Not Staged

I took this photo recently, simply because Miss Betty Sprinkles looked funny the way she was stretched out.

There seems to be a lot going on, though, besides a funny dog position. To the right, you will see Cordelia's head. I guess she was stretched between our two recliners...don't know why.

The best, though, is when you notice Maria has her nose plugged.  Apparently Miss Betty Sprinkles was feeling very much at home and relaxed. Yep...she'd just tooted.

What kind of person writes a post about a tooting dog?!

Another Chapter of Crazy!

The other night, during our regularly scheduled family night, something unexpected happened. I was victimized. Yes. I was victimized and the perpetrators were my own flesh and blood. I still can't believe it happened, but it did. Here's what went down...

Most of the evening Mike was antagonizing Maria with that old green squirt bottle. He just kept annoying her. I really wasn't paying much attention as I was serving dinner, etc. Maybe I was just glad he wasn't annoying me.

After dinner, I was sitting at our table when Maria got up to go to the bathroom. I was just relaxing, enjoying the granddaughters and all. My moment of relaxation came to a splashing halt when I looked up just in time to to take a FULL AND LARGE glass of water right in the face! It took a second for me to realize just what had occurred.

Maria, apparently did not need to potty. She'd gone to the bathroom where she knew I had a large plastic drinking glass used to rinse out the bathtub. As she returned down the hall with that full glass, we could not see her. However, Mike noticed the dogs looking down the hall with some excitement. Being the sinister soul that he is, he recognized that evil was about to happen. I was still blissfully unaware.

Maria planned to come around the corner and surprise her spray-bottle-toting father with a full glass of water. Mike, though, was at the corner already aiming. He squirted her and dove to the side. Guess what?! I was sitting right behind him and looked up to see what was going on, just in time to get a face full. As I sat there with my glasses dripping and my clothing soaked, I saw the horrified look on Maria's face.

I cracked up! Maria would never have done such a thing to me. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. Maria laughed so hard she fell to the floor. Elise was scared! What must have been going through her little mind? You could see she was worried about me and didn't want anyone to hurt her grandma. Yet, it was her beloved Momma who committed the crime. She was clearly distressed so we both tried to comfort her.

As I sat back down, catching my breath, another surprise came dashing around the corner. The second perpetrator was shorter, much shorter, but she had the same glass, again full of water. I know what you are thinking, "Oh no she diii-nt!"  The answer to that is OH YES SHE DID! She just wanted to join the fun. Her aim was an exact repeat of her mother's. We had a repeat of all the laughter as Maria tried to explain why Cordelia shouldn't throw glasses of water at her grandma.

Eventually, we all settled down. I sloshed for quite awhile but I eventually dried. We simply added another chapter of crazy to our family storybook.

Pussy Willows and Pelicans

Yesterday was the day! It happens to me every Spring. I get all excited about digging in the ground and planting things. One of my favorite days of the year is when Maria and I take the girls and we go off to buy fresh plants.

It was a beautiful day to do it!  We were enjoying a warm, sunny day with the girls. It was so much fun to look at all the pretty trees, bushes and flowers. We were at an outdoor display and there were little birds flying around us and even a little bunny hiding under one of the displays. Elise and Cordelia were charming me as they shared their thoughts with me.

At one point, Maria called across a row of bushes, telling me to look up.  This is what I saw overhead. Actually, they seemed a lot closer and more clear in person, but this is the best I could do with my phone camera.

It was pelicans! They are not a common sight around here, but they do come through from time to time. I'd only ever seen a few at a time but this was an impressive flock. There were probably about twice as many as you can see in this photo. Yes, I did worry a bit about what could fall on us, but nothing bad happened and it was just such a cool sight!

When I got home, I had a lot of ground prep work to do so I didn't actually plant my new plants. I was already in bed when I looked up the weather on my Kindle and when I saw how cold it was going to be, I had to get up and go out on our deck to drag them all in. It was a good thing I did as today was quite chilly.

As you can see, it was no longer sunny and bright today, but I still wanted to take a photo of my favorite new bush. It is a pussy willow and I am delighted with it.

Isn't it cool!

I love the little flowers, or whatever they are called.

They make me think of asteroids or something.

But look at them from this view.

Actually, look past them.

Do you notice that our lawn is once again white?

Yes, that is snow.

Again.

It is melting quickly, though.

This afternoon, everything was dripping outside.

I enjoyed how all these drops lined up, waiting their turn to drip.

But inside our kitchen, on our counter, it looks like Spring.

Is it warm where you are yet?

You Raise Me Up

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

Chicago!

We had a fun night Wednesday! We went to Chicago!  No, not THAT Chicago.

This Chicago...

OK, I realize that is not a great photograph. That was the best I could do. Oh, that is not true. I could have been like some people and just walk right up to the stage to click photos. That's really not my style, though. Too bad for you guys!

I was vaguely aware of Chicago (the band) when I was in high school. I'm sure some of you are gasping, wondering if I lived under a rock or what. Here's the deal. We did not get good radio reception and often not even good television reception. I just wasn't really exposed to a lot of the music. So now, I'm a bit of a late bloomer.

When I heard they were coming here, though, I purchased tickets as a birthday gift to Mike. As I was finishing up my workday on the Wednesday before last, I mentioned that I was going to the concert that evening. Thank goodness I made that statement to a friend who also had tickets to it. She was able to tell  me that I was a week early! I guess that is better than a week late but good grief!

Anyway, THIS Wednesday we went. We don't live in a big city so when we do get such performances here, it is in the middle of the week when the bands are on their way from somewhere to somewhere else. We like to support them when we can, even if it means we're going to be tired for work the next day.

Here's the sad truth about me though. I didn't even know what this group sang. A few days before, though, Mike started singing some songs to me and I knew them! I guess they've been part of the background music of my life.

The concert was really fun. I was stunned by the amount of talent on that stage! Man, those guys could play just about anything, and play it well! When we left, I wanted to know more about them so I laid in bed that night, long after Mike was sleeping, and Googled them. I learned that they formed in 1967 and that 5 of them are still the original guys! Isn't that amazing? I can't imagine how many times they've sung each of those songs, yet they still managed to act as though they were really enjoying themselves.

Take a look at this... it was filmed when I was in the 6th grade! They've now been making music together for over 40 years! Listen to this for a few minutes or all the way through if you'd like. Even if it isn't your favorite kind of music, I think you will agree that they are very talented people.

Who were your favorite musicians when you were in high school?

Gardening

This is the time of year when everyone is excited to get out and work in their yards. Apparently, even people who are not yet two years old are ready to get to work as well.

Elise found some pretty little flowers blooming. I heard her Mom tell her that she needed to leave them alone.

Elise, however, thought they'd look prettier transplanted near the tree.

She doesn't know about roots and such so she didn't bother with all that.

Just the petals were transplanted.

I suppose a good Grandma would have stopped her, but I decided to just photograph the moment.

My bad...

Night Shift

Sam works nights, when we are all safely tucked into our beds. Still, we expect him to show up for family functions in the daytime. He's a good sport...

Have you ever worked a night shift? It's hard! Sam says he prefers it but I never got used to it. Once, coming home about 8:00 a.m. after a 12 hour + night shift, I scared myself. I dozed off! It was one of those split-second naps but I had to jerk the wheel to keep from taking out the fence of people just a few houses from our own. That really was frightening. After that, when I had to work that night shift, I left work with a cup of ice from the ice machine. As I drove home (about 15-20 minutes) I just kept dropping bits of ice down my shirt. It worked!

Even after coming home that tired, I'd crawl into bed and fall right to sleep but wake up 2 hours later thinking it was time to get up. That night shift is so confusing to a body!

Recently we were talking about a time when we moved the morning after I'd worked a night shift. In fact, I'd worked 8 hours during the day on Friday, napped and then worked an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. Mike and his friend, Terry, moved our bed that morning and I made it and went to sleep. When I awoke, we were moved in. That was the weirdest move ever! Maria was two years old so it must have been a tricky day for Mike as well, but I snoozed through it.

Do you have any night shift stories? I hope I never have to work a night shift again but I am so grateful for those who do.

Behind The Final Photos

OK, one more day of Easter photos... but with a twist.

After showing all the pictures of our perfect little granddaughters, I decided it would be kind of fun to show the  not-so-perfect photos. I think you may enjoy them.

Let's start with this pretty little girl. Cordelia really has a big, big heart. Recently, after I mentioned how nice it would be if we bought a house that was for sale in their neighborhood she said, "Well, why don't you?" I told her it was a lot of work to move so she offered to help. So, I told her it cost money to buy a new house so she told me we could share her family's money. After a pause she did admit that she didn't know if that was ok with her parents but that it was ok with her. She also mentioned that her piggy bank was full and that she didn't need that money. Now that is one sweet little person!

However, she does get a bit tired of me trying to capture those sweet photos of her. At one point Sunday she told me I needed to just take videos because she just couldn't stand still. Then, she decided I might enjoy some different looks...

The One-Eyed Girl

 The Girl With the Serious Underbite

 The Girl Who Can't Open Her Eyes

 The Girl With The Stretched Down Face

 The Yelling Girl

I wanted the little girls, then, to pose together. It started off pretty sweet but as I kept clicking, things rather deteriorated. Apparently, Cordelia was really bugging Elise. It seemed Elise could handle the situation, though, so I just kept taking photos.

And I already posted a nice photo of their parents. Here's a taste of what it took for me to get to that photo.

I don't know how professional photographers do it!

And this last bit doesn't really have anything to do with photos but it made me laugh. Our borrowed family member, Laura, was talking to me before we went to Maria and Eric's for Easter Dinner.  I told her I had made some rolls to take but that they really didn't taste too good.  Without missing a beat she said, "I LOVE rolls that don't taste good!

Grab Some Potato Chips!

I have so much sweetness to share today, you are going to need some potato chips to counteract all that sweet!

I took a ridiculous number of photos yesterday. Well, YOU try to resist snapping photos of little girls all dressed up and feeling beautiful! You won't believe it but I've actually done a lot of editing. I'm shameless, I know. This time in our lives is fleeting, though, and I want to absorb every bit of it. Also, these girls have other grandparents/aunts/uncles who may enjoy seeing these photos.

Hey! Why am I explaining myself to you anyway? It's my blog and I'll post lots of grandma photos if I want to!