FAMILY STUFF

 My husband Clark’s birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and our oldest daughter Holly gave him this mug—don’t you love it? She’s the “Mr. Fixit” in their family. She loves being outdoors and doing yard work, tinkering with the lawn mower, putting up curtain rods and decor, painting and repairing—you name it. She’s even been known to make rustic wooden furniture for their screened-in porch!

Her hubby Philip is more like me: an indoor person who has a problem with hot, humid weather. He’s a grill chef extraordinaire, though, turning out such delicacies as shrimp tortellini, chicken stir fry with rice and veggies. and smash burgers to die for. He’s also the busy, amazing pastor of our church!

We each have our strengths, right!

Our daughter Bethany lives in California with her hubby Kurt, so we don’t get to see them often. They might be out of sight, but definitely NOT out of mind! She’s a wonderful chef and stay-at-home mom to their kitty Winston, while Kurt works for Facebook. We love and miss them so much!

Our grands are growing way too fast! They brighten our lives and give us much joy, but there’s not enough space here to write of all their accomplishments and adventures:

Annika, Alexa, and Asher (with Bruno) on Clark’s birthday

And here’s granddawg Sunny trying to decifer what my husband was saying to her the other day. Don’t you love that  face?

Family is everything, whether with two feet or four paws! Happy Monday ♥️

HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY, GRANDDAUGHTER

Our middle grandchild Alexa is 14 years old today! It's really hard to believe, but then, I suppose all grandparents say that. On Saturday her parents had a huge bonfire birthday party for her at home with nearly 50 guests in attendance. They had a fire in the backyard fire pit, and guests roasted hot dogs on sticks (they tasted yummy, I might add). Guests picked up plates, sodas, buns, and condiments at a nearby table. After the hot dogs, they roasted marshmallows and made somemores!  Oh, how that reminds me of my Girl Scout days when we used to do that at camp.

The birthday cake, at Alexa's request, was a stacked tower of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The kids in attendance especially loved that! And Mama didn't mind at all, because birthday cake can get messy, and it's hard to choose a flavor that everyone likes. With a variety of doughnuts, guests chose what they liked!

Below are a few photos of the festivities:

The weather was perfect!

Hot dogs! Git yer hot dogs!

View from the back deck

Parents and kids alike enjoyed the fire pit

Getting ready to blow out her
birthday candles on her "cake"

Birthday girl opening her gifts

Family is everything, and we all had a blast! Happy birthday, sweet Alexa!

YES, IT IS ~ DEFINITELY!

Now that I'm retired, MONDAYS aren't nearly as difficult as they were when I worked full time. As a teacher, I had to face class after class of teens who had had too much fun on the weekend, so they had trouble staying awake and paying attention in class. That was just on Mondays.

On TUESDAYS, they were more awake, which posed a different set of problems. Some wanted to be class clowns, which was typically "unfunny" when I was trying to teach Shakespeare or sentence diagramming.

WEDNESDAYS, otherwise known as "hump day" (Ya know what day it is??) gave students renewed energy to make it to the weekend and all their (too many, I believe) activities that would take the wind out of their sails yet again.

Ah, THURSDAYS, a.k.a. the day before Friday! Students were usually back into the routine of the school week, even paying attention, albeit begrudgingly. They would actually deign to study for announced tests.

FRIDAYS was every student's favorite: we often had pep rallies near the end of the day to pump everyone up for the Friday night games, but these wreaked havoc on a teacher's carefully-laid lesson plans for that day. 

Was it really as bad as all that? Sometimes no, sometimes yes, often much more difficult. But such is the career of teaching. And I loved it. Sometimes I miss it, but I am very happy in retirement, spending lots of time with the grands and granddawgs. Life is good.

Moi with the lovable grands

Sweet granddawg Bruno

Feisty granddawg Sunny

Family . . . you gotta love 'em!

BIRTHDAY PAR-TAY!

Remember how much fun birthday parties were when we were children? We woke up on the morning of our birthdays with great anticipation, hardly able to contain our excitement about the fact that it was, in fact, our birthday party day!!  Now, of course, maybe I want to do away with birthdays altogether, lol. No . . . I'm thankful for my long life and all the blessings I have from the Lord, and the greatest on this earth is my family.

Last Saturday we a attended our grandson's 9th birthday party, and he had requested that his mom do a Marvel-themed party. Anyone who's cool knows that Marvel means Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, etc. So, our daughter Holly set to work to create the perfect cake for him. He's a sweetie, so I'll let these pictures do the talking:

Papa Clark, Asher the birthday boy, and moi,
a.k.a., Grandma

Asher and Grandma, BFFs!

As Dr. Strange on Halloween

Spending an afternoon with me recently

Papa Clark with all three grands at Christmas 2018

Mom, Asher, Dad

The Marvel-themed birthday cake!
Holly did a fantastic job!

Asher thinks so, too!

What is more important than going to a grandson's birthday? NOTHING. We enjoyed being there, and they played Pin the Shield on Captain America (like Pin the Tail on the Donkey in ancient times when I was a child), and since the weather was cooperating, played outside. They also watched Iron Man movie on TV.

Family . . .  they're the greatest!

P.S. Just so you won't miss seeing a dachshund today, here's Sunny and doggie sibling Bruno:

TWO BABIES!

Aren't these two babies the cutest pair you've ever seen?? Puppies and babies just seem to go together, don't they?

We moved, as you know, and our home is now looking pretty good. We had a tree service take down the huge tree out front too close to the house. That was really interesting, and it took them most of the day!

Our old van was having some major issues, so we traded it in for a newer model, because we like to transport the grands around. A smaller vehicle would be too cramped!  In fact, the three grands are staying with us until Thursday, as their parents are in Dallas for a conference until Thursday. So, we have them as well as the two granddawgs, Sunny and Bruno:

We're all chillaxin' today and having fun. How  'bout you?

Dachshunds (and boxers) . . . you gotta love 'em!

GRANDSON'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Clark and I recently attended our grandson's 8th birthday lunch at their new home in GA. Since the family has only been in their new town a couple of months, they had just a family birthday this time.

Asher requested a cookout at home in lieu of going to a restaurant, so Papa Clark was happy to oblige. Asher also wanted a Lego Ninjago themed party as well. If you have younger grandchildren, you know what that is. We had a fabulous time with our family! The only downside was that Kurt and Bethany couldn't be here from Arizona.

Holly (our daughter) always decorates the birthday kid's
bed with balloons after they go to sleep the night before
their birthday. Here's Asher's bed moments before Mom
awakened him ~ he's in there somewhere!

Granddawg Sunny "helping" Papa Clark
grill the burgers and hot dogs

Loading up the plates!

Lego Ninjago mask for the theme of
his birthday party

Holly made him a Lego Ninjago cake! That's
his dad Philip clowning around with him

Eight candles for the birthday boy ~ Mom
did a great job on his cake! (And it was
chocolate, so that's a plus)

Remote control car, one thing he wanted

Opening another gift

Money is always the right size and color

Clark and me with the grands

Grandchildren grow up way too fast, don't they?

HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!

I trust you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, just like we did. All the food was fabulous, and we kept our traditional Thanksgiving tradition: we ate too much!

The grands came Sunday before Thanksgiving and stayed with us until we went to their house yesterday. Here are some photos:

One day when we went to Cracker Barrel after shopping

At Holly's house

  

Delicious Thanksgiving meal

All was fine until both granddawgs tried
to get on my lap after lunch!

So, now it's time for the official Christmas season to begin!  We've decided this year, to simplify, to just give gift cards, then hit the Christmas sales after the holidays. 

See you soon!!

SNAP CHAT SISTERS

In the photo above, that's my granddaughter Alexa and my granddawg Sunny. Aren't they cute??

And below is a photo of my two granddawgs, Bruno the boxer and Sunny--they're good buddies, and good dawgs. 

Dachshunds (and family) . . . you gotta love 'em!

FALL FESTIVAL COSTUME WINNERS

Our daughter Holly and granddaughters Annika and Alexa entered our town's costume contest at the fall festival last Saturday. Guess what? Each won first place in their age categories!

Holly as Ursula from The Little Mermaid -
she made her costume herself!

Annika as Effie from The Hunger Games

Alexa as Cinderella from Cinderella

We had so much fun!

There was a dog costume contest as well, and as soon as photos are available, I will post some of them here. The crowd loved it, and the dogs really outdid themselves this year with 18 entries!