Lowe Blow

Saturday night was almost date night for Mr. K and me.

We went to Lowes to look at kitchen faucets.

I have been teasing for quite some time, our sprayer was unpredictable at best.

While we were looking, sales associates kept coming up and asking if we needed help.

We made our selection...

Found the box and off we went...

Except Mr. K forgot his Lowes card (which saves you 5%).

No problem, they say.  Just go to the front of the store and they will look up your number.

What they didn't tell him was he had to go back to the back of the store to complete the transaction and schedule installation (because I can't imagine Mr. K fitting under the kitchen sink).

The guy at the back of the store kept ringing up the installation at $50 more than the sign said!

Finally!  He thought he got it but we had to go to customer service to be sure.

All was well.  

We were then sent to a register to pay.

The man in front of us in line completed his transaction but the cashier said the computer froze and she sent us to yet another register...

Finally, we walked out the door with our faucet and the promise that the installer would contact us within 48 hours.

Time elapsed:  90 minutes.

To my delight, the installer called on Monday and asked if he could come that afternoon.

I had to take my mom (along with the kids) to the oncologist, but I was soooo excited.

I couldn't wait to go home to see my new faucet.

I called Mr. K from the road.

Apparently, the faucet was missing parts.  We had to take it back to Lowes.

I got home to find my sink with holes where my new faucet should have been.

Back to Lowes last night, while Mr. K returned the old, I ran limped to the back of the store, grabbed the replacement and met him at the front.

All we had to do was check out!

No live cashiers.  We were sent to self check out where we could not use the temporary credit card...

We finally found a cashier who couldn't figure out why our sales tax did not show up.

We explained that a permanent installation was not taxable.

Then she could not get the computer to deduct the tax she had added.

total time in store:  50 minutes.

Within minutes, Mr. K had rescheduled the installation for 9AM today.

The cleaning crew are due at 10.

Hope we have kitchen water by then.

Tune in!

The story of Izzy Boyant

When Andy was 14, he saved his money to buy a

15 foot sailboat.

Andy and his Dad spent months restoring it.

When they brought it home, it seemed to be a white boat

But buffing proved it was bright yellow!

They named it Izzy Boyant because they didn't know if it was floatable.

It was!

A few years later, Andy sold her because he wanted a much larger boat.

A few years after that, we saw it for sale in someone's front yard...

Then we lost track of it.

Last week, Andy sent me this...

Yes, Andy got in touch with the seller.  

And yes, it's Izzy!

They spent their honeymoon on her.

Glad to see she is still making memories!

No, we are not going to buy her back.

Two motor boats, 

4 kayaks

a pedal boat

and various floating things...

No room at the dock!

Happy Birthday, Locklan

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since 

I got that beautiful text...

And the latest growth spurt of our family began...

It was love at first sight...

It still is!

Our Family is Growing!

Yes!  

We added another family member last week...

Meet Lucille!

She's an adorable black lab pup,

added to Andy and Ashley's tribe...

I think she fits right in.

Andy said that every time Teagan sees her sleeping,

She gets a blanket and covers her!

Celebrations!

On Saturday, we celebrated Locklan's fifth birthday

a week early, so everyone could be here...

We ended up with 21 relatives,

6 kids 5 and under...

two guests over 80 and lots of noise and balloons!

He's five?

How can that be?

Andy sat on the floor with Locklan to open gifts...

Of course, Teagan had to help!

People wonder why Mr K and I live in such a big house...

Technically, we have five bedrooms, plus a bunch of other rooms...

THIS is why.  I love family get togethers!

I still can't believe Locklan will be 5!

Those Days...

Those days when your (soon to be 2 years old) granddaughter

sits in front of you,

looks you in the eye and 

utters just one word:

Bite.

Before I could defend myself...

She bit!

Oh my...

I Love Thursdays!

It's true!  Thursday is the highlight of my pathetic little life...

Why?

Is it because the kids don't come on Thursday?

No, not at all.

I love Thursday because it's garbage collection day.

I didn't always think it was a big deal,

But last year, the township signed a contract with a new trash collection company.

At the same time, every house in the township got 2 wheeled cans,

0ne for trash, one for recycling.

See?  Here's my trash can at the bottom of my drive.

Then I found out that they had these great collection trucks...

They are so long they have a hand time navigating our cul-de-sac!

They have this robotic arm that comes out and grabs our can and dumps it into the yellow container in the front of the truck.

Such fun to watch!

I know...pathetic!

Weather or Not?

Happy February in western PA!

Yesterday morning, Andy sent me this picture...

We had tons of snow!

I was loving it

An hour later, Mr. K went out and cleared the drive...

A few hours later, Mr. K commented that it was 50 degrees.

The snow was gone!

Later, Andy sent me this photo...

Ashley had to work this weekend so he took the kids out to camp!

The high at our house was 57 degrees,

three degrees away from putting the top down on the Beetle!

I used to joke that there are two seasons in my life,

Christmas and Boating!

Go figure!

Where's January?

I can't believe January is almost over...

I was just getting started!

I want to thank those who have reached out, asking if I was okay.

The truth is, 

I think so.

Changes, that's the theme around here.

Effective January 1, Mr. K (almost) retired at age 78.5,

after working more than 20 years in his current position

after more than 50 years in the water meter industry.

He did retire in stages:

When he worked full time, he worked 90 hours a week.

When his late wife got sick, he went part time,

that was 40 hours a week.

That's what he was doing when I met him.

Now he's a consultant.

To be honest, the only difference is that he gets a smaller paycheck 

and he comes out of his office at odd times for strange reasons.

He's often in the way, but occasionally I find him useful.

The other day, Teagan wanted to watch Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

I wanted to watch Ellen.

Mr. K offered to take her into his office to watch the TV in there.

It worked out...Kinda….

Isn't it adorable?

Speaking of adorableness...

We had art day at Grandma Jan's/

Teagan made scribbles...

Locklan made lollipops!

He put him in a jar and took them home and gave him to his mom!

Oh...

Speaking of Locklan, he slipped in the tub on Tuesday and clipped his chin.

Andy called about 8:30 and asked if I could take care of Teagan while they

took Locklan for stitches.

They told them he could either get 3 stitches or they could use glue.

He got the glue.

He's my Brave Tiger!

I'm Here! I'm Here!

Yes, I know...I've been such a slacker!

It's pretty bad when people text/email you 

to remind you that you need to blog.

I'm here!

Last week was business as usual...

Three days of kids and two days of trying to get things done.

My phone is being cantankerous, It's holding my photos hostage.

I did manage to snag one photo...

Teagan discovered the "Let's Go Fishin" game.

Her game is to take the game into Pappy K's office and saying, "Play."

 Oh, she's such a charmer.

When the week finally slowed down,

On Saturday we went to see Locklan riding the unicycle.  

He's getting closer and closer to becoming proficient!

Next we went to a boat show to check out a new dock for Camp Manfred...

I think we're going to invest in it.

After that excitement, Mr K and I got some dinner and headed for 

Butler Little Theater where we saw the play 

Lunch Hour by Jean Kerr

(of Please Don't Eat the Daisies fame)

When we went to check in, they could not find my name...

Finally, the theater manager did find it...

For FRIDAY night.  

Fortunately, she was able to exchange our tickets!

We really enjoyed ourselves and will do it again for sure.

.

Also, Saturday evening, Tony sent me two photos of Henry.

He learned how to open the gate at the bottom of the stairs...

AND learned how to open the kitchen cabinet and climb inside.

Last night, he sent a video of Henry taking his first steps!

I guess he decided he didn't want to be a baby anymore.

Today Locklan doesn''t have school so 

both he and Teagan will  be here all day.

It'll be fun.

Now I'm off to try to make peace with my phone!

Too Cute!

I'm really busy, but thought I'd share this photo of Henry.

I get such a kick out of Tony's captions...

Back in a day or two!

One Wheel Wonder(ful)

Our family, or at least Andy and Tony

are unicyclists!

Andy and Tony were muni cyclists

(mountain unicycles)

Tony on the left, Andy on the right, participating in a cross country race.

And now, we're adding another generation to the unicycle family...

Yes, it's Locklan!

Our town has a unicycle club.

Every Saturday they take over the gym at the YMCA

They welcome anyone who rides or wants to learn!

They have unicycles of all sizes to try.

Locklan was pretty pumped.

Me too!

The World According To Locklan

Every Monday and Wednesday

Andy takes Locklan to pre-school,

Drops Teagan off at my house and heads to work.

A few hours later, I load Teagan in the car

and go to fetch Locklan.

Teagan usually falls asleep before we get to the school

so Locklan and I have time to chat.

Occasionally, we'll take the long way home so she can sleep longer.

Occasionally, we'll detour through the drive-through window at McDonalds

for coffee for me and fries for him.

Yesterday, we did that.

Locklan is sitting in his car seat munching on his fries.

Suddenly he asked if there were mashed potatoes 

inside of French fries.

I explained that both were made from potatoes.

He then said he can't eat the fries because he hates mashed potatoes.

That was that!

We started talking about lunch.

I suggested macaroni and cheese.

He said he can't eat that.

He explained he could only eat the good kind that his mother makes in a pot,

not the bad kind I make in the microwave.

Go figure!

I bought this police station/fire house off of Facebook last week.

It's so cute!

The kids played with it all afternoon.

It folds up with all the furniture and vehicles inside.

AAAAAAnd before we knew it,

Andy came to get them.

Teagan gathered up her baby and purse

And I needed a nap!

Stop the World, I Want to Get Off!

Whew!  How long has it been?

Was I really MIA since December 20?  How could that be?

We did go to the party at Mark's nephew's house and had a good time...

Considering we had kids...lots of kids!

We had 7 kids with Locklan being the oldest of them...

Yes, 7 kids under 5 and one 8 year old.

I felt grouchy and couldn't wait to go home!

I had a schedule so that all my chores and Christmas duties could be completed 

at a pace that was not too demanding.

Saturday, I felt worn out but agreed to have my little buddy spend the night.

We blew up the air mattress and slept under the Christmas tree...

On Sunday, Andy came to reinforce the gate connection to keep Teagan and the dogs from running up the stairs.

Of course, Locklan helped...

Andy is so patient with him!

I was feeling like I had been dragged through the mud so I fell slightly behind on my schedule...

Monday, I woke to find Andy and the kids, the cleaning people and Ron all needing my attention.

I went back to bed and slept 16 hours!

On Christmas eve, I was up before the chickens

and managed to have everything done by time my 

family arrived at 5.

We had 14 people here for dinner.

The only person missing was my oldest grandson, who turned 27

that week.

It was amazing, and no, I don't have a plethora of photos.

I was too busy loving it.

More later, but before I go, here's a picture of Henry, who is quite a character...

Too cute, right?

I'm off to get ready for breakfast with friends!

Short and Sweet!

I can't believe that Christmas is almost here.

I've been busy, had to take mom to the oncologist

(where Teagan and Locklan entertained everyone in the waiting room).

Mom had been complaining about feeling drained and fuzzy headed.

She chalked it up to being 88.

Her doctor sent her to the hospital for a blood transfusion!

They gave her 2 units of blood and she says she feel like a new, 88 year old, woman!

I still can't get around very well, but it's so much better than if was 4 or 5 months ago.

I downsized my decorating...

Went from 5 trees to two, one inside, one outside...

The inside tree has been decorated, undecorated and redecorated several times...

I let the kids do it!

A couple of years ago, I bought a Tree Dazzler after Christmas for $5

and promptly forgot about it.

I found it this week and got it out for the kids...

They decided it was more fun to decorate themselves...

Kids!

We took the kids to the mall, just to walk by Santa.  

Locklan actually talked to him, from a distance.

Teagan just screamed!

I had some shopping to do, but to leave the mall, we had to walk past Santa.

He saw us and waved and said bye bye.

Teagan waved and said bye to him.

The next day, she pointed to a picture of Santa and said Santa!

I asked her what Santa said.

Her answer:  Bye bye!

I'm done shopping but have not begun to wrap...

I had one snafu...

I bought a gift for Ashley from Amazon...

I checked online and it said it had been delivered to my mailbox!

I sent Mr. K out to retrieve it.

It was not there!

Amazon's web site said to give it 48 hours...

I did, still no gift.

I called Amazon, talked to a robot who authorized a refund on my credit card.

I reordered it.

It came in two days

The original came two days after that, 

The envelope had been torn open, wrapped in packing tape

and held together with a rubber band!

Someone opened it (hopefully by mistake)

and decided I deserved it.

I think I have as many returns as I do gifts!

Tonight we're going to a party at Mark's nephew's house.

I feel so blessed that the family still includes me.

Now I have to find an ugly Christmas sweater!

Wow, guess this isn't all that short.

Hope it was sweet!