My Post for Saturday 8-16-08

We were all up early on Saturday. Mike had to get to the baseball diamonds at the park across the river. He was playing in the "1st Annual Haunted CuldeSac Softball Tournament". They raised over sixteen hundred dollars for "Firefighters 4 Kids". They also drank a lot of beer and had a lot of fun, so I hear. I had to work all day and Paige and Megan were invited over to Brittany's to play all day. It all worked out well. When I got home I did a little crafting for Megan's best friend Cameron's 7th birthday.

You may click on the photo's for a close up.
I made the birthday card above, I sort of stole the birthday cake idea from my sister, and she probably stole it from Stephanie at www.papergarden.com
Then I made a "C" for Cameron, I added a few sparkles to it just for fun!

I picked up this cute little notebook at "Hobby Lobby" for two bucks, then I fancied it up with rub on letters, scraps of ribbon and some sparkles and glitter. Everything's better when it sparkles!
Then I made this little picture mobile to hang from the ceiling, it is double sided. I used 3 pages from a flower chip board album. I had to punch a few extra holes so I could hang it in a row. I covered the flowers with fun paper, added the pictures, a few embellishments and lots of ribbon and that was it. Megan loves it and has requested one for her room. I have to give my sister some credit, since she gave me the idea for this project. She bought me some chipboard albums while she was here in Feb. and told me they make cute wall hangings. So thanks Sis!

This is the whole front side, please ignore my feet in the picture. I have no idea how that happened.

Megan and Cameron have been the best of friends since they were two. Their older sister's met at kindergarten registration. When Paige and Jordan started kindergarten Megan and Cameron were lost without their big sisters to play with. That is when Gayle and I started getting these two together about once a week for play dates. The rest is history, they have been B.F.F.'s ever since. They are sweet little girls, they have very similar taste and temperaments. Oh, and they take the cutest pictures together too! Like two little peas in a pod.
Here is the other sides, and my darn feet again!

My post for Friday 8-15-08
Mike brought the telescope out on the front walk so the kids could see Jupiter and about 5 of it's moons. Then they put the filter on to look at the moon. When the moon is big and bright you have to use a filter, like sunglasses for the telescope. The moon has been big and yellow the past few nights, a harvest moon.

I see the moon and the moon sees me.
God bless the moon and God bless me.

We stopped by to wish Aunt Deb a Happy Birthday this afternoon. Megan even did a little fashion show, trying on some new school clothes and her ten dollar boots. They all got some boots on (Paige borrowed a pair from Aunt Deb) and they formed an all girl band. They don't have an official name yet, but I'm thinking "The Hottie's in the Kitchen" since they are using wooden spoons and a whisk as microphones. They were singing "I Might Even be a Rock Star", Hannah Montana would be proud....or not!

Aunt Deb We always have fun with you! love & hugs, Paige and Megan

Uncle Dave! xoxoxo Paige & Megan

My post for Tuesday August 12,2008
Yesterday we spent the day at Zoombezi bay, the new water park next to the zoo. We had a blast in the wave pool, lazy river and all the slides. We left the park around 7:30 and had pizza for dinner. On the way home we stopped and got some Graeter's ice cream. When we finally got home we called Pop-pop to sing him Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Pop-pop we love you! xoxoxo Paige and Megan

We are having a little preview of fall today. At nearly 10 a.m. it is only 62 degrees outside and 70 inside. It is supposed to get up to 78 degrees, I'll believe it when I see-feel it! Paige came downstairs a little after 8 a.m. I asked her if she was hungry. She said "I'm more cold than hungry". I sent her upstairs to fetch her robe and blanket, then she settled in on the sofa and her pup got up and helped warm her up. Those pups are good for that.

8/10/08 Today is our (me and Mike) 12th wedding anniversary. We took the girls out to dinner with us at Molly Woo's last night. We were all dressed up and because we were rushing out of the house (it was after 7) we forgot the camera...so no pictures.
I do want to share a picture of our baby Cardinal, he fledged from the nest yesterday. Mike and the girls had fun watching him and listening to his mama and papa cheer-chirp him on. They said the adult birds were very noisy and very involved with the little ones first attempts at flying.

We are pretty proud of Paige!
My post for Saturday 8-09-2008
She's not quite ready for the summer games but she has mastered freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke and backstroke and she's not afraid to dive! She made it up to level 8 out of 10 in the "Swim America" program. Her instructors said that she has mastered all of the strokes with backstroke being her strongest. Here are a few shots I took of her while she was practicing her diving. She also lucked out and was the only kid in her age-skill group so she ended up having private lessons all week. I think that really made a difference.
Click on the photo's for a closer look.

My post for Friday August 8, 2008 (8-08-08)
Happy Birthday Great Grandma, We love you and miss you with all our hearts! xoxoxo Paige and Megan
I was watching the "Today" show earlier and they are over in China getting prepared for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. We are so excited to watch them tonight, the kids didn't even ask to change the channel to cartoons (I'm in shock!). They were talking about the importance of numbers in China and today just happens to be a very lucky day. The number 8 in China is considered the luckiest because when you say the number it sounds like their word for luck. This just happens to be a very lucky day for our family as well.

Today we are celebrating my Grandma's 92nd birthday. I have always thought that her birthday 8-8-16 was very cool, now we know it's lucky too! So with that I wish my Grandma, Marguerite Esther a very happy birthday! We love you with all our hearts. We think of you often and we have many, many happy memories that we have made and shared together. We are truly blessed to have you, and we are proud of everything you have done in your life.

Dear Grandma,

I want to thank you for teaching me so much about living. You have done this my entire life, maybe without even knowing it. But I know that without you I would not be who I am.
You have taught me so much. You have taught me the importance of remembering, by keeping your memories alive and sharing them with me. You have taught me how to bake pies, crust and all. You have given me a love of flowers, teaching me their names, and how to cultivate them from seeds and cuttings. You have taught us the love of the outdoors, the importance of fishing and hunting. You have taught me the art of writing letters and the love of collecting stamps. You have inspired me to be adventurous and to love travel and to be independent. You played cards with us and we always laughed so hard that we cried. You made us popcorn every time we came to visit. You have written down your memories and the history of your family, so that we know who we are and where we come from.I aspire to live a rich full life as you have done. Thank you for being the person you are and for playing such an important part in making me who I am today. I love you with all my heart, BrandiAnd here are some photos that I took a few weeks ago while I was visiting my sister's house. Grandma lived in a little cottage behind Shann and Steve's we still refer to it as "Grandma's house". These pictures remind me of Grandma because she spent so much time in the garden. When she moved to Shann and Steve's house they had a pretty nice yard with a big above ground pool for the kids. A year or so after Grandma came the pool went to make room for more garden space. Grandma also helped dig one of the holes that is home to one of the two ponds they have. She used to dig worms and hand feed the "Three Amigo's" (turtles). Shann's yard is full of Grandma memories for all of us.

These were Grandma's garden shoes...she recycled them into a planter. These "green people" think they invented recyling. They forgot about the generation that lived through the depression...they were the one's that invented recycling.
One of Grandma's canna's. She sent some Canna tuber's to me about 4 years ago, wrapped in damp paper towels in a zip lock bag. They grow in a large pot on our pation. I was amazed when I saw some at Anderson's in a one gallon pot that sold for fifteen dollars.
Above is another recycled pot that Grandma planted succulents in. I love that they are growing in a collander. Only Grandma could think of that!

Here is one of the turtle's that Grandma used to spoil. They would hear her calling to them and come swimming up for a treat. If anyone else would come up calling they would just dive into the depths of the pond and hide out.
Ki-Ki cat used to be Grandma's shadow in the garden.

My post for Thursday 08-07-08

These are the flowers that we are sending Great Grandma for her 92nd. birthday tomorrow. They had one that was a whole cake on a cake stand but it was mostly white flowers with a little pink. We thought these sunflowers and yellow rose were more suited to our grandmas love of bright cheerful flowers. I love the green mums in the center...they really set it all off!
1-800-FLOWERS® Slice of Life™

My post for Wed. 8-06-08
I was sitting in the kitchen and heard our papa cardinal twittering so I quickly grabbed the camera and got these two shots (through the window) before he returned to the nest.

My post for Tuesday 8-05-08

Paige and Megan started swim lessons on Monday. We had some thunderstorms that started around 2:30 a.m. but the rain had stopped by 9 a.m. Luckily their lessons are not until 10:30 a.m. so it was not too cold to swim.
They are doing the "Swim America" lessons. They are group lessons that are taught by the lifeguards and they go on at the same time. If you are improving they move you up to the next level. On Monday they started both girls in level 5 to see what their skills are. Paige moved up to level 6 after about 10 minutes by the end of the first day they had moved her to level 7. She is lucky, because she is the only one in her group so she is basically getting private lessons. The life guard was impressed by her backstroke. She said "out of all the kids she has taught she has not seen one that has as strong a backstroke as Paige."



Yesterday Paige started learning the butterfly and breast strokes. She is doing very well. She is also learning to dive.

Megan is in level 5 with 3 other kids, two girls and a boy. She is doing very well, she has just about mastered breathing to the side when she swims freestyle. She is also doing a great job of listening to her teacher, now if only the other kids would follow her example.

Since we returned home from vacation I have noticed a male cardinal flying around, sitting on the wall of our patio, and sitting in the Bay Leaf Magnolia at the corner of the house. I didn't think much of it until Mike was out trimming the shrubs by the dining room window. He called Paige to bring the camera and they got this shot of the baby as the momma sat in a nearby bush scolding him (Mike). Now that I know we have a little family in the bushes I will be more careful when turning on the sprinklers.
Hard to believe that little thing could grow up to look like this...

Hey it's Megan Montana! Did ya know?
"She Might Even Be A Rock Star"


Here's a little background on the get up above. Megan went to Olivia's "Hannah Montana" themed birthday this afternoon. They had a stage in their garage-party room and the girls were taking turns performing. When Megan came home she did her own stage hairdo (thank goodness there was no stage make up). The sunglasses are new, she got them from Aunt Deb and Bud for her birthday. She also made the necklaces with her pop bead set. Notice the "Hannah Montana" tatoo on her arm...from the party of course!

Zinnia's proof that you reap what you harvest. Last year at the end of summer, start of autumn Paige and I harvested seeds from our zinnia's and marigolds out front. We scattered some of the zinnia seeds in the flower bed on the western edge of our patio. We returned from vacation to find happy zinnia's blooming in the sun.
Have you ever had a feeling of being watched as you go about your normal every day routine. As I was making my way out to gather some thyme for our potato's last night I found this guy-gal giving me the eye. I quickly ran to grab the camera, after getting a few shots I let the kids come take a look at it. They even asked to go sit on the step so they could get a better look. I said sure, I knew the little gardner snake would be more likely to make a run er slither for it than anything else. They watched it slither along the wall behind the flower pots. It acted like it was going to go down to the grass, but then it turned went back along the wall and then hid out in the little firewood pile in the corner.


Here are a few of our other wild critters, Paige and Megan after a day at the pool.
When Mike got home he found this little tree frog in our fountain. Click on the photo to enlarge.

My Grandma will be 92 one week from today. This is one of my favorite pictures from our vacation. We had stopped by to see Grandma on our way to see a movie (Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-D). The girls had their vibrant blue-turquoise dresses on. When we were at Kohl's one day before vacation, Megan had seen that polk a dotted dress and loved it. She said it reminded her of her favorite swim suit from last season. The colors reminded me of my Grandma. Turquoise blue is one of her favorite colors, that and purple. When she had her camper the one she drove to Alaska it was done in purple and turquoise blue, I remeber thinking it was really cool as a kid. I'm glad that I bought Paige and Megan these vibrant dresses, that remind me of my grandma, and I'm glad I had them wear them when we visited that day. Some things are just meant to be.