Icing on the cake

The saying "the icing on the cake" seems to fit this post for me coming off of such a big high with the week of 4 grandsons followed with a special reunion night with my MM precious friends and concluding with a visit and night with my 2 granddaughters. After I left Suzanne's in BHam, I drove over to my daughter and son in law's home for a brief visit with them. Lily Kate was napping when I arrived and after I visited with the kids a bit, Annie and I went to their neighborhood pool for a swim.

Right as we got out of the car, up came the singing ice cream truck. Tell me a grandparent who can't resist buying their grandchild an ice cream. I don't know one. Annie said "oh yeah" when I asked her did she want any. I handed her the money to give to the man in the truck and this older girl kind of took over,little did she know that this 4 year old can handle it but kindly, Annie let her do the buying and I was proud of her for letting the girl help her.

There was no hesitation in her wanting the "Tweety Bird" ice cream :)

She was one happy little granddaughter!

and I was one happy Grandmother to enjoy this moment by the pool.

After we swam a few minutes, some dark clouds hovered about so we hopped in the car, drove back and helped Jessica plant her lantana. Well, I took pictures while Annie helped.

When Lily Kate finally woke up, we left J to clean up and SIL(I call him SIL for son in law and he calls me MIL) and I drove back to the pool with the girls.
Lily Kate was so excited and she still calls me Pops whenever Pops is not around. Then she calls me Mama when Jessica is not around. One day I expect her to call me Lolli but for now I am just glad she calls me anything.

We had a great time swimming and later I took the girls to Chick Fil A giving the kids a night out in honor of their 7th anniversary(today).

After a much needed bath time from being at Chick Fil A with 10 other kids on their playground, it took several pretend games and 4 books to convince both girls it was bedtime. I don't blame them for wanting to stay up and we did manage to make it til 9:15 which is kind of late for them. Annie finally resigned that her legs were tired :) and Lily Kate got into her bed and never got up once which was a switch from her routine lately. It was a good tired for all 3 of us :)

Sunday morning, we visited a little longer and then they went to normal church and I went to church via car and radio on HWY 280 :)
The girls said their tearful goodbyes and I honestly wanted to cry too.
But I have another special week coming up so stay tuned to see my next post. It might be a few days but the 3 in one day ought to hold you for now.

I Love the icing on the cake this weekend! Dont' you?

The MM's

Friday after catching my breath from having the boys 4 days, I packed my bag and headed to Birmingham for a sweet reunion with my "MM" friends. That is my Montgomery Mamas friends. Suzanne and Marcia and I all lived in the same neighborhood when our children were babies and there was an immediate bond between the three of us that has kept us fast friends all these years.Suzanne hosted us in her beautiful home and made the most delicious meals for us starting with a mushroom and spinach quiche for lunch with fresh fruit and rasberry dressing.




Marcia lives close by and we had such a nice time visiting on Suzanne's porch.

Suzanne outdid herself with hosting us---feeding us---loving us---gifting us!
her porch was delighful that afternoon and there was the nicest breeze inspite of the heat we have been experiencing.

Much to Jack's regret, these two friends introduced me to their HOME GOODS store. Good thing there is not one in my town :)

Suzanne took us to the Pepper Place open Market in downtown BHam the next morning. We enjoyed seeing all the fresh fruits, vegetables, crafts...

and running into my Daddy's 1st cousin, Alice Sherrod, whom we have not seen in years! She was sponsoring her handmade jewelry booth and will be selling it in the General Store down there on 3rd Ave. South. I know a few people in my family that would love her designs and creative flare to jewelry.
..I also enjoyed seeing all the friendly dogs walking around the market...
there were all sizes and many breeds :)
These 2 dear friends will always be special to me.. I look forward to many more MM meetings together!

Thanks Suzanne for getting us together this year! Can't wait til our next gathering!

Sharing more things from Boys' Hero Week

Looking back on the boy's week while it is fresh on my mind was a couple of things said during the week that might amuse you:

Anything Harrison said that was funny became "this is how we do it" in full chant!

Did you know scunny is a word? It means scarry and funny at the same time! We had some of those moments that were rather scunny last week :)...

Dr. Porkchop is a character in Toy Story 3 that is a pig-he was so cute :)

Corey's other "new" name is Bill---I've never seen an 11 year old kid love that name so much!

Wolfman is of course half wolve so he has to woof when he talks...

Captain underpants and the plot of the talking toilet was part of a discussion we had...especially when Harrison announced that he only brought 1 pair of underpants (I found 3 more in his suitcase)

Brendan would rub Chad's head while they watched the Batman and Superman, our hero movies. Chad was so smitten about that that he decided that was his favorite part of the week!


Chad has no shame of showing the public world in a restaurant a broken zipper on his pants! He came busting out of the men's bathroom in Niffer's Restaurant holding his shirt up saying rather loudly "Lolliiiiiiii-I have no more zipper!!!!!!"

and last , I had to smile at God's timing of this article in the paper 2 days after the boys were with us ...note the article on the right hand side and the scripture!

Hero Highlights of the Boys Week

My theme this year for the boys was about heroes. I used the HoneyWord Bible and had a couple of devotional times to wind everyone down at times. I challenged each of them to memorize the verses Ephesians 6:13 & 16 while they were with us and within the first day, 2 of them had it down pat. The other two followed in the next day and everyone received crazy bands each time they said the verse. It really was a delight to see them take it so seriously and want to learn it. "Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.
I had the table set with maps of Alabama since we focused some on heroes in Alabama plus it made for some great table conversations and each one found names of places that had to do with heroes in our history. They got a kick out of their individual hero toys on the table too.
It was easy to cover the tables with newspaper when we did crafts and while we worked on things they would eagerly repeat their verse to me and were thrilled to see that it is fun to learn something new even in the summer time at Lolli and Pops! I did not want it to be like a VBS even though my activity planning leans to that side. But I do want to emphasize to them how important God's word is in everyday living and how it can be learned in a fun way. I guess you could say my highlight of the week among many was seeing them learn the verses with enthusiasm:)
Our cardboard playing resulted in some hero action outside :)

lining up for sunscreen application before we headed to the pool
playing with Corey's floating basketball goal at the pool

painting individual fish for the upcoming Luau decorations and Chad painting "Michael W. Smith " on his fish..(he LOVES Michael W. Smith!)
seeing Toy Story 3 in 3D and eating movie theater popcorn together (the movie even had its own hero highlights in it)

To emphasize our verse about the shield of faith and learning about God's armor, we made cardboard shields and they wore hero capes made out of each of their daddy's old shirts and I got them foam swords!!!
oh boy! did they have fun playing "hero war" over and over with the foam swords and home made shields and capes -(I am happy to report that nothing got broken this week)
Brendan and his very creative shield-this was his favorite part of the week! He constantly asked could they play war!
visiting our friends, The Plumbs' massive arrowhead collection-we talked about some of the Indian heroes here.

learning about George Washington Carver and the peanut and how he was hero of his time. I like his saying, "All we need ...is to set the creative mind to work."
Booker T. Washington was part of our Tuskegee tour too. He opened the doors for opportunity to so many and his heroic legend lives on.


Corey folding a parachute at the Tuskegee Airmen Hanger 1
Harrison at the Airmen Hanger at Moton Field learning there are many heroes in the history of Alabama
Breakfast with the younger two while the older ones slept in
and a big highlight having nothing to do with heores was Fudgesicles several times a day!

Blindfold Trip during the Boys Heroes Week

The 4 oldest grandsons came for 4 days and there was so much activity going on and so much fun that I don't know if I can make a dent in capturing all of it so here is the culmination of our week = the blindfold trip!
I started a tradition with them of blindfolding them to something special and this year I arranged for my friend, Martha's son, Gavin, who is a policeman on campus to show the boys some inside places....
on top of Haley Center is The Eagles Nest!
You can see all over the campus from here and there is a pretty good view of the football stadium.

Corey and Pops with Samford Hall in the background
Chad inside the Football Stadium
Brendan inside the police car
each boy got to sit in the driver's seat and touch the gadgets and there is a ton of them in there too!
the three older ones wanted to be handcuffed and arrested :) They all enjoyed seeing the taser gun demonstrated too!
The new basketball stadium is so sweet. The guys thought they were big stuff seeing it and pretending to play on it. Where you see the yellow paper on the seats is those already reserved by the fans. Can't wait til the new season gets started!
...not being an Auburn fan nor much of a tourer, Brendan was ready to go at this point but Corey was pumped up in this new weight room for the basketball players. The equipment had not even been unveiled.

Corey and Harrison investigating the player's locker room-each cubby has a specific holder for their cell phones keys etc..most impressive
Corey said it was the best blindfold surprise yet! He is without a doubt the biggest AU fan of the family and it was fun to get a thumbs up from him on top of the Eagles Nest. He and Harrison were almost inseparable this week. I sure hope their cousin relationship continues on into their old age. Wish I could be a fly on the wall to hear their recollection of this past week. For now I will just savor the moments I had with them.
The End of a very busy week with the boys!