last post of Summer 2010

I am hurrying like crazy to get this last post in of our last summer visit with the grandchildren since this is officially the last day of summer (can't tell by our current weather though). This one was with the 2 little granddaughters who have managed to come together the last 3 summers, even though they are step cousins. They do not see each other very often and get along famously when they do. Alex is 5 and Annie is 4. I am thinking of renaming their time with us "the A week".


I had a blast planning their time with us and even more so spending the 4 days with them.

there was dancing, dancing and more dancing along with acting and pretending...




It thrills me that the two girls have so much fun together at this early age. Annie is the big sister in her home and Alex is the little sister in her home but when they come to our house together they have role reversal and enjoy every minute of it.


The little girls LOVE painting and crafts and one of the smartest things I ever did was buy 2 girl's white shirts for $1 each at the kids consignment sale and keep them for our painting and messy projects :)




they also love cats and princesses and fishies...and Lolli loves to dress them up in matching lollipop outfits! (I found these ON SALE at Belks the week before they came to visit)
With these girls, I did not work on a theme as much as I did with the older kids. They were happy just to look at trees and wander through the yard and play candyland and silly faces! We had "Princess Day" and "Water Day" and a special trip to the pizza place that has all the games to throw money at and the pet store where they wished for a pet (I did not give in). But what these girls liked more than anything was the Dancing Princess Barbie movie I bought at WalMart. We watched it everyday at "rest time". I kind of had fun watching it myself and resting with them!

Our daily visit to the pool was extremely nice considering it was around 98 or 100 all 4 days they were with us. Both girls loved playing in the pink floating "flowers" they called them. Anything pink is just alright with both these cutie pies.

I love the smuckers peanut butter and jelly sandwiches you can keep in your freezer. I would pull out several just before we headed to the pool and after swimming a while it was the perfect energizing snack for them.

We pretended we were at the golden arches several times and they know exactly what the menu has to offer (I can't imagine how they know that :)

Like Annie whirling away here, the 2010 summer ended in a whirlwind - I can hardly wait for next year!

back to the girls week

I am going to wrap up the girls' visits this week because September blogging is lagging behind and I need to get back into a regualr routine, huh?.
The highlight of the girls' visit was not just one event this year but I must say I kept them guessing all week as to what their blindfold trip would be. Half the fun is keeping them in suspense :)
Again, the beanie babies (and a couple of minature rubber chickens too) made the car trip with us and I had to chuckle to myself at how much fun we have had with those little rascals the last several years.
When we arrived at the Auburn University Telfair Peet Theatre, the girls were not quite sure how much fun we would have. We had our own personal tour backstage and it was wonderful.
Lauren, who is very active in performing on stage in plays, asked lots of good questions and I think she learned some great things about College acting and plays. Our entrance to the actor's locker room was colorful and very interesting to see the individuality of each student's locker. I could see wheels turning inside the girls' heads as to the promise of some locker fun of their own.

Of course, this particular locker would not be allowed but it was amusing to view.

the sewing room was a thrill for Sydney and I especially! We only got a small glimpse of what is involved in making a costume for the stage.

We all enjoyed looking through the costumes and each era was packed with every outfit you can imagine. I could have spent 2 weeks there and not gone through each era.

The girls got to pick out several outfits to try on and this is one of the ones they chose.
there were multitudes of drawers with every kind of shoe imaginable, every accessory ever worn since 1750 and hundreds of hats with fuzzy this and fuzzy that on them.
I was pleasantly amused by the lingerie stock they had too.
after all that walking, we had ourselves a nice stroll down College street and surprisingly chose a frozen yogurt over the traditional Toomers Corner lemonade.

Pops and I loved the time with the big girls and our adventures together made for some awesome summer memories.

War Eagle!

This one is for the birds

Some days I want to blog and some days I don't but most everyday I enjoy looking at other's blogs. Why? Am I nosey, am I curious, am I bored? The answer is No (exception being maybe a little curious sometimes :).
Am I relational? Am I a photo lover? Am I interested in those I love? The answer is yes. Looking at blogs makes me feel connected to those I am reading about. I love seeing the latest on the children, both yours, their's and mine. I absolutely love children and my slightly overboard obsession with taking photos of my own is just an outlet for loving them. When they are not here, I sort through my photos regularly and it brings the kids to my easliy distracted mind and my open arms that long to hug them daily. It is my understanding from my aunt that my maternal grandfather whom I never knew was the exact same way (Ray Sherman Paul from Waterloo, Iowa). I hope to meet him one day in Heaven and share our mutual love.
You might notice that I do love pictures of birds, most animals, and nature in general too.
Reading a complete stranger's blog also entertains me at times. It is a short version of reading a book. People's words tell a story and people's photos tell a story. Sometimes I have to look beyond the words and photos to see what a person has to say. Sometimes I say "that is for the birds" and move on. So you might be saying the same about my posts on this blog. Just so you know, some of my days are like that and I try not to blog on those days :). Then there are other days when I can't wait to blog. I am not one for posting other's pictures but I found this one randomly and it makes me smile.

And those days are for the bluebirds in my life. Some of you, some of your photos, and some of your words make me feel like a bluebird watching a rainbow. You know who you are :)

collections of sort

I have a few collections of sort: children's bandaids, photos of my loved ones galore, angels here and there, pretty bird things, my mother's needlepoint, lollipop things of course, and of late and of no sentimental or monetary value is my plastic bottlecap collection!


and this is the goal I have to use them as a craft project with all the grandchildren during next summer's visits. We also will be making other fun shapes with all the bottlecaps. I have a 2 ½ gallon ziploc bag already of hundreds of caps but will needs lots more for my vision of this activity we will share.
This of course is a scanned picture so try to imagine this being lifesize. I hope to use our finished projects as decorations for our 2011 Luau :)

My thanks to those of you who are saving them for me!

September 11

hair day

It is not every woman that has a special relationship with her hairdresser. But I do. James and I have the best conversations when I am under his haircare :) He is not just all about making me look better than I could either (he tries his best in that area too). He spurs me on to deep thinking and spiritually, he is wise beyond his years. I have come to love him like a brother and a friend and look so forward to my hair salon days when He and I can catch up. James has done a great job with Magnolia Salon and I am proud for him to be so young and owning a thriving business in the heart of Auburn.
Today was my hair day and I came away with an extra step in my stride. He has that kind of influence over me! No pictures of my new hair do today but maybe in the next week or 2 ,I might share the latest "do" I have now.

When I had the big girls here for the week in July, he gladly accepted my request to do their hair as part of our activities one day (I had their mom's permission too). Lauren had never been to his salon and it was a treat to see her and Sydney in the styling mode together.
Sydney comes to her cousin "Boomer" regularly and she was quite at home with letting him do his thing.
I think he did a great job on both girls. One of the things he and I understand about each other is to say what you think and just be honest. It is a gift to be able to do that with my hairdresser and I have had a few over the years that I absolutely could not do that with.

Let me just say a woman's hair is top priority. I choose the ones that care for me with great care. Some might call me picky. That is ok with me. I am quite particular about my favorite hairdresser and very fond of him. You should be too.