Going Green is not Going Great

This "Going Green" stuff is not going too great in the Downes household:
A certain head of the house comes out of the bathroom today and says " what's up with this new toilet paper? You can see yourself through it!"
Oh well....So much for my first attempt to going green. I guess I'll go back to buying my same ole Northern toilet paper on the next trip to the grocery store and leave the "going green" to the view from our porch:)

Both boys' impressions

I think it is worthy to blog that after our two 6 year old grandsons' time here with Lolli and Pops this weekend BOTH of their mothers have now reported to me that the following little incident made a big impression on them:
We were outside playing on the neighbor's playset this weekend and our little neighbor friend (another 6 year old) told them that his little brother(age almost 4) got his mouth washed out with soap that day for calling his brother "stupid" and saying the word "butt". Both eyes of both the grandsons immediately met mine at that moment. I asked if either of them had ever had their mouths washed out. They said no. I then told them that I had mine washed out when I was a little girl for spitting in my friend's face when I was mad about something she did. And I very pointedly told them that I NEVER spit in any one's face again.

I couldn't help but think of the many other things I expected them to tell their mothers about from our time together. But it was THIS incident that stuck with them and it makes me know that they are watching and listening and learning from others. I am pretty sure and hope they will think twice before they use both those two words again!

On another conversation that took place with the boys this weekend was the topic of "our soul and our spirit" (we had just heard the word used in a song). One said "your soul is what you are when you go to Heaven with Jesus". The other said "no, it is your spirit that goes to heaven". They continued to challenge each other whether it is a spirit or a soul. I chose to help them end the challenge by telling them " heaven is going to be the most wonderful place for our spirit-soul to rest and live eternally with Jesus and there will be no more tears or fights or troubles there." They both said "yeah" and we all smiled at the pure thought of Heaven!

Boys Will Be Boys

After the communion celebration in Montgomery, we brought the 6 year old cousins, Harrison and Brendan home for a "boys night" with Lolli and Pops. We first stopped at Auburn's Annual City Fest and they had a ball.


Harrison caught the only fish of the group here! I was so touched as sweet little Brendan just cheered him on even though he wanted to catch one more than anything else we did at the festival. I was so proud of how happy he was for his cousin yet did not feel sorry for himself as most 6 year olds would have in his place.

I cheered as Brendan won the race in the bouncey speed race house :)





the neighborhood boys came over for a magnetic dart board game and lollipops :)


BOYS WILL BE BOYS....with their dirty feet!



They had fun coloring their own pillowcase to take home.


And as always, they had lots of fun dressing up and putting on a skit for us.

This silly faces game has about seen it's last day because every grandchild loves it!


Of course we had to take a walk to see the horses the next morning and on the way Brendan and Harrison had so much fun putting bugs in their pockets and having a roley poley race and touching worms on the sidewalk. BOYS WILL BE BOYS!





BOYS WILL BE BOYS!
Our scavenger hunt started out with rhyming clues for the boys to find things outside our house. They got to put a bug sticker on the paper each time they found the clue. Brendan found the golf ball and the bee buzzing while Harrison found a real live turtle (not planned)! The bird nest was empty but they were happy to find at the end of the hunt, a prize (each one got a giant plastic bug in their prize bag with a few other things) hidden in the garage fridg!








Harrison would have nothing less than taking this turtle home with him so with taking the risk of upsetting his mother, we carted "turtwig" all the way back to Montgomery the next day in a bucket. Harrison said finding the turtle was his favorite part of the whole visit while Brendan told us he loved the scavenger hunt the best.

Have I told yall lately how much I love being Lolli?

Sydney's 1st Communion

Saturday was Sydney Downes' 1st communion, a very special day in her life. I didn't get a chance to photo everyone in the family but we enjoyed visiting together and eating a delicious lunch cooked by Penny and her sister, Sherry. Here's a look at the collage of pictures taken:


Alex had fun going from lap to lap during the service.


Lauren turned 12 this weekend too. She is our budding actress and was headed back to Atlanta after our lunch to be in a play that night.
Beckett was a good 2 year old to sit for an hour's service!

Kimberly wrapping a gift among many other helping duties she did this day(she is a GREAT helper at these family meals:) and photographer too)
Chad and his cousin, "Boomer"(who happens to also be my hair stylist except I call him James!)
Jack and his sister, Gaynell

Jeff and Penny, the proud parents.

(Penny I want that crab casserole recipe. Then I'll share it with the blog world too!)

Highlights from this week

Well, besides seeing a snake in my driveway on Monday and not knowing where the sneaky thing crawled off to after getting run over 3 times, the only highlights of this week that are worth blogging about are:finishing this book on our porch with the most gorgeous weather and birds all around me. All you girls who ever had a maid growing up, this is a must read! (I miss Inez)

and my Sonic ice- just drive up to a Sonic, ask for a bag of ice to go home, pay $2 and your ice water and diet drinks will never taste the same without a glass of this ice!
I was right on- about not having as many highlights as last week!

This Monday ain't ordinary

This Monday started out very ordinary. Jack leaves early for his classes he takes(1.The Economy of our world and 2.The Greatest Architectural Achievements of the World = both would bore me to tears but hey, opposites we are, and I am glad he has many other senior friends here in Auburn who share that interest too)...so I jump into my routine of washing clothes, I straighten the house up, I glance out my porch door to see my birds and see this colorful duo:

and then I see this rose breasted grosbeak on the birdcake for the 1st time this spring!

and then I see the indigo buntings and the yellow finches having a little party out there


all this is somewhat ordinary for a Monday to me.
At 12 noon, the phone rings and it is Jack. I think, as I am looking at caller ID, "well, he is going to offer to pick us up a sandwich on the way home, how sweet" but I also think "no, we ate fast food 3 times recently, I thought he was tired of it". Then I pick up the phone and he says with a little emotion "I am in the driveway. If you want to see a snake in our driveway before I run over him you better come to the front door NOW".
Can you say, "heart of mine stop beating so fast NOW"! Oh My! I looked out the front door windows and I felt as if I was looking at Satan right between his eyes. He and his 4 foot slimey body was just a moving back and forth having himself a good ole time scratching his snakeskin tummy on OUR driveway (how dare him)! Jack then proceeds and drives straight over his middle and he rared up and stayed in one place...I run to get my camera then....

so Jack backs up and guns the car again over him and some of the insides squish out (GROSS... I know but you need all the details)

and then I see my husband back up one more time and gun his beloved car straight for the snake's head and he missed it but looked to us and from the sound I heard inside this house, he snapped the neck and Mr. snake curls up right there and started his death sentence. Jack looks proud and pulls into the garage and we both survey the dying snake from a distance.

After calming down for the next 10 minutes, we walked away to start some kind of lunch making (not really hungry after that kind of excitement but it is our routine ya know). Jack states that he will go out to the driveway AFTER lunch and clean up "the mess". 10 minutes later, I go over to the window to keep an eye on "the mess" and Oh my gosh, he is gone! That neck that snapped and those beady little eyes that were on our driveway now are off somewhere between our property and let's hope the golf course woods. No rest for the snake weary, that's for sure.
I write all this with great hesitation because of my grandchildren and their parents who read this. I will always be overprotective when we play outside, don't you worry! It is inevitable that snakes will be around when you live near a golf course and the woods but at times like this, I am reminded of just how careful we need to be. That snake was not a snake in the grass, he was a snake in our driveway! Today aint no ordinary Monday. (...and I thought I would not have many highlights for this week and it is only Monday:)