Little Lady A ~ July Visit

I was so happy that Jenny brought the Little Tykes along for vacation!  I hadn't seen them in quite some time.  So sad. Sniff, sniff.

Anyway . . . . Little Lady A is growing into such a beautiful little thing ~ can't stop staring at her!

She is such a little mommy.  It cracks me up.  She dotes over her babies and she expects everyone else to do the same.  For example:  The Big Boy.  He was requested to hold and look after her babies.  He wanted no parts of that. She was insistent.  I think he lost the first battle.

 

 She tucked her TWO babies around him for safe keeping.  He looks somewhat amiss, don't ya think?  He refused to hold them.  She was not at all pleased with that response.  She was not pleased with him.  As a matter of fact she didn't like him.  At any given time one of her conversations with others concerning Big Boy went like this:

 

Bystander:  "Do you like Uncle Ben?"

Little Lady A:  "No."

Bystander:  "Why not??"

Little Lady A: "He won't hold my babies."

 

Plain and simple.  You don't like to hold my babies, I don't like you. 

Well now.  How's that for a "kiss my tail" attitude feisty?

 

The Big Boy had become her nemesis.  She could not conquer him.  She only tolerated him.

 

So it didn't hurt any that Itty Bitty understood her need for "mothering".  They got along quite well.

It also didn't hurt that all three of them L. O. V. E. Doc McStuffins.  The only victim in that scenario was poor Audie Dog.

 

But they took good care of her.  Fixed her up and sent her on her way.  No harm, no fowl.


Looks to me as if she's teaching Catie Bug all the "ins and outs" of the World Wide Web.  It also looks to me as if she has multi-tasking down ~ teaching and watching TV.  And, seems she letting her "babies" run amuck over there! Are they wrestling???   Tsk.  Tsk.  And she does all this with the style and grace of a Little Princess. 

 

 

"Tell me Catie, how does that make you feel?"

 

Little Lady A is full of life and vigor. 

 

 She seizes the moment and still takes time to "ponder".

 

 

 

 

 

 And . . . if you really want a friend for life, just break out the books or a tablet

and snuggle up to read (or play a game)!

 

 

 

She has quite obviously stolen hearts ~ and why not?  Just look at all that adorableness!



 

 

 

 

Little Boy Blue ~ July Visit

I know you know this Little Fella stole my heart the moment I laid eyes on him!  He just did.  I have no words for it.  But, alas, Little Boy Blue, he is a'growin'. 

And he still melts my heart. 

I think he has taken favor to "someone" and "someone" has taken favor to him (although he won't admit it).

Big  Boy couldn't get too far out of Little Boy's sight.  He made sure he shadowed every move the Big Boy made.  We discovered Little Boy was smitten with baseball!  He would sit with Big Boy and watch all day long if he could.  It was priceless to watch him "hit the ball (with what ever would work as a bat), throw his "bat", run the bases and slide!  We know what his calling is!

Watching the Home Run Derby
on the computer
 

Then there was the fishing ~ yep ~ even though Little Boy didn't get to fish didn't mean he didn't have a shared interest with the Big Boy.

 

 

Let's just see what we can find online to spark our "creative juices" or maybe some sweet boat to pine after.  Who cares as long as it involves a fishing pole, lures, water and a boat!  And speaking of boats, let's just see what Big Boy is up to with his!

A key!

There's lights and buttons
and switches!

Train 'em young we say.  No need to wait 'til they're old and set in their ways.  Nope.

And if it wasn't bad enough he had stolen my heart, Goldilocks was just as smitten with him as me!
She couldn't get enough of him.  Can't say I blame her. 

Be still my beating heart!

I wanted to just put him in a box and hide him until they had gone back home.  I just WANT TO KEEP THAT BOY!

July 4th ~ Part 2

This year's celebration included a birthday celebration as well.  There are two of us who fall just before or just after the Fourth.  I already had my cake ~ and ate it too!

This year the birthday that followed was a milestone year for the youngest of my sibs.  She hit the BIG 50!  I think she may have been a little bummed 'cause the word on the street was that she was thinking of not coming this year.  Eek.  Panic.  Think, girl, think!  What to do, what to do?

I, maybe, would have let it roll, but there were two quite lovely surprises waiting for her here. She didn't know we were celebrating her and we couldn't let her bail.  Nope.  No way. No how.  Scurrying for a reason to call and expect her here without spilling the beans and ruining the surprise deemed tricky.  But being the oldest does have its perks sometimes.  I just simply told her what time everyone would be here to eat and said I'd see her then.  Period. End of story.  Now, hang up that phone before it all goes south!

Waiting game. 

I think she was quite surprised when she arrived and I sent her to the pantry to retrieve something for me.  Quite surprised indeed.

 Her two baby girls had managed to come "home" for her birthday celebration.  We hid them in the pantry.  You can't see her, but Nichole is on the other side (those are her shiny red nails).  I think Mama may have cried ~ just a little.  Sometimes it's the small things in life that give it the sweetest flavor.

There were a LOT  the perfect number of candles on that cake!

Then there was McKenna.  Turning 7!  How can this be?  Whew.  Time ~ you need to slow down.

I want this girl.

The day was great.  Happy kids + Happy adults = Happy Hearts!  Just.  That.  Simple.

Jump-starting July

It seems it took forever for July to get here.  Waiting on my gang from Kentucky seemed endless.  Now we are almost halfway thru the month and it seems a blur.  So, lest I forget, I shall start from the beginning and move forward (backward?), perhaps with sprinklings of "now" scattered in between. (or perhaps not). 

My boy didn't forget my birthday.  He left abruptly for town and returned with a birthday coffee for me from Starbucks.  He also took a giant leap in his culinary skills and decided to bake me a cake.  This is impressive in a couple ways:  1.  He doesn't like to cook anything that isn't chicken, pork, beef or fish related.   2. Putting something in the oven is NOT his cup of tea.

So imagine my delight when he decided to do this for his Mama.  The only downfall was the cake choice.  He was certain that Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting was my favorite.  Um, nope.  Not even close.  It's his dad's.  Bless his heart!  But, kudos to him for giving it thought.  The only way to fix that is to bake a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for his dad!

 

He's leaning on my baby!  Should I be concerned?

 

Scraping the bowl. 

 

Patting it out.  He said it is like smoothing concrete.  You pat it gently

to get the air bubbles out so it will "settle" nicely. 

I'm so grateful it didn't set up like concrete!

 

 

I love it when he cooks!  It means I don't have to he will survive on his own!  It was a delicious cake ~ even though it wasn't my favorite.  He did well.  He will be a keeper for some lucky girl. 

 

I got to celebrate it with Hubs, Ben, the Man, the Beast and Sarah Sponda.  She made sure I had candles to blow out on my cake and she made them sing "Happy Birthday" to me.  That was kind of like trying to force a child to eat green peas so nice of her!

It was a nice way to jump start our July. 

So, Alicia, keep a weathered eye open for upcoming events!

TTFN

We're Back. . . .

Still playing catch up here.  Summer vacation raged through our summer like a forest fire on dry kindling. 

Getting home after twelve hours in the back of an SUV with just enough leg room for a five year old takes its toll even on the youngest of us.  But we lived to tell about it!

I was holding my breath on the strawberries this year.  I was afraid they would be done by the time we got back home from KY.  But it was all good.  Plenty of berries to be had if we just worked for them.  This was Hope's first year picking.  I can't imagine not having a berry field nearby.  But they don't, so Eastern Shore Berries it was!

Hope and Sarah teamed up.

 

 

 

Looking for Rubies.

 

 

Our bounty.  (First go-round)

After they'd eaten what they could hold, it was Hope's turn to serve up some Strawberry Pie!  The process never changes.  Just the cook.  The recipe was handed down several moons ago by a sweet lady we attended church with.  I found out just this summer that it was handed down to her by a sweet lady.  I could tell you what it is, but then I'd have to kill ya.   tee-hee

Mixin' up the syrup

Oooooo. . . . . ahhhhhh. . . . . liquid Rubies!

Pouring the liquid Rubies over the red Rubies!
Makes me drool just looking at the picture.

Hope did a great job with the pie. Now all we had to do was wait for it to set up and add some homemade strawberry whipped cream.    It was  To.  Die.  For.

As if that wasn't enough, we made Strawberry Jam.  Hope and Sarah took turns helping.  Each has their own batch to claim. 

I'm supposing the jam will make its way back to KY when we go.  Both girls had to fly home at the end of their stay and couldn't take their bounty with them.  Not to worry.  I will keep it safe. 

About all they had time for was swimming and lounging.  But that was okay.  I was happy to have them here with me.

One of their favorite things to do in the pool.

Another favorite pool activity.  I wonder if you can tell which
sets of girls are most alike?

The week was short.  Very short.  All the girls have grown so much.  Not just my KY gals, but the ones here at home too.  Would it be too much to ask to put time in a bottle for just a little while?

I will leave the summer here for just a day or two.  Another birthday will be celebrated tomorrow.  (Told ya about those September birthdays.) 

 I'll be back after that ~ Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

Well, Hello There!

It's been a 'coon's age since I've actually written a bona-fide post.  Nothing but birthday acknowledgments.  Not that they aren't important, 'cause we had some milestones this year, but more has gone on around here than birthdays (although by the look of all the birthday posts one would think we were a family of rabbits ~ just sayin'). 

So, I figured I had better get something written about this summer because September is LOADED with more ~ need I say it ~ birthdays!  And, school has started and my plate is full of UFO's and I get. tired just thinking about it. 

I have a graduation, strawberry escapades, silly antics, summer fun and life in general to document.  All before it slips from the pages of my mind.

This little post is short and sweet, just a blurb to let you know what is coming in the next few days.
A little head's up ~ it will probably be wordy with picture overload. 

Catch you sooner than later, alligator!

Summertime . . .

It seems it took For. Ev. Er.  for summer to get here!  For.  Ev.  Er!
But, boy when it did, it flew in like it owned the place.  I really enjoyed the cooler days and even cooler nights, but now we have been smacked in the forehead with 90 plus temps.  "Hotter 'n the hinges on hell's gates!" as Kelly would say.  But the kids are enjoying the pool.  Their gingerbread color is proof.  I'm sure Kelly and Paul have stock in the sunscreen industry.

 

June was an easy, cool month for the most part.

 

They swam, and Itty Bitty started learning the doggie paddle.

 

 

Reasy Peacy's Birthday Party

They played Yard Twister

Then we slid into the heat wave month of July! 

HOT, RAINY and HUMID! Not necessarily in that order.  Miserable, but we're surviving.  Family for the Fourth has become a tradition here.  We ate, swam, ate some more, and watched fireworks from the comfort of our deck, and all the while we are swatting the mosquitoes that the monsoons have unleashed upon us this year.  Needless to say, bug spray was a precious commodity!

There's a birthday party about to happen today, too!
 

 

 

Each year our little town has a "parade".  Bicycles are
patriotically decorated and paraded around town! 
Some of our gang - out front waiting to cheer them on! 
Gotta love a little town.

Our fireworks were held on the 5th this year . . . .

due to our share of goodness getting detained by DOT and delaying the whole thing!  Some of the family got to come back to enjoy good times.  Some didn't . . . .

Bomb Pops are the bomb!

 

 



A friend from afar with us this go-round.
Goldilocks, Reasy Peacy, Itty Bitty, Jenny from Ohio, and
Miss Corrinna.



And today Goldilocks and her big sister, Reasy Peacy, left for a week long camp in Stevensville, MD.
It's right on the Chesapeake Bay.  Can I just say.  "I'm jealous of the view."?  Wouldn't you be?



Two weeks into the month.  Summer in full swing.  So much more to do.  But before we know it, we will be school shopping and getting ready for that fabulous season called "Fall".