Fun At Uncle Bob's

Here's the third, and last group of older pictures....
Brother Bob, Uncle Bob, Grandpa Bob.... all depends on your perspective.... hosted an Easter Egg Hunt the day before Easter.  A good time was had by all!

Joeanne entertained the kids with a game of Hot Potato.

Cooper really wanted to play but he doesn't allow himself to mingle for the first ten minutes.

Zak totally gets Joeanne's sense of humor.

Some of the girls thought Barbie might be more fun.

Zak made a new friend.

Loving the wind!

Lots of ground to cover.

Next year Dexter will be ready for the egg hunt. This year he just supervised.

I should've taken pictures of the kids checking out their loot.  Bob filled a bazillion eggs (over 200?) with goodies, candy, gum, money. All this was after a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs and all the trimmings. The first barbeque of the season.  It was a fun family day.

Thanks Bob!

Fun At The Park

Here's another round of those pictures that are too cute not to post....

Justin and Dayna came down to visit shortly after Dayna's surgery. While they were here we had some great weather and spent some time at the park.

Lynzee wanted to run and play with the other kids but she was worried about getting her new pretty shoes dirty.

"Are you sure my feet aren't dragging on the ground? I really don't want to get these shoes dirty."

"Higher Daddy"

They are all so focused on each other ;)

Hmmm.... new hip, carrying baby, walking in the sand.  I predict pain to come.

Binky parking spot.

Fun In The Snow

Don't know how I got so busy or what it was I was doing to be so busy but I have lots of pictures from earlier this year that I think are too cute not to post. Being the Grandma, I may be just a bit prejudiced :)

Anyway, Cooper and his family were here back when we were complaining that Spring just was never going to get here.

He waited patiently for the grownups to get their act together so he could play outside in the snow.

Dexter was toasty warm in his colorful hat.

"Here's some more snow, Dad"

"nice Snowman"


"Yeah! We did it!"

Sixth Picture Posted Game

My blogger friend Jenn of Life in Bonetown invited me to participate in an interesting bit of blogging fun . . . . go back to the start of my blog and find the sixth photo published and repurpose it, or make it current, or ????

Here's my sixth photo.  Son-in-law John and his first born Cooper.  We were at a birthday party for Cooper's cousin Zak.   Look at Cooper's cute chubby cheeks!  He's taller, slimmer and is now two and a half years old and has a younger brother and another cousin.

So much has happened since that day. 

Life goes on... and on... and on...  

Always changing, always an adventure, and always, it seems, with so very many blessings.

Now, the last part of the game is to invite some of my blogging buddies to play the game.  It's just an invite though... not an obligation... only play if it sounds like fun!

Sarah at My Life - A Work In Progress

Sara at Life At The Covered Bridge 

Rae at Us In Tejas  Updated: I just uninvited Rae... she is much too busy, hard at work writing something that's lots more important than a blog post.  Too bad because her posts are ALWAYS entertaining.

Pat at A Little of This and a Little of Pat

Lexi at Tea and Crumpets

Jeanie at Gracie Oliver Arts 

Amy at Foster Momma 2 Little Ones

Double Decker House On Periwinkle Lane

Block 5 (7 more to go)

With this block I learned that if I don't have the exact color called for in the instructions I can substitute and nothing bad will happen!  I'm getting better at french knots.... not perfect, but more of them are turning out tight and pretty than are loose and floppy and messy.  I'm starting to enjoy handwork so much that I'm thinking about sewing a quilt by hand and then hand quilting it.  (Just one!) Or doing some hand applique.  Or both.  Did I really just say that?!

Brown And Pink

This fabric demanded to come home with me.  The colors are so pretty together.

Of course I purchased a few of the others in the collection to go with it. 

I couldn't wait to dive in and start cutting and sewing.  

A quick table topper / wall hanging and I haven't touched the fabric that grabbed me in the first place! I'll enjoy seeing it on the shelf until the perfect project comes along. In the meantime I enjoyed another "finish".

Blooms All Around

The daffodils are finished but now the trees and bushes are in full bloom.

This tree is covered in beautiful white, tinged with very light pink, flowers.  The rest of the year it looks dead.  The first year we lived here I wondered if it should be taken down.  That's how dead it looks. 

With all the petals on the ground already it's amazing how full the Saucer Magnolia tree is still.

These are blooms on one of two peach trees which we didn't discover until our second summer here.

And the second peach tree.  The flowers are lighter in color.  I don't know if that means it's at a different stage in blooming or it's a different variety or what. 

I love the way these trees look in the springtime.... smears of purple all over the edges. The homes on this little stretch of road sport many of these trees.

No idea what this is but the bush is covered with bright white flowers.

I don't know what kind of bush this is either but if you said the name I'd respond "Oh right, that's it."  We had a few of these in the city.

So many beautiful plants on this property planted with care and attention to detail by the previous owner.  All of it needs more care than I know how to give it (though I am learning slowly) and more care than I have time to give it.  Let me rephrase that.... more care than I am willing to give time to.  I enjoy working in the yard but only up to a point and quilting often wins the time battle.

A Needed Finish

A charm pack of OZ by Moda (thank you Sarah!) and a bit of white and, tah-dah, a quick quilt. 

I'm doing some quilting on the frame and have lots of projects that are stalled.  I needed a quick finish just to feel like I accomplished something.  This will also give me something to practice on with some different quilting.  I might be ready to try some feathers.  Maybe.

Welcome Home Adam!

The yellow ribbon was hung . . .

The welcome sign was written on the drive . . .

Spider man was there and a Wubzy representative was in attendance . . .

Dexter and Cooper were there (after a long hard day at the zoo) . . .

The dogs had been trimmed and bathed . . .

. . .  and we waited for Adam.

We had had a sneek peak at him last weekend.  He called Saturday morning to say that he might be getting released that day.  We got ready to leave the house to pick him up while waiting for a call back.  20 minutes later he called and said he wasn't getting released but he was given a 3 day pass.  HURRAY!  We left ASAP and drove to get him.  It was soooooo good to see him and hug him.  We stopped for a quick bite to eat then started the long drive to his home.... lots of time for visiting in the car.  Justin met us in the city and took him the rest of the way.  After his pass Adam drove himself back to the base and finished up all the details and is now DONE!!  FINISHED!!  IT'S OVER!!!

I spent a good part of the week in between that first weekend when we picked him up for his pass and the weekend after he was released calling him... just because I could!  I love hearing his voice answer the phone... or seeing his name on the caller ID if he called us.

It was a nice long weekend with Adam, Sarah, John, Cooper, Dexter, Zak, Caycee, Scott and I.  We missed Justin (someone has to work!) and Dayna and Lynzee but they spent time with Adam that first weekend.  Bittersweet... Dayna's brother left the country the very day Justin's brother landed back in the U.S.

Adam said he hadn't seen any kids the entire time he was gone.  He made up for it this weekend. It seemed like he had a niece or nephew (or several!) around him nearly all the time.  We kept pictures up and talked about Adam with the kids while he was gone and it paid off.  They remembered him and weren't shy at all.  Just before I shot this picture he had the three olders ones - Zak, Caycee & Cooper - on his lap at once.  My camera wasn't fast enough to catch it  :(  or maybe it was the operator that wasn't fast enough.

I've been trying to think of a way to describe how it feels and I keep falling short. You know when you watch a toddler climb the monkey bars alone for the first time and you are holding your breath and then they make down in one piece and you finally breathe. Or when your 16 year old takes the car out for the first time and they come home safe and sound and you relax. Or, if you don't have kids as a reference, you're waiting for a grade on a really important test and you get a good one and your nerves are settled. You don't even realize how tense you have been... you think you are taking it all in stride but it's over and parts of you relax that you just didn't realize had been tensed. It's like all those things only 100 times over. One, big, giant sigh of relief, your shoulders drop, and your heart swells.

Thank you Lord.  And please continue to watch over all our military men and women who are still on active duty wherever they are.