yes, that is our fridge.  Yes, there is a belt around it.

 

We had to belt the fridge to keep Tony from opening it and feeding all the food inside to the dogs...

 

It worked! 

 

BUT it enabled him to climb up the fridge.  That's where I kept the really good stuff...

 

I wonder why I started to go gray so early...

Dumb Stuff

Did you ever spend time on Facebook and all of a sudden and ad pops up...

And you think...

Wow, that'd be cool.

That's how I come to be the proud owner of...

 

A PANCAKE MOLD RING!

 

according to Amazon.com:

It makes the perfect pancakes...eggs...hash browns...brownies...

in non-stick silicone maker tool.

 

Since Mindy loves to come over and make us breakfast...

 

 

Like she did for Mr. K while I was in New York!

 

I thought this would be perfect...not to mention, they came in a set of two...

One for me, one for Mindy!

 

I always like to stay ahead of the rest of the world...

 

A trend setter, you might say...

 

So, when it was so new that there were no ratings,

I thought I'd be the first on my block...

 

All I can say is that I hope I'm the last on my block...

 

Not at all comfortable with the thought that any of my neighbors

are dumb enough to purchase this...

 

I hate the thought that I might be surrounded by idiots!

 

Off it went to a thrift shop...

 

If you see it there...

 

Step back from the pancake mold!

 

                                                                                                                     

Mom

Locklan and I try to visit my mom every week.

 

It's about an hour drive, we sing the whole way there!

 

On the way home,  I sing and he...

 

Usually snoozes.

 

A few weeks ago (when my mom was only 85)

 

Locklan and I went for our usual visit. 

 

Tuesday with Toots (our family nick-name for my mom).

 

 

I don't know who likes to play with Play-Doh more,

Mom or Locklan...

 

 

They had a blast!

 

 

After turning Locklan over to his parents,

Mr. K and I went out to eat.

 

I didn't even start my meal when I got a call from my mom's neighbor.

 

They had rushed my mother to the hospital in severe pain.

 

I went flying to the hospital, which is more than an hour away,

 

To find that they thought Mom had a bowel obstruction.

 

They put in a NG tube and admitted her to intensive care.

 

The next day, they said she needed surgery but she also has

 

a bone marrow issue and they were hesitant.

 

They wavered back and forth and finally, on Friday, they got the approval of her oncologist

 and scheduled surgery.

 

Turns out she had four hernias!

 

A little more than 4 hours later, they had repaired three. 

 

Long story short,

 

After 11 days in the hospital (even her 86th birthday), most of them in ICU...

 

They transferred her to a rehab center

 

(The same one she stayed in when she fell off the ladder and broke a bunch of bones

just not her hip...and that was 10 years ago, when she was only 75.)

 

for two more weeks.

 

She's home now, doing well,

 

She kept us hopping for a while.

 

Now, hopefully, we'll be able to take a quick breather before the wedding frenzy starts...

 

Don't ask me what I'm wearing for that...

 

~sigh~

 

Never a dull moment!

 

 

 

Should I?

While compiling the photos for this blog post...

 

I realized it's about time spent with Locklan again...

 

But I DO spend as much time as his parents will give me...

 

From overnights, to afternoons...

 

From Tuesdays, holidays and just plain rainy days...

 

Every time I relinquish him to his parents, I tell them that this was the best day ever.

 

Andy called me on it once...

 

He said I ALWAYS say that...

 

But it always is! 

 

He changes every day, learns new things...

 

Oh and the imagination, the new words

 

Like Heptocopter (helicopter)...

 

 

 

He's such a tease...

 

 

But I'll admit, I love pajama time!

 

First he reads me a story...

 

 

 

 

Oh, I pointed out that the book was upside down

He looked down and said,

"Looks fine to me!"

 

 

Then I read to him...

 

 

And then...

 

 

The next day was really fun...

 

Uncle Tony stopped by on his way to the office...

 

 

Locklan loves to feed us plastic food and I don't know why the helmet...

 

After Uncle Tony left, we got out the Play-Doh!

 

 

 

We had to stay in our jammies because the frog...

 

 

The one with a squeaky voice and who lives on my top step...

 

 

Said we could not go upstairs and get dressed!

 

Now do you see why I keep going on and on and on about him?

 

So here's the question:

 

Should I change the name to Red Sock Grandma?