Reinventing Dorsey

What is it?

2012-02-08T07:46:00.000-05:00

I added a voting poll to my side bar for anyone

who would like to try to guess the sex of my

eigth grandchild.

What do you think it will be?

I've already voted--

boy

Winter in Color

2012-02-01T21:28:00.000-05:00

Daniela was the only color in this cold winter day.

She was teasing me about eating the dried up flowers.

She loves to eat snow and began collecting
it from this little pine tree.

I got her to sit for two quick shots on this log pile.
Then she was off and running again.

Last Saturday it was snowing in our back yard and today it's gone again.

A winter Photo Shoot

2012-01-31T07:17:00.000-05:00

My camera hasn't been out of the bag in a couple weeks,

so I decided a winter photo shoot was in order.

So out we went into the winter wonderland.....

Daniela had a ton of fun playing Frisbee with Danan

and chasing her around the yard.

And Danan was having the time of her life.

I will post some of the ones I took it color ....

After I upload them to Kodak, turn them, save them and

upload them here, and finally

tear my hair out because I have to go through this

crazy process. UGH!

Got the book! But not.............

2012-01-26T20:29:00.000-05:00

Got the book, Juggling Twins, but now it doesn't look

like I will be needing it anytime soon.

I was suppose to hear by last Friday regarding becoming

a Nanny for a set of newborn girl/boy twins.

Friday came and went, but no call or email, so

I decided to just wait a while longer, but then I had another

offer so I called the Mom of the twins.

They had decided to let their grandparents watch them

their first six months. The babies were preemies

and still require a considerable amount of care.

She told me of all the applicants that applied that

they liked me the best and she'll keep my information, so she

can contact me in six months to see if I'm still looking for a change.

To say I'm bummed is an understatement.

I'm going to keep my eye out looking for that dream job,

but in the meantime I'm still a Mother's Helper.

Adding in some Ghosts

2012-01-20T16:13:00.000-05:00

I shot this photo while on vacation and did

some editing on picnik.com

I added in some ghosts...

used texturing ...

and some other tools.

Does anyone know where this was taken?

It's by far the most bizarre thing I've done with

any of my photos.

My lack of posting is due to illness in the family.

First it was Daniela, then Gam-paw and then me.

Feeling much better today and I made

homemade chicken & veggie soup. Yum!

Our Gifts

2012-01-13T08:35:00.000-05:00

This year I bought my hubby a good sized cute nutcracker for Christmas.

It's the Chubby Mouse King from the Nutcracker Ballet, it's

a Steinbach nutcracker made in Germany.

He has mostly Christian Ulbrecht's and Steinbachs in his collection.

Isn't he just adorable?

Under that very strategically placed snowflake is a price tag.

We have no secrets from each other regarding the cost of our gifts,

I know exactly what he paid for mine too.

I've been wanting a Kindle Touch, mostly for the convenience

of not having to pack four heavy books for a weeks vacation.

Ashley bought me a cover and then I also later bought

the E-Luminator E-Reader Booklight when it was on sale.

Now I'm all set to read while traveling, even in a dark car.

I'm currently reading the Weird Sisters on my Kindle.

Pulled it!

2012-01-12T09:11:00.000-05:00

Darn it!

Pulled my neck muscle and it hurts bad.

And Yoga is suppose to be so good for you.

I probably was not quite ready for this advanced position.

Seriously, I believe I pulled it while I was on the computer with Daniela.

So lame, I know.

Daniela is a computer screen hog....

and I was craning my neck to see around her.

Lesson learned.

Now I'm off to take some Motrin and a hot shower.

I have a job interview today for a set of newborn twins, if

the pay is right I'll be leaving my present position of a

Mother's Helper for five under five years old.

Not Another Book, I hope!

2012-01-09T19:51:00.000-05:00

"Not another book, I hope" was Michael's statement when

it came time to open my suitcase and pass out gifts.

My daughter, referred to it in her post here.

I was hoping he would change his mind when

he saw what came with the instruction book....

eighty Wikki Stix!

He did. He created a few things out of the
instruction book and shared some of the
stixs with Ava and I.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture
of his cool drink glass or his burger.

Don't we look fabulous in our Wikki Glasses!

Our first encounter with Wikki Stix was at this Mexican
Restaurant on a previous trip to Maine.

If you'd like to try some out for yourself
look for them on the web. I found some here.
Wikki Stix are fun!

Will I ever learn?

2012-01-07T09:13:00.000-05:00

Will I ever learn?

Saying "Cheese" to a child will often end with a photo like this.

And although doing the raspberries works well to

get the attention of an infant....

it doesn't work so great for toddlers!

And did you know that sometimes it takes two

parents and a dog to put shoes on a one year old?

Here's a quick picture I took of

Audra Jane & Rowyn Gracie Jane

in their flannel shirts.

And yes, she was allowed to play with this nativity

that's why I put it at kid level on this shelf.

Baby Jesus and the lamb were the favorite figures to

be played with.

And everything is still up at my house.

I will have more than one day off finally next week, so

then if will all be put back in the attic except for my snow babies

which I enjoy a bit longer.

Double the FUN!

2012-01-04T20:44:00.001-05:00

The fun began first thing in the morning.

Two little girls, two bowls of cereal

and Gramie joined them with oatmeal.

YaYa (Baby talk for LaLa) shared oatmeal with Rowyn.

MiMi (Short for Gramie) shared oatmeal with Daniela.

Gramie LaLa made more oatmeal for herself.

It was double the fun, double the oatmeal.

Daniela doesn't often have someone else on her turf,

but she did a great job sharing all her toys; even

her new kitchen set, which cousin Rowyn loved.

She even shared her Princess Potty.

This picture is just way beyond cute....

Daniela is still talking about Rowyn this and Rowyn that

and when we were looking at pictures from their visit

she yelled out

there's "Unca Wrick!" It was beyond cute!

They are growing up fast and I treasure the times I get

to spend with each of them, but when I have more of them together

it is double the fun.

More to Celebrate!!!

2012-01-02T08:03:00.000-05:00

An announcement was made after leaving our house

via a text message picture.....

of another positive pregnancy test.

Baby Roberts #2 is on the way.

It looks like Rowyn will have a sibling around the time

she turns two years old.

And if Audra follows suit like her two older sisters, she will have a

girl first and a boy second.

I had such a great time with Rowyn

she is 15 months old now and learning new

things every day.

We were playing a shape game and she found a piece that didn't belong

to that set and went and found the correct shape game and put in the spot it

belonged. Holy Cow! I was amazed she was able to figure that out on her own

and carry through the actions to get it to the right place.

Pray for a safe journey home for the Roberts family

and a easy, healthy pregnancy for Audra.

Belated Happy New Year 2012!

Two Girls/One Location

2011-12-30T07:58:00.000-05:00

Two girls in the same location.............is something to celebrate.

I asked for the day off so I can make a Turkey dinner with all the fixins.

Yes, there will be dressing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole the whole enchilada.

Okay, so it won't look exactly like that, but I do promise not
to put any pots or pans on the table.

I hope to get pictures of the two little cousins today.

We picked Ashley & Daniela up at the airport last night,

but by the time we arrived at the house lil cousin, Rowyn was in bed sleeping.
Not just any bed, but Daniela's crib.
Grandpa put Audra's toddler bed up for Daniela to use.
He get extra points for that!!!!!
Gary's Dad made the toddler bed for Audra was she was little.
I remember when Michael used it when he came for a visit.
I'm happy to see another grandchild sleeping in the family heirloom.
I'm sure Grandpa in heaven is too.

Christmas Eve Photos

2011-12-26T21:50:00.000-05:00

Rowyn looked "Oh so precious" in her party

dress for Christmas Eve.

She loves the tree and touches the ornaments gently,

but doesn't try to remove them.

We dined on appetizers, pizza & Gus's Greek Salad & Bread sticks.

Also their were way to many deserts and goodies.

Then we exchanged ornaments.... open & steal style,

which was something new this year.

Man of the Hour

2011-12-23T08:28:00.000-05:00

Henry Owen taking after his brother

he loves cars & trucks.

Just look at those pudgy hands.

Henry rounds the family out perfectly

he's the icing on the cake.

Everyone adores him.

Michael & Ava's New Rooms

2011-12-21T14:18:00.001-05:00

Busy doesn't even begin to describe my life lately. I've only managed to post about my trip to Maine once or maybe it was twice... Anyway, I've been back for a week and two days now and I'm going to put a few pictures up today. Sorry for the lack of verbage ( I believe that means words) to go with the pictures. I have the cutest grandkids ever. I will keep posting the pictures I took in Maine even if it takes me the rest of 2011 and some of 2012. So hang tight... I'm trying to get them up as fast as I can.

His closed mouth smile due to a missing tooth.

Michael and a couple favorite autos.

My favorite picture of Michael - So grown up looking for eight years old.

Ava in her room

It's painted a sort of cranberry color

Lunch at Martes International Catering & Gourmet Cafe

2011-12-17T16:27:00.002-05:00

Amanda took me to this amazing eatery in down town Bangor, Maine.

Their salads were so amazing I didn't even look at the soups or sandwiches

or anything else on the menu. It was a salad lovers paradise.

I ordered a Chicken Twist Salad, which was utterly yummy.

Grilled fresh lime chicken, on a bed of romaine topped with roasted onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, mandarin oranges and spicy creamy chipotle dressing on the side

Amanda had a Chilled Poached Salmon Salad with Blood Orange Dressing,

which was out of this world.

- Mixed greens with mandarin oranges, cucumbers, Greek olives, feta cheese, red onions, pepitas (mini roasted pumpkin seeds) and chilled poached salmon fillet

Want to look at the rest of their menu, just click on the link below.

Montes Menu

Thanks, Amanda it was a great lunch and Henry was totally

entertaining not only us, but half the other customers as well.

Hit the ground running

2011-12-14T07:33:00.000-05:00

The trip home was llllooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnggg, got out

of bed in Maine at 4:00 a.m and walked in my door at home at 8:00 p.m.

After sitting in a plane with computer issues in NY the passengers

all had to disembark and reschedule their flights. Ugh!

However, once I made it home seeing Daniela rejuvenated me.

No being shy this time, she was immediately in my arms hugging

and kissing me.

An hour later we were opening Christmas gifts, so Daniela

could enjoy hers for a short time before leaving Mexico.

She was very excited about going on the plane ride and

seeing her PaPa. The last time they were in Mexico was Easter.

I have managed to download my pictures from my trip to

Maine and will put up a proper post tomorrow.

Here's a sneak peak of my grandkiddos in Maine.

See how they've grown.

Michael playing with his bus and NYPD cars
Mama brought him from her trip.

Ava putting together some fairy tale puzzles.

Lil Henry cruising around, 14 months & good as gold for Gramie.

Hey from Maine

2011-12-09T10:09:00.000-05:00

Tid bits

Long trip to the airport....traffic

three attempts to get to right gate....red face ( more ways than one )

bus ride in New York to another part of the airport

beautiful hanging art & a dinosaur skeleton - pictures I did not have time to take

Amanda & kids waited an extra 15 minutes at the airport

tour of the new house...awesome

Lunch with Amanda & Henry, memorable & delicious

(I do have pictures of our salads)

Christmas shopping (just a bit)

Gifts of Bendables & sticker girls book both well-loved

Soccer game the girls against the boys on the new wood floor

little mini soccer dude darn good--he knows what he's doing

Snow storm beautiful, but we can't get down the driveway

because the trees bent in and crisscrossed the road.

Fun sled ride for Henry in the afternoon to get the kids off the bus.

I haven't taken many pictures, but will try to make up for it today.

Amanda back from New York tonight.

Busy making memories.

New Job

2011-12-02T07:52:00.000-05:00

I love my new job!

I've been employed as a Mother's helper for a week now

and received the nicest compliments from the family.

"They are so glad they found me."

"They love the way the kids have warmed up to me."

"They think we are a perfect match."

The job entails helping the mom with 5 children

ages are four and under. There are 2 boys & 3 girls.

The baby is a little doll and very easy going.

I spoon fed Baby B her first taste of real food yesterday.

The 18 month old took the longest to warm up to me.

Big Girl B - (yes the three youngest all have names that start with B)

is 6 months older than Daniela and very tall for her age.

She is going to start potty training after the first of the year.

The boys R & D are fun and cute, I really enjoy pretend

play with them as they have wild imaginations.

The family is very private and I know they would not want me to show

pictures or too many details.

I am enjoying going to work every day, but that means less time

on the computer for me, so if my posts are a bit more

spread out you'll know why......

I'm busy changing diapers, feeding the baby a bottle,

teaching shapes and colors, reading books, playing peek-s-boo

doling out snacks and wiping chubby fingers and chubby cheeks.

And the best thing about this job is that I can take a week off whenever

my girls need me to come help out, or I just want to go visit them.

I'm not getting rich, but I'm happy!

Our Turkey Day

2011-11-29T08:16:00.000-05:00

Our Thanksgiving Celebration was on Saturday this year.

It worked out great for us, because we were able to do

birthday activities with Daniela on her real birthday, which

was Thanksgiving Day this year.

The Fedon Clan from Ohio & Virginia (Elaine & Ryan)

Steve, Rose & Bugsy who invited us all to their house.

Rose is an excellent cook. She put cherries in the turkey

dressing and usually I don't like raisins or anything in mine,

but it was really delicious.

Patty & Mike.

For Christmas this year it will be just Gary and I

plus his siblings and Audra & Rick will

be the only adult children that are able to make it and

Rowyn will be the only child.

Christmas Eve will be at our house with an ornament

exchange. Changing things up a bit this year.

Mike and Patty always have it at their house and

it's decorated like you're visiting Bronners, but

they are under construction this year.

I will do my best to make it festive.

I'm thankful for family.

There are no outlaws on my husbands side of the family,

they are all great, loving, caring, generous people.

Birthday Time!

2011-11-24T13:51:00.000-05:00

Daniela's Mom & I took her to see the Muppets for her birthday.

We were a half hour early, because we heard we may

have trouble getting in on Thanksgiving.

Apparently not that early in the day. We had no trouble at all.

The preview didn't start until the time the movie was suppose to start

and they lasted 20-30 minutes. So..........

the snacks were gone and so were Daniela's patience

for sitting still, we saw about half the movie and then

chose to leave. All in all she did pretty good.
She was so darned adorable the entire time sitting
in the little booster chair and standing up leaning over
the seat in front of her dancing.

Grandpa stayed at home and put her birthday present together.

He said the directions were in hieroglyphics,

but he seemed to still be in a decent mood, so it

couldn't have been all that bad.

Her reaction to seeing her birthday gift for the first time.

Priceless.

The kitchen set is from Mama & the food sets

are from Grandpe & MiMi.

She's been cookin ever since.

She loves washing her hands with the soap dispenser (thanks again Rosie)

Food sets are wood and made by Melisa & Doug.

The kitchen is by Kid Kraft - Razzleberry Kitchen Set.

Her favorite food set is the cutable fruit, she's sliced

pears, strawberries, kiwis, oranges, bananas and melons;

put them back together and cut them again and again.

Looks like we can add fruit salad to today's menu as well.

Happy Birthday Daniela!

It has been oh so much fun and we haven't even had cake

and ice cream yet.

Happy Birthday Daniela

2011-11-24T06:35:00.000-05:00

Still putting the pieces together....

Two years ago today she was born

and a week later I met her for the first time.

She was amazing then and remains so today.

As I looked over the pictures from my trip to Mexico

and her first two weeks, I noticed more than the

usual amount of pictures of me holding the baby.

In all the pictures I am beaming, even

the ones where I'm not actually smiling.

She is my sunshine and she brings out the best in me.

She often flatters me by saying "Awe, cute!" when

she sees me. I can be in denial that she said the same thing

about the wild turkey at the Nature Center. Not a problem.

She often runs to me when she gets home and we have

a bunch of silly little games we play and things we

do to make each other laugh.

She thinks it's hysterical when I tuck her in at night.

I kiss her Kitty, her dolly and then her blanket.

Who else besides her crazy MiMi would kiss a blankey?

So funny!

She is doing and saying new things every day.

"It's not working" is a frequent phrase which can be used

for "I can't open it" or "the puzzle piece won't fit" or

any number of other situations.

Today instead of turkey....

we will be enjoying popcorn while watching the Muppets

at the theatre and cake & ice cream later with gifts.

A Dora balloon & other colorful balloons are hiding in the closet.

Oh! It's going to be a fun day.

Still here.... Still walking

2011-11-22T09:30:00.001-05:00

Yes, I'm still walking. Yesterday was a beautiful day for November.

Danan and I walked down to the end of our road and back and I

took a few pictures. It actually looked much more gray and dismal,

but with the help of Picnik.com I was able to boost the colors a little

and now it looks much more appealing.

The days have not all been so accommodating. It has rained and

I have walked in the rain. Ya, me.... walked in the rain,

hard to believe I know.

When it's windy and we walk at the school it's like being in a

wind tunnel. I wear my cuddle duds and a fleece head band over my ears.

and sometimes complete the look by wrapping a matching scarf around

my head.

This is a picture of the water in the pond down the road.

I cropped out the tree and grass that's being reflected.

The green scum is really almost that green.

It fools with your mind. The water looks like the sky.

Sorry I refuse to go to all the trouble to turn the darn picture,

I wish they'd put a magic button on the toolbar, so I could

just click and fix it. Wouldn't that be nice.

I've been trying to be super good this week with Weight Watchers,

so that I don't have to feel guilty when I eat a portion-controlled

Thanksgiving dinner. That's the plan folks.

Last week my weight stayed the same. I'm at -26 pounds and

fighting like heck to stay there. The one coffee and one can of pop

a day is such a drag, but do feel like maybe it's giving me more

energy without it, so will continue on as long as the will power holds.

Freya has been replaced

2011-11-18T17:11:00.000-05:00

Daniela's favorite dolly was dreadfully dirty and only

surface washable, so Mommy replaced her.

Daniela holding Freya's replacement

She talks and moves and Daniela likes to sit her up by herself.

She said her name is Our Baby.
MiMi is working on a new name, stay tuned.

Daniela has been cracking us up wearing these glasses.

25 And at a Plateau

2011-11-15T09:06:00.001-05:00

I'm at a plateau with my weight loss.

Definition of a plateau = a period or state of little or no growth or decline:
I want the decline.

For the past 4-6 weeks I've been hovering around the 25 pound weight loss mark.

I really want to lose another 15 pounds.

So this morning I started looking around the web for some

reputable information and found this article on WebMD.

It is not word for word, but the ten ways and a little excerpt to

help explain the step.

10 Ways to Move Beyond a Weight Loss Plateau **

1. Imagine You: Healthy and Vibrant

"Visualize yourself dancing at an upcoming celebration in a fabulous black dress," Tallmadge tells WebMD, "and then apply that vision every day to stay motivated."

2. Understand Your Weight Loss Personality

Oblivious. If you tend to not pay attention when you eat -- maybe you're a TV snacker? -- you need to avoid such situations if you want to control portions.

Uptight. "If you are highly anxious, you will probably have more difficulty," Przybeck says. "Those who are anxious, nervous, and depressed might eat to feel better."

3. Record Every Food Morsel You Eat, Taste, or Lick

Track the time of day and your feelings when you eat to discover problem times and emotions that cause you to binge eat. Recognize your eating triggers and find healthier foods to satisfy your hunger or better alternatives than food to cope with your emotions.

4. Beware of 'Calorie Creep'

A key reason for a weight loss plateau is eating more than you think. It's easy for portion sizes to creep up, and before you know it, you end up eating more than your plan prescribes. That's why it's important to weigh and measure your food to understand proper portions

5. Watch Restaurant Overeating

At restaurants, rich foods and supersized portions can sway even the most determined dieter. Especially if you eat out often, look at restaurant eating as a chance to practice good portion control.

6. Eat Low-Fat Protein to Manage Hunger Pangs

New findings show that a high protein diet can help squelch hunger. Protein foods work by suppressing ghrelin, a hormone secreted by the stomach that stimulates appetite (yes, it triggers hunger!).

7. Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

8. Push the Envelope Past That Plateau

To keep your muscles guessing -- and performing the ultimate calorie burn --vary your physical activity. And push the envelope to power past that plateau!

For example, during your 30-minute treadmill session, include a few intervals at higher speed or at a higher incline (climb hills if you're walking outside). Sustain this higher intensity for a few minutes, and then return to your comfort level. After you recover, do it again -- and again. This will help you burn more calories and blast through the plateau.

Also make sure your routine includes strength-training exercises (like weight lifting), which help counteract muscle loss due to aging. Building and preserving muscle mass is a key factor in reaching a healthy weight, as muscle requires more calories to maintain than fat.

9. Wear a Pedometer

Put the pedometer on first thing in the morning. Then make it a point to be more active: pace while you talk on the phone, take the dog out for an extra walk, and march in place during television commercials. Each 2,000 steps burn roughly 100 more calories, so aim for 10,000 steps daily for weight loss.

10. Try Yoga to Avoid Stress Eating

Stress eating is bingeing on food -- homemade chocolate chip cookies, salty chips, a handful of this, a fistful of that -- to soothe your inner emotional turmoil, not your real hunger. Studies show that yoga lowers levels of stress hormones and increases insulin sensitivity -- a signal to your body to burn food as fuel rather than store it as fat.
　

** Taken from a WebMd Weight Loss Article

I'm going to choose two to work on this week and try adding another step next week and see if I can work myself past this weight loss plateau.

I'm already using number 7, eating more fruits and vegetables and number 3, tracking what I eat, although I need to be more diligent (getting lazy about it).

So what I've decided to do is work on number 9. I have a great pedometer that I purchased at Weight Watchers and I wear it when I walk, but haven't tried using it all day to track how active I am.

And number 8, using the interval method of training, and adding some weights.

Wish me luck, say a prayer, leave a word of encouragement. 26.....27.....28.... 29.....

Remembering

2011-11-13T07:34:00.001-05:00

I remember showing Miguel (Daniela's Papa), pictures of the rest

of my Grandchildren when I went to Mexico.

He was amazed at how many pictures I had of Sydney and Griffin, who

I had just been to visit. He said he hoped I'd take a few of Daniela.

"Don't worry" which was the answer I gave him, was an understatement.

I can't resist taking pictures of this little one and the fact

that she lives with me...well let's just say I'm using it

to my advantage, while learning photography skills.

Snow----Oh No!

2011-11-10T19:46:00.000-05:00

I saw a post by a friend today that they'd received snow this morning

and after a few hours went by and we didn't get any,

I breathed a sigh of relief.

No sooner had I done that and I noticed some kernels of sleet

falling on my windshield as I drove home around

one o'clock.

Snow indeed has been falling on & off since then.

Huge flakes came around 6 pm and I took

Daniela out on the back deck to try and catch some.

She loved catching the cold snow flakes and didn't want to come

back in.

This is not the real picture, but since I didn't snap any, this

one will have to do.

My Reward

2011-11-07T08:36:00.001-05:00

I debated, him hawed (is that even a word?), mulled it over

and slept on it for days, and then even more

time slipped by and it was weeks.....

but I finally decided what my reward would be for

losing the 25 pounds.

Can you guess?

Weight Watchers tells you not to go out to eat

to celebrate or I know just where I would have

gone---- Chinese!

I wanted to make it relational, so I set the price at $25.00

that's $1.00 per pound.

I came up with the perfect reward.

A subscription to Picnik, so I would have access to all the

premium features.

Here's a peak at my latest pics.

This is too much fun.

Better get off my fanny now, before I

gain back those pesky pounds.

Last Day of Play Group - Mom & Tot - Pre-Preschool

2011-11-04T15:15:00.001-04:00

Tuesday was Daniela's last day of school.

The day starts with 45 minutes of free play.

On this particular day she gravitated toward the doll house

area and stayed for a long time.

Other days, it has been the baby dolls,

painting, or shopping with the grocery cart.

Here's two of her friends sitting at the tables with their parents

playing with special toys put out for the day.

After free time, they do circle time, where they read books, sing songs etc.

The girl in the blue dress is Rosie, the others are new friends she met at school.
After circle time, they make a craft or two and then have
snack time before singing the good-bye song and going home.

This is Daniela's teacher, Miss Becky leading them in

Hap Palmer's song - Sticks Together.

It was a favorite of Daniela's, she loves

following all the directions with the sticks.

There is another session starting up, but we

decided not to sign up for it.

The class was great fun, but getting out in the nasty weather

that's around the corner isn't going to be.

More Halloween

2011-11-01T21:48:00.000-04:00

When we walked out the door to go over to our friend's house

it was misting rain, but by the time we

got the costumes on made it out to the street it had stopped.

Hurrah!

After trick-or-treating.

Little ones always go for the suckers.

This photo looks great as a poster too.

An action photo.

All smiles as she receives her loot.

Her roar was so quiet I'm surprised a few people

actually heard it.

My favorite costume of a total stranger was

this little T-Rex guy.

It reminds me of the Laurie Berkner song....

We are the dinosaurs marching, marching.

Our Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:42:00.000-04:00

These pictures are straight out of the camera,

no picnik.com,

no cropping,

no nuttin.

I couldn't resist getting this little ghost's picture.

Daniela went trick-or-treating with the same two little girls as last year.

Daniela made a very cute little lion.

She even did a "roar" for a few people.

The moms and the girls making their way around the neighborhood.

Happy with her loot!

Fi Fi the fairy with her candy from us.

Happy Halloween!

Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow.

autumn

2011-10-31T11:29:00.000-04:00

I love Fall

Learning her colors

2011-10-30T06:59:00.001-04:00

Daniela may not know the names of each color but,

she can match them as this video clearly shows.

It also show just how darn cute she is, but I won't mention that.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T06:11:00.000-04:00

Floating Uh Oh!

2011-10-24T14:08:00.000-04:00

Daniela is learning how to float in the bath tub.

She's very proud of the fact that her hands and feet stay up

on the surface of the water.

We know her bum is resting on the bottom of the tub,

but still she's getting the concept of floating as her limbs really are.

So the other night after dinner I gave Daniela a tubby,

(mama was at college and I thought it would

be nice for her to come home to Daniela all

clean and in her pajamas.)

She was floating and all smiles and I was

day dreaming about how cute she was smiling

with her hair all swirling around in the water around her head...

when I realized something else was swirling around

her head.

I reached for the bumble-bee bath tub toy, but not

soon enough. It was to late....

it had become entangled in her hair.

You pull the bottom end of the bee which is on a string

and then put it in the tub and the wings paddle around

in the water and makes it swim until the string retracts to the end and

then you have to pull it again.

So I sat Daniela up and the bee is about two inches away

from her skull. I tried to work it free, but it was still

trying to swim.

Although, it is a favorite tub toy I desperately tried to

break the stupid wing off, so I could free her hair.

Daniela was starting to get upset about the situation

and I was starting to panic. If we had to cut

it out of her hair, it would be super short.

Ashley would have a fit, she's suppose to get

Daniela's two year old pictures taken soon.

I yelled for Grandpe to come help us.

He tried to break the wing off and couldn't, so

he left to go get some tool.

I took a deep breath and tried for the third time

to manipulate the hair around the wing and get

it out of her hair. It loosened a bit and I wound it this

way and that and little by little it came loose.

Wow! That was close.

Same Pictures Picnik Style

2011-10-18T07:41:00.001-04:00

Incredible picture ... just love the focal burst of color.

Evidence that fairies do exist.

It's fun to play with the idea and imagine that they do.

This fence is near the archery field and looks so neat postersized.

A curved line leading to the colorful leaves makes this

photo very appealing.

I'd like to work more with reflections.
The problem is I have a huge list of themes I'd like
to explore.

Stay tuned for the rest of the pictures to be enhanced via

my favorite website.

Or give it a try yourself,

you'll soon be as addicted to this site as I am

Photo Shoot #1

2011-10-14T15:54:00.001-04:00

I told myself to pick the top ten of my original 100 pictures, but you know me...

I have trouble making up my mind and ended up with more than ten.

Before we drove out to the Nature Center I remembered
this old tree on the Nature Center grounds, which I had seen many years ago.

Back then, a bunch of the employees decided to take

a walk around the property and we tried

to see how many people we could fit inside the hollow tree.

(We fit five adults for you inquisitive adults)

(23 Keebler elves for you inquiring children

Anna posed for me and I had the better end of the deal, she's

much more photogenic than I am.

I love the way this picture turned out, with the layers of

colors. First the burnt orange at the bottom, then the green/blue, topped

with the yellow leaves.

How lucky I was to catch their bobcat yawning.

Flowers abound around the nature center. I'd like to take some

pictures of wild flowers, but that will have to wait for spring.

This is the brave sheep that came back down to see us after we spooked the flock away.

I thought they were calmer than say a deer and they'd let us approach

and just lay there. Not so.

A fairy lodge. Isn't it quaint. I'm not sure if they make

reservations year around or not, it's best to call ahead.

My true passion is photographing kids, so I'm sure you're not surprised

I slipped this one in.

Thanks for coming along with me Anna, it was a very enjoyable time.

I promise next time we won't walk as far.

This is another favorite of mine. I'm anxious to try a few

things with it on Picnik.com, but wanted to keep things fair

with Anna posting her pictures too.

Not that we are having a contest or anything, but you

know what I mean.... comparing apples to apples.

I didn't notice the reflection until I downloaded the picture or

I would have taken more like this.

Do you have favorites?

Constructive criticism?

Ideas for another trip out to use our cameras?

I'd love to hear from you.

Today was my Day

2011-10-12T19:05:00.000-04:00

Today I did something for me. Something I haven't done in a long time. I've been wanting to go on a photo shoot for months, but since Amanda is the only daughter that has an expensive camera and enjoys going out just to take pics...I haven't been since I went to Maine in October of 2010, here's the link to our cemetery photos.

But then I found out Laura's daughter Anna won a photo contest and I had a thought....maybe she'd like to come along. This is her photo that won the contest. My intentions for today were to use my new (as in I haven't practiced with it yet) reflector, but the sun never came out. We had three hours, but travel time took an hour, so really just two hours. We went to the Nature Center, but stopped to take photo's of the sheep on the corner of Sexton and Pinckney. We were able to get pictures of turtles, ground hog, bobcat and a few other small animals, as well as a huge hollow tree, the lake and some geese, flowers and other neat things. We walked over 3 miles, so I'm not sure Anna will be so eager to come along again, but we'll see.

So keep posted. Anna & I are going to work on downloading, cropping etc. and then we are both going to post our favorite photos of the day.

Anna was great company and although she's not quite 11 years old; she's very knowledgeable about photography and I wouldn't be surprise if I end up learning a few tricks from her. It was nice of Laura to let me take her out for a few hours on a day they already had plans. Thanks Laura!

Here's a sheep photo....just to keep you interested and coming back to see what Anna & I come up with.

More Chambers Pumpkin Patch Pics

2011-10-11T22:41:00.000-04:00

The original goat picture is in my last post.

I played around with the picnik website and added a few details

to make it more Halloweenish.

I emailed pictures to Rosie's mom, but for some

reason her computer refuses them, so I

thought I'd post a few more, so she can see them.

My friend was trying to show the girls that the props weren't

real, so therefore they didn't have to be afraid of them.

I just love Rosie's dimples.

This is the picture I used to make the crystal ball photo

I posted yesterday.

A great time was had by the girls and the Mom & Gramie.

These are just a few of the pictures I took that day.

Ava loved chickens when she was this age,

Daniela is pretty smitten with them too.

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-08T19:02:00.002-04:00

Thursday night we were looking for something to do while

Daniela's mom was studying.

A friend suggested we go to the Pumpkin Patch.

Can you guess who we went with?

Here's a peak into my crystal ball.

If you guessed our friend, Rosie you'd be right.

There were animals galore on the farm:
horses, cows, pigs, goats, chickens, ducks,
turkeys, miniature chickens, peacocks, and bunnies.

Although it wasn't crowded like Spicer's Orchard, we

weren't the only ones there. A group of girls

were chasing each other on top of these hay bales.

They were the big ones, rolled like shredded wheat, so

our little girls had to be content with playing on

the slides that were fixed to a few of the bales.

Daniela & Rosie took turns on the tire horse swing.

After the ponies we ventured into Daniela's very
first corn maze.
Rosie and her Mom ran ahead on the trail and
we had to find them hidden in the corn stalks.
After a couple times, Rosie hid by herself and
we had to find her.

Daniela was behind me on the trail....
and then she wasn't.
Good Grief!
How was I going to explain that one to her Mommy?
I lost the kid in the corn maze.
I frantically ran back & forth on the trail hoping
she hadn't gone to far that I couldn't find her easily.

And then....

out she popped, with a shit-eating grin on her face.

She wanted to play hide & seek too, but just

didn't bother to let me in on it.

I laughed myself silly....what a stinker.

We hope to go back to the Pumpkin Patch a couple

more times this fall.

We bought three little gourds for $1.00,

but will get a real pumpkin closer to Halloween.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T21:44:00.000-04:00

Random Thoughts about New Mexico

2011-10-04T20:55:00.002-04:00

It was a beautiful day here in Michigan......

the sun was shining and it was

warm and the trees are turning colors.

The mountains are a different sort of beautiful.

They are always there no mater what the weather is like,

even if it's not sunny, even when the night sky falls.

I miss the mountains.

It never got old, but always amazed me that they were

there every morning, noon & night.

I'm missing this little doll baby.

While I was there Rowyn & I bonded a bit closer.

I taught her how to say "tickle, tickle".

She loved being squeezed and other

little games we played.

She just never knew what this crazy Gramie

was going to do to get a good picture.

What you can't see in this photo

is that I'm seated directly in front of

her and actually tickling her with my feet.

Rowyn wants to be picked up the minute

Daddy gets home for work and

Rick always obliged her. I love watching them interacting.

I miss my daughter Audra.
You can tell that she loves being a Mom and genuinely
enjoys being with Rowyn and teaching her new skills.
She's proud of her accomplishments and glows
when showing her off.
I love that Audra is a lot like me in that area.
Not everyone is, it's a gift.

Rowyn loves to push this little cart everywhere.

She doesn't just run into things and cry for you to

rescue her, she knows how to maneuver it around

corners and out of any tight spot.

There's no, I repeat; no way she'll ask for help,

she can do it herself, Thank you!

She's running, and running quite fast...

I was on her heels when I stopped to shoot the picture.

Rowyn turned a year old two weeks ago and today

is Henry's Birthday. I sure wish free plane

tickets grew on trees, if they did you know where I'd be.

Right Here.

When we landed.....

2011-10-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

When we landed at Detroit Metro, there was a big cheer

that rose up from the seats behind mine.

I was in seat 34B, it was a 757...

Big Plane - 6 seats across.

It was a rough flight:

Turbulence,

Lightening,

Spilled drinks,

Bumping into your seat mates.

I was waiting for the oxygen masks to fall.

A cute young gentleman sat beside me.

I really did ask him this question.

"Are you the kind of young gentleman that

would save an old lady if the plane goes down?"

He said "Yes!"

I said, "Good to Know. Just checking."

Thankfully it didn't come to that.

Headbands, Headbands & More Headbands

2011-09-30T10:32:00.000-04:00

Here's the link to the original post about learning how to make

the headbands and in that post is a link to the tutorial for

those that are interested.

Here are some of the headband creations I made for Rowyn.

These are for the Halloween & the Fall.

And a few more. I think I ended up making almost two dozen before

the end of my trip.

Rowyn modeling one that was pink & red.
I'll post more pictures of Rowyn & Alise & their headbands
when I get the second half of my photos downloaded.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2011-09-29T12:53:00.000-04:00

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Don't know when I'll be back again.

Oh Babe, I hate to go........

I always hate to go..

Good bye! Ro Ro...

A Day with Rowyn

2011-09-27T18:04:00.000-04:00

This is what Rowyn looks like in the morning.

She wakes up slowly and sometimes ornery, but that

is mostly from her nap.

Most mornings she wakes up happy, ready to

greet you with a "Hi!" and a smile or a yawn.

This particular morning we played in her room while

waiting for mommy to wake up and took a few pictures.

Meet Thumper, Rowyn's lovey and sleeping companion.

She also cuddles and drags her cow around as well.

This was taken after dinner, she still has green beans or squash

or something all over her face. Daddy tied the puppy on

to the back of her walker and Rowyn kept looking

behind her to make sure he was still following along.

Yes, she's brushing her teeth, although she only has two,

Audra is getting her into the routine of brushing her teeth.

She's very cooperative (Ashley would be so jealous) and

also likes to take a turn herself.

If it was a real day with Rowyn there would be many more pictures of

her eating, getting changed, going for walks, chasing the dogs around etc.

It is really hard to take pictures, down load them on

Rick's computer, email them to my account and then put them

on Audra's desk top and then upload them to my blog. Ugh!

Such a process, but soon I'll be home with my old familiar system and

all my tools and I'll be able to cruise through this whole process

with half the aggravation.

My time here is winding down just a couple more days and

I'll be flying home, sad but necessary.

I wonder how much if any work will be down on the bathroom in the hallway?

I told my husband to get cracking, that he'd have hours home alone

to concentrate without us girls in the way.

Do you want to speculate on whether he's accomplished anything or not, leave

a comment and I let you know when I get home on Thursday evening.

Rowyn & Friends

2011-09-26T10:41:00.000-04:00

There are many nice little parks around the base.

Most of them are covered so the kids are not in the

direct sun. Still it is so hot, you don't see many

people utilizing them.

Lydia turned a year old right before Rowyn.

Alise is 18 months, but tiny for her age, so she's not much bigger than the other two girls.

Rowyn is very talkative, reminds me of her Aunt Meghan at that age.

She says, Hi! dog, doggie, cat, hehe, tickle-tickle, duck, and

of course, Mama & Daddy.

She loves to walk & run with her push cart, behind her walker and

anything else with wheels.

Rowyn is just like her Mommy, she gets crabby when she's

hungry and boy does she love to eat.

One day she ate half a can of chili beans (apparently

they were the gassless variety- because they didn't give her the toots).

She plays by herself with her toys for long periods of time.

When I tapped on the book, she tapped too.

When I banged two sets of plastic beads together, she did the

same with her beads. She loves to imitate.

Number 6

2011-09-24T10:29:00.000-04:00

This is number 6 - That's how Audra's pregnancy was announced to me via

cell phone. Ready for Number 6? and a picture of two pregnancy tests that

were definitely positive.

Rowyn Gracie Jane Roberts.

Number 1, 2, & 7 live in Maine.

Number 3 & 4 live in North Carolina

Number 5 in Michigan

Right now I'm happy to be vacationing in New Mexico and interacting with

number 6 every day.

Getting to know the older and more mobile little one becoming a toddler.

I shared on face book how well she can toss a ball back and forth for her age;

that however did not prepare me for what happened on the way

to Las Cruces yesterday.

Audra was babysitting for a friend's 18 month old daughter and

they started playing catch while riding in the car in their car seats.

It was hilarious to see them. Alise is tiny so they are practically the

same size and although I did have to retrieve it a couple times, they

really did well at tossing it sideways, back n forth to each other.

We went to Walmart while we were out and bought Rowyn

some birthday toys. She loves the Mega blocks and could

take them apart as I made them. Within a half hour she put her first

two blocks together herself. Hurrah!

We also stopped at Hobby Lobby to get more button for her new

headbands. I'll post pictures of them soon.

Today we are going to go swimming, so that should be great fun.

Yesterday, we took the two babies to the park and met a third friend.

Rowyn however was feeling a bit down from her shots the day before

and wasn't her usual happy camper. She was very quiet and did not

like the slide. The swings were okay, but they were in the full sun, so had to keep

the time on them short.

More Ro

2011-09-23T09:55:00.000-04:00

Gramie's camera has been busy taking tons of pictures.

Isn't she just the cutiest little thing.

She's in the 50th percentile for height and weight.

Rowyn - 1 year old

Playing in her ball pit

Cutie Patootie

Hello from New Mexico

2011-09-22T13:11:00.000-04:00

Dealing with a little bit of jet lag, due to the the time difference. First night here I went to bed at 1:30 a.m. Michigan time. I'm in bed at home pretty much at ten o'clock or shortly after, so that was very late for me.

Yesterday we went to WIC to recertify Rowyn now that she a year old. It was crowded and the wait was long, so once we finished up there we came home for someone to take a nap. While she snoozed I put up the quick blog post, so we'd have time for me to show Audra how to make the t-shirt headbands. The first one we put together was a cream color with polka dots with a lace flower with a big button in the middle. I took a picture of Rowyn wearing it, but you'll never guess what happened..... or maybe you would. Audra's lap top loves to destroy my picture cards for some reason. The last time it ate my 8 gb card and this time my 1 gb card. Luckily Audra had a card for me to use, so I'm back in business and next time we'll try Rick's lap top and see if we have better luck.

Rowyn stayed with me while Audra ran with the dogs. I'm glad she's not to shy, although she very much prefers Mommy. I made chicken stir fry for dinner, trying to follow my Weight Watchers as much as possible, so I don't gain back any of my hard earned weight loss.

This morning I entertained Rowyn while Audra cleaned and then we went for a 2 mile walk, it's to hot already to go further, we'll have to go out again tonight after it cools off.

Rowyn has a 1 year check up and shots this afternoon, tomorrow we are going to Las Crues and I hear Rick wants to take me to White Sands sand dunes probably this weekend. I'll try to blog again soon.

Birthday Girl & Ice Cream

2011-09-21T15:21:00.000-04:00

It was 92 degrees when I landed in El Paso, perfect weather for ice cream and besides it was Rowyn's Birthday. Here's some pics of the birthday girl at Cold Stone, after eating her strawberry ice cream with sprinkles.

Rowyn walking around Cold Stone Creamy

Happy Birthday Outfit from her Grandma Lynn

Her strawberry ice cream matched her outfit, perfect!

Shoes

2011-09-16T12:04:00.001-04:00

Photo Challenge - Shoes Theme

When I visited the Through the Lens website (on my side bar) and saw the

category "Shoes Theme"; I knew I had to post an old photo, which

is an all time favorite of mine.

It was taken almost a year ago, when this little doll was

only a week old and had all these shoes to grow into.

I'm leaving hubby and family home to go see Rowyn Gracie Jane and

will arrive on the date of her first birthday.

Perhaps we will take a new shoe photo while I'm there.

Packing my Book Bag

2011-09-15T16:05:00.000-04:00

It's that time again, you know time to pack a vacation book bag.

I took pictures of the books I'm trying to choose from.

I've had this one for quite a while and really should

read it just to get it off the shelf, but is that

a good enough reason to haul it to New Mexico?

I love Joyce Meyer's teaching.

I get what she says, she speaks my language.

I could use some Power and some practice

being positive. What about you?

A story about a large family with an autistic child.

Written by the Author of the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

This book got rave reviews - it's about a foster child

in Nazi Germany that steals to survive.

I've just read the introduction and the first chapter

and I've already learned things about my camera, I didn't

know before.

I've gotta take this one. I plan on shooting a massive

amount of pictures of my granddaughter, Rowyn.

Another choice from my autism shelf.

I may just have to take another look at my four shelves of

books to make sure there's not some gem waiting to be unearthed.

Although, I think these are some decent choices, I'm hesitant to chose

until I'm sure I didn't miss something better.

Off to take another look..................

A Trip to Spicers

2011-09-12T16:26:00.004-04:00

We started our Spicer's Adventure in the corn barn.

This is like a gigantic sensory bin, you

walk in it, scoop it, pour it....anything but eat it.

She fell asleep on the way over to the orchard and

it took her a bit to wake up and play.

Some bigger children were over in the corner burying

each other in the corn.

She filled this truck full of corn before we moved on to the next play area.

Daniela loved this castle - she climbed up the ladder

to the upper deck and then slid down one of the slides, at

least a dozen times.

MiMi & Grandpe took turns pushing her around this

track and going under the bridge.

Daniela on the train.

And then we took the hayride out to the orchard where we had our

choice of five different kinds of apples to pick.

We chose McIntosh, Ginger Golds, & Gala.

I can't remember if we picked Fuji or not.

Daniela ate two big apples before we left the orchard.

She had a great time visiting the goats, horse, ducks & turkey.

Last of all we took a trip through the country store

and bought cider and doughnuts.

We love Spicer's Orchard, and I'm sure we will go

back again before the season is over, perhaps

we'll pick a pumpkin next time.

A Very Rare Event

2011-09-09T09:41:00.001-04:00

My mother is not fond of dogs.

She barely tolerates a selected few and

down right detests the rest.

Everyone who knows my mom, knows this - it's just a fact.

While here to visit, Daniela was chasing our Wheaton Terrier

and she was looking for a safe place to hide or someone to protect her

and she jumped into Grandma's lap.

Grandma saved her from the rowdy toddler and Danan stayed on her lap.

I said I'd get her down, but my Mom said she was fine.

I almost had to laugh - what a turn-a-bout.

I had to get a picture, for this is a rare event indeed.

When I told my mom seven years ago that I was

getting a dog, she told me she wouldn't come visit anymore.

I promised her it would be the nicest dog she'd ever met

and she had to at least come once and see.

She did and begrudgingly declared she was alright as dogs go.

Fast forward seven years and

now my mom's not afraid to go out shopping and come back

to my house and enter it without anyone being with her or anyone home, but the dog.

Can you believe it?

I don't think I'll ever convince her to get a dog

of her own, but I don't have to worry

about her visiting my house or whether she minds my dog anymore.

She's not Grandma's best friend yet, but Danan's working on her.

Guess Who?

2011-09-07T21:48:00.000-04:00

Guess who turned 10 last month?

I've now known him for 1/2 of his life.

My boy, postersized....he's growing up.

Never Again!

2011-09-05T13:44:00.001-04:00

Never again will I roll down a steep hill in wild childish abandon.

Mark this down somewhere, September 4, 2011 was the

last time I will ever do that again.

It all started harmless enough, a trip to the park with friends.

The girls had fun riding their Radio Flier Push Trikes around the

bike path, playing on the playground, picking flowers

and eating a snack.

When it was time to go home, Rosie rode on the path, but

Daniela insisted on taking the stairs, so they beat us back to the car.

(Because Gramie had to go down the hill beside the stairs with the

bike and hang on to Daniela, step by step as well.)

It was a slow process.

Rosie was rolling down the hill in front of the parking lot area

and it looked like fun, so

Daniela wanted to try it.

She'd panic every time she started to roll, but kept wanting to try.

That's not me, but looks like our hill.

So very foolishly Gramie decided to show her how it's done.

Daniela didn't hesitate to give me a push to get me rolling

and she laughed uproariously as I rolled and tumbled down the hill.

Natalie & Rosie were laughing hysterically as well.

My friend said at first she wasn't sure if I was okay

because of all the flip-flopping I did.

Really--- because I thought I was rolling rather smoothly

and had trouble figuring out how to stop myself.

When I had come to a halt,

I had to lay there for a couple minutes, as it really made me dizzy.

Then I made my way back to the top
where I attempted to walk Daniela through the

whole process of rolling down a hill.

She wasn't having it, but kept saying,
"MiMi Lay Down!" "MiMi Lay Down!"

I finally gave up and told her I'll show you one more time and that's it.

So...

( I know this doesn't make me look very bright,

but be kind and give me Gramie of the Year why don't you.)
So... after a big push off,

I rolled down the very steep hill a second time.

This time unbeknown to me I had an even bigger audience

and I rolled so fast I practically rolled out of my pants, which

were to big for me, after my weight loss.

I had more trouble stopping the second time,

probably because I was more disoriented.

I was so dizzy I couldn't even sit up and kept falling over.

It took even longer to recover the second time and I

felt like I was going to puke and my head started hurting.

I do believe that little escapade could have won a Funniest
Home Video award had it been recorded on someones camera.

Of course, Daniela wanted me to go again, but

I had wizened up and insisted we head for home.

I jokingly told my friend it was going to take the rest of the

day to recover.

NO JOKE, IT DID!

I could not function the remainder of the day.

I felt faintly dizzy and sick whenever I tried to

so anything, but sit. It was awful!

Like I said.

Never Again!

This Kid is a Hoot!

2011-09-03T11:36:00.000-04:00

Daniela was reading stories to me this morning.

You have to see this, she's very animated.

Listen to her. Daniela identifies the baby in one book as "Ro Ro", we

didn't tell her that and she looks nothing like Rowyn, but Daniela thinks so.

She says a bunch of words in there, like MiMi (Me), mouse, RoRo, airplane,

uppie, so big, look at that, house, nice airplanes,

mouse ran away, sit mouse, NO! and yellow.

She was hysterical. I didn't manage to get the best of her performance

as the camera shut itself off.

Bummer. She was a hoot.

Today's Picture/Today's Post

2011-09-02T21:26:00.000-04:00

These are the pictures that were suppose to go with today's post.

Pictures taken of Daniela doing was she enjoys most.

Playing with her puppy.

Pushing around the Bitty Baby Stroller with her puppy or dolly.

Saying "Cheese" for the Camera Lady!

Conversation Explosion

2011-09-02T09:28:00.000-04:00

Daniela's language skills are multiplying daily. She's very talkative and can actually carry on a conversation now. She's just a ton of fun at this age.

When she accidentally shut herself in my bedroom and couldn't open the door, she started yelling "Mee-Mee", her special name for Gramie.

This week at the dinner table Daniela passed gas and announced to everyone "Toot". Ashley said "Yes, that was a toot, what do you say when you toot, Daniela". Daniela says "Poop" and we all stifle a laugh. "Daniela, when we toot we say, Excuse me." Daniela attempts the word, but it doesn't come out very well. A few minutes later, Daniela announces that she's tooted again, although we all heard it and know that she did. ""Yes, that was a toot, what do you say when you toot, Daniela". Daniela says "Poop" and we all laugh in unison. Sorry, it was just toooo cute.

For the longest time this kid was stuck on number two. Everything was two, that was her lucky number. Well after months of insisting that you start counting with number two I'm happy to report we now have number one! This morning it was one, two, four. We are making progress. When you count and hesitate she often fills in the correct following number. Her cousin Griffin was performing this skill when we were in NC in July, they are just 6 weeks apart in age.

Daniela will sing songs for you and you can follow along and figure out what she's singing. Her repertoire includes "Twinkle, Twinkle Litte Star", " Head Shoulders Knees and Toes"', "Patty Cake", "It's Bitsy Spider", "Ring Around the Rosies", and "Mr. Sun".

She loves pushing Freya in her dolly stroller (look out dog), playing with her plastic frogs, and hauling around her puppy that moves and barks. That puppy was a great find at Salvation army, she's had more fun with that $1.00 puppy than other way more expensive toys she's received.

She's a determined little soul. Every day without fail she tries her darndest to get two vitamins out of Mama, even though every single morning, she hears the same words. "We only get ONE Vitamin."

She's very into identifying where people sit at the table, and what belongs to whom. Mama's shoes, Ella's shoes etc. She's also starting to speak and respond to some Spanish words. I'd share, but I'm not sure how you spell the words correctly, so I'll have to do that some other time. Right now I'm off to the groomers with the dog.

Bought my Ticket

2011-08-31T14:15:00.000-04:00

Someone will be turning one year old on September 20th,

and Grandma felt the need to celebrate with her.

So it's a date.

They are picking me up at the airport and we are stopping for

ICE CREAM!

1st pigtails - I think Audra was desperate.

Lala sent her some Popsicle molds a while back.

Between the heat of New Mexico and waiting to cut her

teeth so late, I figured these icy molds would come in handy.

By the looks of it, she's enjoying them.

Gramie LaLa can't wait to kiss those sweet cheeks

and to take a ton of pictures.

It took me forever to figure out the plane ticket, because

I'd make up my mind that I could only afford to go if the flight was free.

The Delta flying miles account said I could combine miles and cash to get

a flight, so I tried that route. But the cash they were referring to

was using cash to buy miles, which are ridiculously priced.

It would cost more than original price of the ticket, to buy what

I needed to go with the miles I'd already earned. Ugh!

So then I had to start back at square one. Two of my credit cards will mail

me a check, so I used miles from each one to cover the cost of the flight.

I'm flying Delta to get one bag free so I can take hand-me-downs to Rowyn

and hopefully rack up enough miles from this flight to be able to get another

free flight from Delta without buying any of there stupid miles.

Wish me luck.

Saved Big Time

2011-08-30T12:42:00.000-04:00

It's been ages since I bragged about how much I've saved at the grocery store.

Since it won't post right side up, Ill reiterate for you:

Total Meijer Promotions 1.18

Total Noncoupon Savings 15.29

Total Coupon Savings 13.35

Savings Total $ 29.82

What I spent to save this amount was pretty low,

I spent $39.88 - with the bottle return I actually only had to pay $25.88.

My goal is to actually save more than I spend - without using a bottle return.

I'll work even harder next time, since I'm managing to hit pretty close on a

pretty regular basis.

Garage Sale

2011-08-27T21:23:00.000-04:00

Can I complain?

Pout?

Cry?

I wanna call the newspaper and let them have it, but

my husband says, I don't have a legitimate complaint.

They ran my ad and I paid them $31.00,

but it was my worst garage sale ever.

Maybe my prices were to high, but I had customers

say that my prices were good and my stuff was clean & neat.

I slashed the prices every day as I said I would in my ad.

My worst problem....not enough traffic coming to my house.

You can't sell anything if you don't have customers.

First day I made $60.00.

Okay, then subtract my useless ad. I made less than $30.

Second day I made $28.00. Whopeee!

Okay, so maybe Thursday isn't the best day to have

a garage sale after all and on Fridays, some people are still working.

But Saturday should have been a good day, the weather was

beautiful.

-Nope -

get this.....

unbelievable

one

(yes, this is true)

one customer, and she was from my neighborhood

making a return visit.

All the days and days of hard work.

And setting up in the 90's & humid day we had on Wednesday.

Yep, all the headaches of harassing my husband to help me

get the boxes down from the loft and haul the borrowed tables etc.

I even tried to get my hubby to stand out at the road and walk

up and down with a sign, but he wouldn't do it.

You would think in this economy everyone would be

out buying stuff at garage sales to save money.

Next.... I have to return the tables,

haul the leftovers to Salvation Army

and call the Pregnancy Hot Line for the baby things.

I'll try to do it without grumbling and mumbling,

but it won't be easy.

Unbelieveable....

Way Back When #__?

2011-08-24T07:01:00.000-04:00

I'm busy and have writer's block, so this is what you get today.

Arent' they just adorable in their matching sweaters & necklaces?

Will Amanda ever forgive me for keeping the same hairstyle for so long?

100 Potter's Park

2011-08-21T09:48:00.001-04:00

100 pictures that is, of us a Potter's Park in Lansing.
I'll share just a few of those with you.

The weather was beautiful and we had a great time.

This is my friend from work, Natalie and her daughter, Rosie.

The little girls decided not to ride the ponies this time,

maybe when they are a little bit older.

Daniela riding in style and having a snack, a little something

the birds & squirrels would enjoy if she dropped some.

An African tortoise. He had this extra shell piece in the front

that his chin could rest on. I thought that was pretty neat.

I loved these paintings that were in the barn area.

The goats were by far the biggest hit. They were so tame and laid

back and didn't seem to mind the hordes of kids coming through to pet them.

This goat was scratching her fanny.

It was a real hoot to watch her antics.

Daniela had to great each one with a "Soooo Cute!"

This guy looked like he had orthodontia or false teeth,

his teeth were so perfect and showed like he was smiling.

I like the double picture of the burro and his shadow.

We went in the WINGZ exhibit and fed the birds.

You could buy these little Popsicle type sticks with

bird seed glued to them and feed the birds by hand.

Rosie was mesmerized.

Both our little ones had a ball at this exhibit and so

did the Mama and the Gramie.

Rosie finally got up the courage to hold a stick all by herself.

"Wow! Look at that --Do you want to try it Daniela?"

She was game, but didn't get any takers.

They had camel rides, but we were chicken.

We decided to ride the giraffe instead.

Personally, I think we had the cutest girls in the park.

These munchkins were asleep before we hit the highway.

It was a fun filled day for all of us and

we highly recommend Potter's Park.

It was affordable, clean, organized and not over-crowded.

New Models are never as good as your Original

2011-08-18T14:50:00.000-04:00

Just like when you are watching a movie series and get

used to a certain actor portraying a character, it's never

as good once they switch to someone new.....

Well I think you'll agree, even though these models did

their best, non of them are as cute as my original headband model, Daniela.

I've completed 10 headbands so far. I have others braided

but not sized or adorned.

Do you like the new leopard ones?

I went to Salvation Army on Tuesday and

found four clothing items for $1.00 each

that I could take apart for material.

These cute leopard ones used to be pj bottoms.

I also bought a tan-colored camo shirt, but

it didn't look camo at all once it was braided.

I'm pleased with it still, because it go well with anything khaki.

I also purchased a pink floral skirt that

yielded a whole yard of material, but I haven't

braided it yet, to see what the finished pattern of pinks will look like.

Ashley chose to keep two of these headbands.

The one Lily frog is wearing

and the leopard one, Kitty is modeling.

This latest project is keeping my hands busy in the evenings,

so I'm not tempted to be snacking.

Drum roll, please***********

So far on Weight Watchers - I've lost

20.4 pounds!

Measure your Heads

2011-08-16T07:00:00.003-04:00

It was a success! I enjoyed making the headbands

and the directions were perfect.

I added a flower to my first one.

Ashley said Daniela wouldn't wear it, but

she kept it on all day.

I'll admit I did bribe her with candy to get these pictures,

but after that I was okay with her tossing the hairband aside, but she didn't.

She even wore it to the park, where she climbed, swung and

went down the slide for over an hour

and Daniela never lost the headband.

I dressed her in denim, but those pictures didn't turn out as cute

as the first ones I took in pj's.

The brown T-shirt material ones were my first, but

I haven't figured out if I want to finish them as plain

headbands or adorn them somehow.

I'll be making plenty more of these.

Girls if you have any specific colors or styles

you want email me.

I can make for Mom's too if you wish or just the grand-girls,

let me know.

Good Reads

2011-08-15T09:04:00.000-04:00

I've been reading in the evenings.

I have shelves filled with books thanks to Paperbackswap.com

As I posted the pictures it was obvious that there was a theme here.

If you guessed autism, for a change you'd be wrong...

Yes, that's a passion of mine, but these books

all have a child in them.

Just the first one is a special needs child.

I'm not great at writing reviews, so I recommend you

check them out on a book site, such as Amazon.

And now I'm starting this book, which was highly recommended

by my friend Sherry that just visited.

This book is about a teenage boy with Asperger's.

What have you been reading?

I would love to hear what good books have inspired you or

taken you away from your normal everyday life for a few hours.

Daniela's New Friend

2011-08-13T15:55:00.000-04:00

Daniela had a play date with Diego last weekend.

He's a year older than her, but they hit it off and played really

well together.

I had to take some pictures, because Diego

wanted to know why he wasn't on my refrigerator.

I said "Oh! Let me take a picture and you'll be on there

next time you come over."

Busy trying to make these......

2011-08-12T15:51:00.000-04:00

Headbands anyone?

Click here for the instructions HERE

I borrowed the picture, so you could see what they look like.

You can make them out of old t-shirts or new jersey knit material.

I have some stretch denim I may try as well.

I'll let you know if you should all start measuring your heads.... or not.

Sometimes a craft will really click and I'll make a bunch, and

sometimes these ideas fall flat and never get finished.

Yes, that's the truth...........I have a few of those

unfinished projects in my closet that just won't let me lie.

Anyway, that's how I'm keeping busy at the moment.

Walked 2 1/2 miles this morning.

I picked peppers to put in the freezer for future omelet mornings.

Keeping busy hasn't been a problem so far.

The Ghost Child's Potty Skills

2011-08-10T09:22:00.002-04:00

In the middle of the night I heard an unidentifiable sound, something like a cell phone jingle or a game which sounds a tune when you get the answer right. I thought maybe our recent guests had left their cell phone behind or something. A few minutes later it sounded again and this time I recognized it as the noise that Daniela's potty chair throne makes when she goes potty on it.

I tried to think up a scenario that would make the potty chair go off without someone peeing in it, but nothing logical came to mind. Perhaps we had a ghost child in the house practicing their potty skills. Just about the time I was about to fall asleep the potty made several congratulatory trumpet sounds in a row and then I could hear Ashley in the bathroom frantically taking the potty apart trying to stifle the commotion before it woke up Daniela.

Reconnecting

2011-08-09T11:48:00.000-04:00

We've been friends for 25 years and when we get together

we just reconnect and start again like we never parted

when our girls were in Kindergarten.

We hugged and laughed & cried.

We ate Gus's Greek Salad and bread sticks for lunch.

We talked about our kids, our jobs, our husbands and our pets.

It was much to short, but I know how it is when you have to

make the rounds during a long weekend visit.

We dreamt up ideas for getting together in the future.

It was so good to reconnect, there's no one

else on this earth I can be myself and feel more comfortable with.

After the fourth of....

2011-08-06T07:38:00.000-04:00

It's after the fourth of August and I'm still posting after the fourth of July pics.....

so what's new? I'm always playing catch-up.

These are to good not to share, cute wise anyway.

I think I focused on Sydney, because Griffin is slightly less in focus.

I tried to fix it by playing around on piknic's site using different

applications.

What do you think? Do you like the edited photo?

Just chilin' on his cell phone.

His big sis doesn't have the corner on posin' anymore.

I love this one. The pacifier "papi" (as Griffin calls it) disappeared

a few days after this was taken.

So I dub this one....the last great papi picture.

Stairs are great props for pictures.

Believe it or not, I have even more pictures from our NC trip

that I want to share....but that's another post.

The rest of the story

2011-08-05T09:48:00.000-04:00

It's fun being just the Grandma again.

Daniela loves to go places with me and I enjoy taking her.

Howling at the coyote and hearing him howl back never gets old.

The cranes came close for us to admire them.

And this little jack rabbit was very entertaining.

He was hopping around like mad, jumping over things and making Daniela laugh.

Even the deer wanted to say "hello"!

Sharing Tree in the Court Yard

2011-08-04T09:25:00.001-04:00

Livingston Daily and the Brighton Patch articles on the Nature Center's new court yard

and the Sharing Tree created by Michael Glenn Monroe.

Click on the links to see more pictures of the Sharing Tree and to

hear how it was constructed.

When I went to visit the Nature Center about four days

after the Grand Opening, I was totally taken by surprise

to find a baby raccoon in the hollow of the tree.

Yes, everyone it was a real live baby and he hissed at us while I

was attempting to get close enough for a picture.

Apparently, the hollow of the sharing tree was deemed just as good

as the hollow of a real live tree by this little critter.

After being given some time to wake up and mosey away on

it's own, the wildlife staff decided to encourage it to leave, so

the area would be safer for visitors.

Next time you're in the area, stop by an visit the Sharing Tree
at the Nature Center.
And please check out
Michael Monroe's children's books, they are amazing.

Where were we?

2011-08-03T15:43:00.000-04:00

Let's see how many pictures it takes you to guess where we where.

Picture 1

Picture 2 - Is this real?

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

Yes, that's Daniela, that's who I meant by we;

Daniela & I

Picture 6 - A dead giveaway!

Did you guess before picture number six?

Is is the critter real? What do you think?

I'll post the answers tomorrow - if no one guesses correctly before then.

I'll fill you in on some background information as well.

$40 & 4 Hours Later

2011-07-31T15:32:00.001-04:00

Is there anything more frustrating than computer problems?

I tried to fix it myself by diagnosing my connection problem and

following the trouble shooting advice.

NO GO!

So I called support a few days ago.

After a significant amount of time, I found out

a cable was unplugged.

That's easy just plug it back in, right?

No!

It was broken, so we had to locate a replacement

and call back another day.

So today I made another call to AT & T for tech support.

Two hours later and they say they've done everything they

can for me and now I have to call Linksys.

I didn't even take a potty break or eat,

because I just want it fixed.

Ashley needs the wireless so she can use her laptop

for college we also need it to stream Netflix wireless.

You don't know how important it is to to have

access to Strawberry Shortcake episodes unless

you have a toddler at your house.

No warranty, so we have to pay for the service.

Pay to be put thru H-E-L-L...I spelled that just so you know,

for another t-w-o hours.

Rohit, in New Delhi was one of the nicest techs I've

ever had, but anyone speaking a foreign language can

be hard to understand.

Couple that with all the techy computer language

and plugging in changing and unplugging all kinds of cords. Ugh!

I had Gus assist me with the connections and then

had to have Ashley assist on her lap top as well,

and Rohit was connecting remotely and taking over our computers.

It was a three ring-circus here, with everyone frustrated

with one another and the situation.

It wasn't pretty by any means.......

But four hours and $40.00 later, we have our

wireless back.

Ashley is sharing pics of Spain and

Daniela is watching Dora on Net Flix.

Me, I'm having a diet coke and getting far away

from the computer for the rest of the day.

Made my Goal

2011-07-29T22:35:00.000-04:00

Last week at Weight Watcher's I made my 10% goal.

Yipee! I've lost a total of 17.5 pounds.

My reward at Weight Watchers - A key chain.

Other significant rewards:

People are starting to notice the weight loss
I'm beginning to notice an increase in energy level
I've learned my choices do make a difference.
I can stop eating before I'm full

What I still need to work on:

Getting more exercise (the heat, and a busy schedule).
Plan menus for a week at a time
Continue to try new recipes that fit the WW ideal.
Drink more water
Track what I eat - it makes me more accountable.
Quit making excuses for above items.

I'm not stopping at the 10 %, but going for 20%.

It will not but easy, but it will be so worth it.

What's helped you with weight loss?

I need all the helpful advice I can get.

I wish.....

2011-07-27T10:29:00.000-04:00

I wish my dog would learn how to do this

then I wouldn't have to be on my hands and knees

scrubbing the stains out of my bedroom carpet.

What do you think Danan?

Are you up to learning a new trick?

Ice Pop Joy

2011-07-24T22:11:00.000-04:00

Ice Pop Joy is a Recipe Book of Popsicles, by Anni Daulter

I heard about the book here on Ginny's blog

and decided to invest in my own book and two sets of molds.

One for me - I choose the same ones Ginny posts pictures of on her blog

and I didn't even realize it until after I had ordered them.

And one set for Daniela - I chose

annabel karmel Make it Easy Fill & Freeze Puree Pops

So far we've just tested them out to learn how full

to till them and how best to get them out of the molds without

breaking the pops.

I made milk pops...yes, just Vitamin D whole milk.

It was a suggestion I found on line, by someone else who bought the same molds.

And I used peach baby food - diluted with a bit of water

and froze them. The peaches were a bit tart, so

the second set we mixed with sweet potatoes.

They were a hit as well.

On the box of molds there was a web site address

for recipes to make in the pop molds.

Take a visit to http://www.annabelkarmel.com/

Daniela licking her lips

The molds make a small treat, which is just right for little tummies.

And they are easy to hold and drip free.

Daniela loves the new ice pops and I think I'm ready to

try some of the recipes in my new book.

Should we try fruit pops?

Veggie pops? Yogurt pops?

Tofu pops? Herbal Tea pops?

I can also use some cool juice mixtures that I make

with my new juicer.

This should be fun and very healthy for us.

Yummy!

Keeping it cool, with Ice Pop Joy.

Pocket-type Bibs

2011-07-22T22:53:00.000-04:00

There's many different types of bibs.

I happen to like pocket type plasticized bibs.

This is why.

I wished they always worked this well.

I don't remember if she's eating cheerios with milk

or if she's slurping oatmeal with milk.

Perhaps she needs a deeper spoon?

The Zoo - Part 1

2011-07-21T20:27:00.000-04:00

I took my camera for two reasons, one being to document our trip

and the fun we had with Daniela and the other

to take some animal photos.

Monkeys are very popular with the younger crowd.

I just happen to think they're pretty cute myself.

Mama & baby zebra. I'm not sure I have thte right Mama there

were several standing nearby. I never realized that they

started out brown striped as this one is still partially brown.

This American Bear came up nice and close while I

waited patiently for a good shot.

A peacock. I could have taken a picture of others with their

tail feathers upright and open, but this guy was really close.

The zoo keepers were cleaning the penguins cage, so we didnn't

get to visit with them. And the elephants were under construction.

Part II will follow, when I get a chance for more computer time.

She Loves Frogs

2011-07-19T21:30:00.000-04:00

We went to the Detroit Zoo this past week and I took these

adorable pictures of Daniela on a Frog Statue in the kiddie play area.

I've shared them on Face Book already, but I know there are

quite a few people that do not use facebook, so wanted to

share them here too.

Daniela loves Frogs!

So when we left we took a peak in gift shop.

Not that she needs anything mind you,

but they had some FROGS I couldn't

resist buying her.

And boy does she love those frogs.

We've been playing with them everyday since.

I will tell you something else this girl loves is Popcorn.

After eating pizza & grapes for lunch at the Zoo, I poured

some popcorn on my plate. I had bought it at

the cafe for an afternoon snack, but decided to eat some while

Daniela finished her grapes.

Daniela immediately moves the plate with the popcorn in front of her.

I chuckled, and reached over to get a few pieces from the plate in front of her.

She very nicely edged my fingers off the plate before I could get any popcorn.

I made a second attempt to get some of the buttery puffed up kernels.

That was stopped short as well.

Gus laughed, he thought that was pretty funny.

But then he must have known I really wanted some, because he offered

his plate for me to put some popcorn on.

When I had a couple dozen pieces of popcorn mounded up on the plate,

Miss Daniela reached over hers and took some off my new plate.

This was serious business now.

I pointed at her plate and told her.

"This is Daniela's plate and this is Daniela's popcorn".

Then I pointed at my plate and told her.

"This is Gramie's plate and this is Gramie's popcorn".

Daniela promptly removed the popcorn from her mouth that

she had stolen and plopped it on my plate.

I was speechless....Gus had a good laugh.

Will Post This Evening

2011-07-19T09:29:00.000-04:00

Electricity went out when a bad storm went through the area. It came back on around 9:30, but we were without Internet until this morning. I will post this evening as I've already been on the computer for my allotted time just trying to get it fixed. Ugh!

Gettin' Juiced

2011-07-17T08:32:00.002-04:00

Gettin' Juiced!

That bad....

Nnnnoooooooooooooooooo-----

That Good.

I bought myself a juicer.

Did I ever tell you how much I like my insurance company?

(What on earth does that have to do with anything?)

Wait a second...I'm trying to tell a story.

My insurance company gives a $50 gift reward for all

it's diabetic patients who complete all their tests and screenings for the year.

Last year I completed all mine, filed the paper work and waited...

and in the mail came my reward.

I was able to choose from various companies that

sell sports equipment, exercise items, and so on

and so forth.

So I bought this $140 juicer that was on sale for $99.00.

Subtract my $50.00 gift certificate

and........my 10% off electronics coupon.

****DRUM ROLL HERE****

I paid $45.39 out of my pocket for this super-duper juicer.

Now I'm gettin juiced!

Broccoli Booster

Yum! This one I will definitely repeat.

Broccoli is a super food ~ it's packed with calcium,

antiviral and antibacterial nutrients.

Great health benefits.

The recipe calls for: eating apples -

(I assume they meant a basic red apple, but I had Granny Smiths)

broccoli and 1 Tbsp of lemon juice.

The photo doesn't do it justice, it was much greener.

The other one I've tried only has these two ingredients,

carrots & clementines.

I failed to get a photo of this one, which they labeled Bright Eyes,

but I think it should have the word sunshine in it's name.

The directions said that you could put the clementines

through with their skins on for some extra tang.

I will repeat this drink as well, only next time I

think maybe I'll try half the clementines without the skins

and 1/2 with their skin on, it was

a bit to zesty for my taste buds.

We all know the benefits of Vitamin C on your immune system and

Vitamin A is essential for healthy vision.

It was very, very refreshing.

My recipe book has 160 recipes for smoothies & fruit juices

but right now I'm trying to stick to mostly veggie creations.

Cicadas

2011-07-16T20:55:00.000-04:00

I know next to nothing about Cicadas.

I had to look them up to make sure I was spelling it correctly

and identifying it right.

There are over 15,000 species, so I didn't keep looking until

I found one that looked just like this, but found

some very similar.

Apparently according to the distribution map we should have them

here in Michigan, but I don't think I've ever seen one.

When they call in unison they make a very loud humming noise.

It was kind of hard to see with it being green

and her holding it in front of her green beach robe.

Sydney loves bugs and all types of animals.

She's not afraid to pick them up or hold them at all.

I remember another little girl like that, my niece Taryn.

Taryn would catch bugs and caterpillars and let them

climb all over her.

I asked Sydney to hold it sideways against the white background,

so I could get a better shot.

As you can see it was quite large.

She's being a very good big sister and showing it to Griffin.

He would probably have held it too, but we were

on our way to the pool, so we had to let it go and

get moving. It was HOT!

New Park Excursion

2011-07-15T23:34:00.002-04:00

I just found out about this park that's not far from our home.
We went to check it out on Thursday. Daniela absolutely loved it.
We will be going back again soon. I love the matted turf. No
wood chips or hard packed earth.

This is only the first section. It has such neat elements. The second part of the playground, was for older kids. Daniela managed to find a couple things to do, It was very hot that day.

What's really cool is this playground has a bathroom, and a drinking fountain. Yeah!

Ice Cream Cones with Sprinkles!

2011-07-14T21:04:00.001-04:00

Last year I made these ice cream cones, for just Sydney & I,

but this year we had three ice cream cone tasters.
Well not really cone tasters, the cones are not edible, but
really a crock type dish.
I think my daughter bought them at Ikea.
The ice cream however; is very real and so are the sprinkles
....I've never met a kid who didn't love them.

This past week I've been fixing up some of my
most recent pictures on a website called picnik.com
And here's the pics of the three tasters that I edited.

Please leave a comment as to which picture you like the best.

Yes, I know the kids are all adorable, they are my grandchildren

of course they are.

Remember, it's not a cutest kid contest,

it's the best picture contest.

Water Play Part II

2011-07-13T20:32:00.000-04:00

Follow up to Rub a Dub

Clad only in swimmies & 50+ Sunscreen,

these two would have happily played all day long in the back yard.

From the knees down and the elbows down their skin is almost

the same shade of tannedness ( I'm sure there is such a word).

While Griffin is a rough and tumble boy,

his cousin Daniela is a little bit more hesitant to try

new things and get to far out of sight.

Daniela is the taller of the two, though she is 6 weeks younger.

Fresh clean water, "looks fine, Mom" says Griffin.

Caught in the act........

Sissy looks a bit under-hydrated maybe pouring some

on her head will help.

The kids had a blast, no matter if they were in the water or out.

He put them on, all by himself.

Little boy and their toys.

Looking for pictures in the clouds.

Looking for trouble.

Mr. Tripod, they called him when he was younger,

I wonder why?

Sibling Bonds

2011-07-13T08:36:00.001-04:00

These pictures were not posed for I just happened to be ready with the camera.

And I'm glad I was.

Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.

~Vietnamese Proverb

Siblings are the people we practice on,

the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation

and kindness and caring - quite often the hard way. ~Pamela Dugdale

My Brother

Born with ten little fingers & ten little toes
A beautiful face with a button little nose

Now almost two and many more years to go

He is a brother I will always love and know

He is my present, past and future

Even though he can’t get much cuter

So listen to me today

Hear what I’m trying to say

I love my brother in a very special way!

•First a brother, then a bother, now a friend. ~ Unknown

Doesn't that last verse just say it all?

4th of July

2011-07-12T11:50:00.000-04:00

You can also do fireworks if you pay for the premium services.

Me I just try the free stuff.

Someone who shall remain anonymous is having a bad day.

Not this little guy, someone else.

Whiny doesn't even begin to cover it.

We went for a play date and had to come back home,

because they couldn't quit fussing about every little thing!

I hope this anonymous person is not getting sick.

Update - The butcher, The baker & Candlestick maker

2011-07-11T20:35:00.000-04:00

I just couldn't resist trying to make this one

on picnik.com