Sprinklers and Popscicles

Olivia came to play today and we had lots of summer fun. She requested a picnic lunch on the patio. After that we played in the new palm tree sprinkler. It has little tubes on the top that wiggle and spray water everywhere. It was fun and in Olivia's words "a little crazy!"







After running around we had to cool off with a freezey pop (or two)!





Good summer fun for Grammy and her favorite 2 year old!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my sweet hubby...a wonderful father and husband! And to my dad--you're the best! Mom and dad came to celebrate the day with us and it has been a good one. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of mom and dad :o( but here are some from the rest of the day.

Olivia was very excited to have Grandpa Andy open his Father's Day gift


He was VERY excited to receive an Ernie Banks replica jersey


Grandpa's favorite little girls

Both dads :o)

Ella is getting so big...lots and lots of smiles and giggles


Of course Olivia had to take some pictures too. She handed me her book and puppy and directed Grandpa to get in the picture with me. We were told to say "cheese" but apparently that wasn't enough, as she kept telling us "laugh at me over here"...that was an easy command to follow :o)



We just finished having a nice conversation with Melissa on the phone and are getting ready to head to the park for the muni band concert. The perfect end to a special day! Hope yours was special too!

Family Fun!

I took today off work to spend a fun day with my family! Both my sisters came for a visit along with 3 handsome nephews, 1 niece, 1 super cute great niece, 2 great grandparents, my son and his wife and of course my adorable granddaughters. We had a WONDERFUL day. After lunch we went to the park for a little while. It was the perfect day for playing outside.

At the bottom of the twisty slide

Josh and Lanee

Olivia took this cute pic of Mommy and Ella

She took this one of Great Aunt Kimmy too

Grammy and Olivia on the slide

Oh, the things a grammy will do to make her sweetie smile. Olivia is "catching" Grandma Terry...yikes!

Caleb helping Olivia go up the wrong way

Olivia took this picture of Great Grandma...she's a better photographer than I am!

She also took this one of Josh and Lanee resting in the shade

Noah and Lanee having a chat

Josh and Lanee taking a breather

Cute pile up at the bottom

Watering the Garden

Olivia asks to help us water our flowers every time she is here. Actually she will think up any excuse to get to play in the water indoors or outdoors. Last weekend she was helping water the flowers and decided to help the "little lady" in the rose bed water her flowers.

I thought she looked pretty cute watering along side the fountain...

But I think she looks pretty cute all the time!

She refilled her watering can over and over. Every time she would leave to get a refill from the hose, she would say to the fountain girl: "It's ok little lady...I'll be right back."

I had to include this last shot. Not a great picture, but funny. When she saw I was taking pictures (surprise, surprise) she looked up with her most cheesy grin and said "Cheese gramma...that's a good one!"

Weekend Project

We spent the holiday weekend tearing out the awful carpet in my hubby's office and laying a pretty new laminate floor. And by we I mean hubby, son and son-in-law. This grammy is VERY thankful for strong young men to help with the labor. I just provided the food and entertained the sometimes too helpful two year old :o)

The awesome work crew

Hubby's bionic knees ;o)

They did a good job


Grandma provided food and Olivia provided the comic relief :o)


Sweet little baby Ella and her momma


Aunt Melissa and Olivia saying "sheese" for the camera


Thanks to Melissa for the pics...I kept meaning to take some, but never got it done!

Our Young Heroes by Oliver North

So thankful for those who have served and continue to do so to keep us free!

The Things You Can Learn from a Two Year Old

For a while now we have been walking down a difficult road, facing a long-term, daily problem that only seems to get worse with no hope for a resolution. Many days I feel completely with out hope concerning this situation. Some circumstances this morning left the burden feeling particularly heavy, but in God's perfect timing our daughter-in-law called and needed someone to watch Olivia for an hour. Of course, grandpa said yes :o) So I ran home and pulled some lunch together for the three of us. While we were enjoying lunch our darling girl was singing for us. She was singing one of the songs we heard her sing in church last Sunday--I loved it then, but it has touched me deeply this afternoon as I have listened to the words over and over again. So I thought I would share the video...the message is perfect for whatever difficulty you may be facing. As you listen picture super cute little two year old with her arms wrapped tightly around herself singing at the top of her voice: "Oh no, you never let go..." and feel encouraged.

New Craft Room

We have been busy little bees for the last week or so--turning the old upstairs craft room into a guest room and the basement family room into a new, improved craft room. I have been asked to post some pics so here goes...keep in mind there is still work to do.

This is just down at the bottom of the stairs. The paper rack is something my sweetie researched and made for me; it is perfect storage and it is on wheels in case I need to move it--he thinks of everything :o)

Next is my desk. Once again a creation from my sweet hubby. Quite a few years ago he took the wood from Tom's dorm loft and turned it into a desk for me--he's a talented guy, isn't he?!!

Some canvas prints I did in an online class with Wilna Furstenberg...she's a great teacher! One of the things we'd still like to do is get rid of the flower border...but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

This is the new storage piece we got at IKEA. I LOVE it. Especially the new workspace. I was always creating in a little tiny square on the desk--so nice to have room to spread out.

This corner still needs alot of work. I have to go through books and weed out and store away, then hopefully move out two of the cases. But for now Olivia's table is set up in front of them. She was so excited when we moved "our craft room" downstairs. The first time she came after we assembled the IKEA unit she walked straight to the bin that I filled with her craft stuff and pulled it out and started working. We hadn't told her that it even existed...somehow she just knew. I love sharing my room with my favorite litte crafter and can't wait 'till Ella can join the fun!

These are cases I moved from my upstairs room filled with all kinds of stuff. I love the vintage coke crates that my father-in-law gave me years ago; the hold my acrylic paints.

Back to where we started with punches stored in a shoe storage bag on the door. This is another of Olivia's favorite spots!

And of course, this would be totally boring without including some cuteness. Here is Olivia making a Twizz-eler moustache for Grandpa. Twizzlers are her favorite treat for being a big girl and using the bathroom which she is doing amazingly well!


I am really, really happy with the new space so far and now I have room for friends to come and play-- consider this your invitation!