What a fun-filled two days...

I have had a wonderful two days, but I am exhausted. I got up Thursday and headed over to pick up my grandchildren, Garret & Alexis (11 & 5). We met up with my niece, her husband and their 2 boys (12 and 9) from West Virginia. We decided to spend the day at Splash Country. Now, I must start off by saying that the 5 year old is itty bitty and weighs about 29 pounds. Whoever named a Lazy River by that name, never had to walk the entire length of it pushing a 5 year old in her float....3 TIMES!! And whoever thought it was a great idea to have all kinds of water falls, slides and water guns in a knee deep pool and let the parents rest in chairs around it, never had to follow a little pony tail all over the pool to keep an eye on her. And I'd like to meet the brain that created a wave pool for fun that has waves the force of a tsunami that can knock an 11 year old right out of his innertube. And most importantly, I'd like to know how, after covering 25 acres of wet, wild family fun, do they expect you to walk all the way back to your car. I think they should install those moving sidewalks like they have in Ripley's aquarium. Or at least run golf carts for you to hitch hike your way to the gate. But I had a blast and so did the kids. We survived. Yes, we survived but only to endure more torture today. We went to Tanger Outlet Mall for the tax free weekend sale to get school shoes and school clothes. To my delight, I have discovered that Alexis shops like me and Garret shops like Papaw. We went to 4 different stores (all on different ends of the complex) to try on no less than 5 outfits at each store only to discover that they had the top in the right size, but not the bottoms or vice versa. We finally ended up with a few new outfits that we liked and we were able to concentrate on Garret. He wanted to go to Nike first. He was very firm about going to Nike. So we walk in. There is a table with T-shirts on sale. He says "I want this one, this one, and this one. Let's look at shorts." We moved to the shorts rack and he says, "These will go with this shirt. I like these with the blue shirt and I want these for the white shirt." Then to my dismay, he says, "Okay I'm done. We can go." Same thing with the shoes. He found a pair, he tried them on, we bought them. For Alexis, we went through about 8 different pairs that she thought she liked, but none "looked right." She ended up falling in love with white Keds. At the end of our two beautiful days together, I took them home. My body is feeling these last two days, but I feel like I held up with great stamina for a grandma. I've went for two straight days like I was 16 again. Go, go, go. As we walk up to the porch, I noticed Garret's suitcase is showing a little wear and tear and I said "I need to get you a new suitcase pretty soon." He wanted to know why and I said that it was getting a little old and he could use a new one. He topped off our time together by sweetly smiling up at me with love in his eyes as he said, "Mamaw, you don't replace something just because it gets old. We haven't got rid of you yet, have we?" Out of the mouth of babes....

Excerpt from my journal .... July 30, 1993 ..... thoughts on a visit to my mother's in WV..........

"Was it yesterday or yesteryear that I walked this same dusty road, stopped to talk to these same familiar faces? Have they grown or have I? Someone once said, "The more things change, the more things stay the same." How true that is. We've grown, we've moved on, started new lives and made families of our own. Yet we can come back day after day and year after year to find the same rusty car in the same ramshackle shack as it's been for generations past and will be for generations to come. I guess this proves that life does go on."

Decorating with ease

I love to craft and I love to decorate, but I love it IF it is easy. I'm not a Better Homes & Gardens candidate and you will never find me in Southern Living, but I do like to take simple things and make them into some type of display. I had an empty spot on the wall by some beach sunset photos. I just wanted something small and beachy to put beside it. So here is what I did.... This is my 25 cent bargain at the yard sale last week.

I removed the chimes and cut all the strings off and filed the bottom down to sit flat. I saved the little seashell that was hooked to the chime strings.

I bought this little shelf over a year ago at AC Moore for $1.00 and have been trying to decide what to do with it ever since.

This is some jute rope that my husband is going to tie into nautical knots (Mr. Boy Scout is not home right now, so I'll have to wait to get that part completed.)

At one time, I collected thimbles. This is one my son and his family brought me back from Gulf Shores, AL several years ago.

So I put them all together and wa-lah a new little wall decor. Allen will tie me some rope to hang down from the pegs. Already had the spray paint and jute from another project, so I have $1.25 invested in a brand new wall decoration that fills a void.

When a little girl grows up.....

The princess had her 2nd birthday party. She's not a baby any more. She was prancing around like she was one of the big kids. She even got a cup and got her some ice all by herself to make her a drink. Her are some photos with remarks I'm sure were going through her mind.....

My umbrella!!!! (She has had a conversation with Mamaw Clara everyday last week that she needed an "umbrelro". Yesterday, at church, Mamaw said "I'll see you at your party" and Shelby pointed her little finger and said "Don't forget my umbrelro". )

"Hm, clothes. Whatever. Keep going."

"Oh wow, money! Now you're talkin"

"Check out my new wheels. It's not a Mustang, but it'll do for now" "Cool. Didn't know it came with my own chauffeur. I'm cruising now. Look out bubby."

"I'm a big girl now. FREEDOM."

"Hey, where did the party people go."

"Whew, too much excitement. Take me home, Daddy."

What a scare....

There is nothing as scary as finding your daughter sitting on her bottom step gasping and saying I can't breathe. That's what happened to me yesterday. Diana and I were going for our weekly shopping foray. We had ran to Five Oaks first and were on our way to East Town when that horrible rain hit. Traffic started backing up so we took the backroads. We both had on flip flops since we had not watched the morning weather. Since we would be passing my house, I decided to stop and grab a jacket and change my shoes. Diana thought that was a great idea and asked me to stop by her house so she could do the same. Well, I'm in the car with the kids and looking for something in my purse when Caleb calmly says, "Mommy just fell." I look up and she's sitting on her bottom step bent over. I'm thinking she must have hurt her ankle. I jump out and run through the rain and ask if she's okay. I think my heart almost stopped when she didn't look up, just gasped "I can't breathe." It was awful. She was gasping for breath and I didn't know what to do. I ran back to get my phone and couldn't find it. I was so full of panic. I ran back to get her phone asking her if she was okay. She is trying to tell me to call Michael to see what firefighter/EMT might be closest to us (he was in West Knoxville with his brother) when Michael's oldest brother pulled out of a neighbors driveway. I flagged him down and he came up and checked her out. By the time, she was breathing better and able to get up and walk. She was sore and scared, but she said she was fine. I went back to the kids and Caleb wanted to go and check on her. I must say, if I'm ever in an emergency situation, I want Caleb by my side. That child was a rock. Seven years old and not a bit of panic in him. He helped her in the house and helped her change to dry clothes and get her shoes on. Then he helped her back down the steps to the truck and helped her climb in and shut her door. It was so sweet. Long story short, we ended up at the emergency room to get her checked out (even though she fought the idea and wanted to go shopping instead). She has a slightly bruised kidney, but they can't see any broken bones or cracked ribs. They will have the x-rays rechecked on Monday to make double sure. She will be pretty sore for awhile. Her back started bruising within minutes of the fall. Michael had arrived at the hospital before we left so I went ahead and left to go finish our errands. Today is Shelby's 2 year birthday party and yesterday we were heading out to get the party supplies and for Diana to get birthday presents for Shelby. As I'm leaving the hospital parking lot, Michael calls and tells me what the x-rays showed and said they were releasing her. They told her to try to move around as much as you could so she wouldn't get too stiff. Being my daughter, she told Michael "Call my Mom and tell her to come back for me. I want to go do my shopping for the party." I just had to smile and shake my head.

The Quarter

As we grow older, we remember fondly the days when a quarter could buy a hotdog, an ice cold Coke or a loaf of bread. In later years, a quarter could get you a candy bar, then a phone call raised to a quarter. I heard someone say recently that a quarter didn't buy you anything anymore. It depends on where you shop. I was driving down the road yesterday and there was a big pink yard sale sign. I had no intention of stopping, but my car had a mind of its own. Next thing I know, I'm at some man's house in Swaggerty Hills and he's putting things in boxes marked 25 cents. Being a sucker for a good buy, I had to jump right in and see what I could not live without. Here are my finds:

I'm don't normally do wind chimes, but I have other plans for this. I'll post it when I get it done.

I love Christmas tins. I use them all over the house when I decorate at Christmas. Was very thrilled with these.

I'm going to put a picture of Michael in his gear in this and give it to Caleb for his dresser.

My Masterbath is outdoorsy and in these colors. This was brand new in the box. Never opened. I always keep a jar candle in there so this is perfect. This was my favorite. I have one section of the living room that is done in Snowmen at Christmas. Can't wait to use it.

Well as you can see, a quarter can still buy you something.

Basket ideas-complements of my sister, Rachel