View from the room

Yesterday, Teagan and Locklan spent the day with us.

At some point, I excused myself and headed for the powder room.

Sitting on the throne, this is what I saw...

Which quickly became this...

And those memories, the ones when you never went to the bathroom alone...

came flooding back!

~sigh~

Seems like only yesterday!

The Perfect Gift

I am always searching for the perfect gift for my hubby...

The man who has everything.

In five years, I have gone high tech, low tech, personal and impersonal...

I rarely wow him...

He either has it, doesn't want it or won't use it.

Other than his work and television, he really has no interests.

He has a few 'assigned chores' to keep up...

Like breaking down the (Amazon) boxes for recycling and taking out the trash.

He does have one self appointed chore...

monitoring the toilet paper supply!

There are times I feel bad when I see him struggling up the stairs...

juggling five or six rolls of toilet paper!

He always makes sure the guest bathroom has multiple spares...

His bathroom too.

(I take care of my own bathroom)

The other day, I was in a restroom and they had this on the wall...

The perfect gift!

Now I'm not sure where to get one, or two...

I hope he isn't reading this...

I stole this

I don't encourage plagiarism, 

but I had to share a Facebook post by my son, Tony:

I took this photo of my Grandma and Henry and she asked if I was going to put it on Craigslist. She said that’s how people get murdered. 86 years difference between these two. They are more similar than one might think!

Summer, Don't Go!

Even though we're heading to my favorite season:

Winter and Christmas,

Days like this weekend made me realize summer is winding down

(after all, it is officially fall)...

And days like yesterday made me wish summer would last a few more months

(Like until December 24)

We headed for the river...

Teagan was first mate.  She loves to "drive" the boat!

Of course, we invited "Uncle" Cody to come along...

He can't get enough of his new jet ski!

This time, we took the floating mat.

We haven't had it out this year...

The kids loved it,

especially Teagan who was too small to play on it last year.

Andy took Locklan for a jet ski ride...

I don't think he was too happy when the ride came to an end...

Teagan got her very first jet ski ride...

Of course, Andy had to go out by himself.

Even though we all agree that the new boat was a great investment,

I think he misses those crazy jet ski days!

We had a blast!

When we got back to the dock, Andy took Ashley

 out for a jet ski ride

while Cody and I watched the kids.

No photos of that, I was too busy!

~sigh~

Now do you see why I don't want summer to end?

Angels Everywhere!

Last Friday, it was life as usual.

Andy dropped the kids off and headed off to work.

At lunch time, he came and had lunch with us and then cut the grass.

He used his zero turn to push the trampoline across the yard and left it there.

It keeps the grass under it from dying.

After lunch, I was getting ready to put Teagan for a nap,

Locklan went with Pappy K to run errands.

I posted this picture on Instagram:

I commented:  According to Marie Kondo, if it sparks joy, keep it.

 Rocking my granddaughter to sleep is a keeper!

A few minutes later, she woke up just as Mr. K and Locklan were coming in.

The kids headed out to play in the back yard and this is what they saw...

This huge branch had fallen from one of the trees, 

and smashed the trampoline!

Andy later estimated it fell 20 feet.

This is where the kids always play.

Tell me there aren't angels watching over them.

(We have emergency calls out to several local tree services to come and evaluate the rest of the trees)

Just be 'cuz!

Last week, my cousin, Leslie, and her husband, Peter drove up from Georgia for a short visit.

Leslie's mom was my dad's sister and she grew up with our houses almost back to back.

Of course, we girl cousins had to get together.

Of course, where girl cousins gather, there must be food!

We met at a local restaurant.

There were 8 of us including my mom.

There was much laughter...

Memories shared...

Hugs dispensed...

And most of all...

A renewed sense of family!

~sigh~

Cuzzin love!

Off to school...

Locklan's Montessori pre-school had grandparents visitation day

and I got to go!

He was thrilled and so proud!

I got to watch gym class...

and to explore the class room...

And Miss Mary took this photo of Locklan showing the picture he colored for me

(and me)!

Check out the mural on the wall.  They were incredible!

~~sigh~~

 I am having such fun being a grandma!

One Might Think

Oh, this is sooooo disappointing...

I've been gone so long, one might think I was off on an

amazing adventure...

Truth?  Not.  I've just been busy!

Doing what?

Well, for starters...

I found two wild animals in a cage in my back yard...

I get them two days a week.

We like to do all kinds of things, like painting rocks!

We started out with Teagan painting with water,

You know, less messy...

She caught on to us pretty quickly...

So I took her pretty shirt off and let her have at it!

Locklan loved it!

Also, last week, Locklan and I had a lunch date...

He claims this is his favorite restaurant because the food is good...

But we all know it's because he loves the cookies they give him with his meal...

Oh my goodness, look at the time!

I have to run.  I'm picking Locklan up at school and delivering him to his other grandma!

So much more to talk about.  

I'll be back!

Those Tiny Blips

Whew!  Lots going on last week,

I'm still trying to catch my breath!

Kids are on their way,

I'll be back later today to tell you all about it!

Slow Down!

Yesterday was Locklan's first day of school.

I rode along with Andy to pick him up...

He climbed in the car and started talking...

This is his second year at the Montessori school.

He's now one of the BIG KIDS.

when you are big, you get to sit on the floor.

He named all the kids he knew from last year,

including Charlotte (he said he would go wherever Charlotte went).

He sounded so grown up.

I'm not ready for this!

Like Father Like Son

As I was filing photos 

I came across this old one of Andy...

And suddenly I had this deja vu moment.  

Like father like son?

Rolling on the River!?!

Yesterday I left home for the river

Without my phone.

A whole day without a phone?

I'm still feeling weak and wobbly but I will recover!

The problem is that I had only my DSLR camera

so I didn't get many photos...

But we headed to the river to meet Andy and crew...

And "Uncle" Cody

It was an early Labor Day picnic

and Andy's 33rd birthday.

We ended up with 6 other people

(again, no photos but the are probably thankful)

We sat and talked, watched the kids play and finally we decided it was time for a

Boat Ride!

Of course I grabbed my camera bag!

"Uncle" Cody had a new toy to share...

A new jet ski!

We all have great memories of our jet ski days...

That's Cody, paddling our jet ski.  Not sure why!

All willing and portable dogs got to ride...

Locklan decided he could take pictures with my DSLR...

Yesterday I had to delete 200+ photos that he took.

He wanted to photograph the 'castles' along the river...

And the bridges!

Family tradition is to cover your head when you go under a bridge,

a thing my father did with us when we were kids.

Locklan decided he wanted to swim.  Andy stopped the boat and took Locklan 

to the back of the boat.

He dipped one toe in and decided it was too cold!

He's such a hoot!

As we cruised the river, Cody kept 'hot dogging' us...

We kept asking Locklan if he wanted to ride...

He kept saying no.

Finally, he said he'd ride but only if his dad drove 

and only if he went "very super slowly slow"

And so it goes...

Very slow didn't last for long!

We always spent so much time at the river...

This is our 11th year there.

We barely used it this year.  

The weather was horrible.  When it wasn't raining, the river was so high and filled with debris.

We had damage to the docks.

Family things going on...

It's hard to believe that summer is officially over.

Tomorrow, the neighborhood kids will be back in school.

Locklan will start his second year of preschool...

But...

In 113 days, it will be Christmas!

Yay!

Another Birthday!

This has to be quick but full of love...

Happy birthday, Andy!

I loved you before I met you...

And I love you more today!

Can't wait to celebrate with you!