Don't!

You should never leave containers filled with bird seed on your patio overnight...

Look what I can do!

Locklan is now 14 months old, getting bigger, faster, smarter and more fun by the day. 

He jabbers constantly. Last week he began saying, "Hi, Shirley!"

He' been reaching for the door knobs for a while but wasn't quite tall enough-until this morning when he figured this out: 

Time for a mani-pedi!

On Monday, I lead Winnie, Tony's basset hound, into my car...

 

 

I lied to her.  I told her we were going on a great adventure!

 

Truth is, we were on our way to Beth's Pooch Parlor to get her nails trimmed.

 

Winnie HATES to have that done...

 

I felt so guilty, after we left Beth's

(no photos of that...Winnie was not the most gracious client)

 

We  headed right for...

 

 

Cheeseburger land!

 

 

She wolfed down her burger but did graciously allow me

 to remove the pickles before I gave it to her...

 

Was I forgiven?

 

No!

 

But when her Daddy came later, she allowed him to comfort her...

 

 



I know it's been too long...

But as you can see...

 

 

We're busy!

 

Catch up with you soon, I promise!

Being a Baby is Hard Work

One day this week, Locklan came to spend the day with Granny Jan while Mom and Dad were at work.  As usual, he was adorable, but I realized just how hard he worked...

 

As soon as he came (at 6 AM), he thought he'd like to go upstairs and catch just a few more zzzzz's.

 

 

We went into Grandma's room to make her bed..

.He thought he was so cute that he took a selfie...

 

 

Then Granny took the phone and took a better shot of all his awesomeness...

 

 

After breakfast, He shared his toys with Shirley...

 

 

 

 

Even Shirley seems to think he's adorable!

 

 

Next, Pappy Ron sat on the floor with him.  Locklan loved it! 

 

Seems that Pappy Ron makes a great climbing wall.

 

 

Yes!  He pulls himself up on things now!

 

 

Pappy's great for hugging, too!

 

 

And then it was time for yet another selfie...

 

 

 

Who can resist all that cuteness?

 

He noticed Pappy Ron going out the French doors,

so he investigated...

 

 

So THAT's what they do out there!

 

 

At the end of the day, I'm tired...

I thought that being old was a lot of work...

But when I see how much work it is to be a baby...

 

Andy sent me this photo of Locklan after his bath...

 

 

Apparently cuteness comes naturally for some of us...

 

 

 

 

 

It's a family thing?

My dad had eight sisters.  Eight!  Can you imagine?

 

He also had three brothers which gave me 22 aunts and uncles,

about a gazillion cousins and when you start removing and seconding cousins,

about a mega million of them...

(I can never remember how the pecking order goes, with once removed, twice removed and seconds)

 

Sadly, my dad and all but three aunts and an uncle are gone,

One of my aunts lives in Maryland...

I don't get to see her very often, but last Saturday,

 Aunt Helen, her son and daughter-in-law, went on a road trip and came to town!

 

As many as could make it,

 (which was 6 cousins, 3 spouses, three cousin's kids and two cousin's kids-kids

 plus two aunts, my mom and a guest) got together at a local restaurant.

 

Oh my...the laughter, the food talk, the catching up and of course, the hugging that went on...

 

I love this picture of my two aunts and me...

 

 

And then we got Mom into the act...

(Look at my mom...she'll be 84 next week!)

 

 

 

Aren't we a classy bunch?

See Tony on the left?

 

And the same bunch from the other end...

 

 

We're in the regenerating mode...

we don't have many little kids these days,

but my cousin, Anthony, and I just had new grandsons this past year...

 

Right now, we don't need a kids' table, but we still have one...

 

 

My cousin's daughter and son, and two grandsons...

 

I love it when we all get together! 

 

Families are the best!

 

 

 

 

 

On the ground floor...

Here we are in Myrtle Beach...Sitting in the lobby of our hotel, looking up at the elevator shaft. Our rooms are on the 15th floor… Thankfully, even with the hurricane, water doesn't get that high!

Hammocks, Chicken Wings and a kid...

Last Christmas, we bought Ashley a family sized hammock for those lazy days at the river...

 

She's had a chance to enjoy it, but a few weeks ago, while Ashley was at work, Mr.K, Tony, Andy, Locklan and I headed to the river to enjoy the sunny Sunday afternoon...

 

First Tony took a snooze...

 

 

And then Andy and Locklan tried it out...

 

 

 

 

We went out to eat and Tony brought home his leftover chicken wings to enjoy later...

 

 

 

 

Is there anything better than a hammock on a summer day???

 

How about a hammock and a nephew?

 

 

 

Even though I love autumn, adore snow and can't wait until Christmas...

 

I am going to miss our summer days on the river!

 

 

 

 

 

Calm before the storm

Yeppers, it's really October!

 

I've been busy...

I'll see you soon!

 

 

More October!

October!

Hanging out with Grandma Jan...

Yesterday morning, Ashley sent me this photo via text message...

 

Locklan was having breakfast...

He had a big day planned,

he was coming to spend time with Granny Jan!

 

We couldn't decide what to do first...

So we went and hung out on the hammock...

 

 

One of our favorite places!

 

We stayed quite a while...

 

 

And then he got that funny look on his face...

 

 

Poop time!

 

Next we visited with Shirley...

 

 

Who has much more patience with Locklan than she does with me...

 

 

But you know how tiring it is when you have fun...

 

 

He's amazing, isn't he?

 

We were blessed!

 

 

 

 

Do I have a claim?

I bought this mug...

 

as a joke.

My son is a Nationwide agent and I thought it would be funny to serve him coffee in this.

 

I ended up using it for myself.  I liked the size and shape of the mug.

 

~yes, I am picky about coffee mugs~

 

The other day, I made my coffee and came upstairs to work on my computer

when I saw a few drops of coffee on the coaster...

 

I investigated...this is what I found...

 

 

Look!

 

 

I immediately called my son to file a claim.

 

He agreed.  We have $1,000 deductible.

 

I paid 39¢ for the mug...

49¢ for the coaster...

 

You do the math...

 

Oh well...I tried!

 

 

 

 

 

 

No excuses!

I'm retired, I have no kids at home and this week, I don't even have a husband at home...

 

You would think I'd have time to blog every day, wouldn't you?

 

I just don't understand it!

 

I want to tell you about the great times we had at the river last week, and I will, but lots of other things are going on as well...

 

Let me share...

 

Shirley keeps us hopping!  She is into everything and anything.  She insists on chasing the broom, so when I go to sweep (which is often since I have two shedding dogs here), I either put her in her crate, or let her annoy Winnie...

 

 

Every time she goes upstairs, she makes a bee line for Mr.K's bathroom.  She thinks he hangs a roll of toilet paper there for her amusement.

 

He doesn't feel the same way, so we try to keep her down stairs with gates, barriers...all kinds of things.  Still, this...

 

 

Is not unusual.  How does she get through?

 

For more excitement, Mr,K's grandson, Nick, got this...

 

 

His driver's license!

 

I renewed my relationship with my hammock...

 

 

it's such a wonderful place to  read (kindle?) before bed...those warm summer nights are the best!

 

Mr.K's grand daughter, Larissa, decided to try it too...

 

 

but she had company!

 

Tony finally got Mr.K out on the driving range...

 

 

They were both pleased with his progress!

 

 

I got to babysit this little guy...

 

 

Doesn't he look our of sorts?

 

He wasn't feeling well at all...

 

Shirley decided she could make him feel all better...

 

 

She gave him a kiss...

 

 

And they both snuggled in for a little cuddle...

 

 

Mr.K and I were able to take his grandson, Johnny, out for a birthday dinner...

 

 

Because some people can be poop heads, we have not seen him in two years! 

 

Mr. K was thrilled!

 

I decided I needed a Christmas quilt

(in reality, my collection of Christmas fabric was taking over my sewing room...

 

 

It's still a work in progress...subject to change?

 

And to top things off,

 

Tony's phone has a mind of it's own...

 

 

 

And that's why I don't have time to update my blog...

 

 

But when I do...

 

I'll tell you about this...

 

and this...

 

 

and this...

 

 

and even this...

 

 

And more!

 

See ya soon?