Ever Lovin Saturday

Today looked and felt like October. Neil was out in the yard all day, relocating plants and rearranging stones for the backyard path. He called me outside to sit with him on the deck while he took a break. He was sweating from all his running around. I was bundled up in my down jacket and a scarf wrapped around my neck. It was 42 degrees, after all. Men don’t seem to know when it’s cold. Always thankful for a day of sunshine and blue sky, no matter if it’s March or October. Ya gotta love it. Happy Saturday, everyone!

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'" — Robin Williams

Spring Break--Week Two  Grandson Elijah and granddaughter Shelby spent the day with me. We joined Neil at Steak n Shake for lunch. Elijah loves to play the "claw machine". He's won a few times. He snagged this stuffed Steak n Shake Sizzle Burger on his second try. Not too shabby.

Shelby amused herself with a quarter, stopping it with her finger while it was still spinning. She's really good at it.

Lunch! I prefer a dawg to a burger. Was good.

The weather today was perfect. It just doesn't get any better than this. We went for a walk after lunch and stopped in the street to take a shadow selfie which we all photo bombed. It was so bright I couldn't see the shot I was getting on my cell phone screen [I look like I'm impaled on a stick]

We stopped by daughter Kelly's house to visit her and grandson Knox, and I managed to get the three grandpeeps all together in the same photo.

Shelby and Elijah played a little volleyball using the brick wall as a net.

Smiley Face

Blue sky. More, please!

"The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring."  ~Bern Williams

THE GOOD THE RANDOM THE FUN

Remember when the sky was blue the other day? Yeah, that was real pretty. Would love to see more of this in the near future.

Beautiful Buttercups growing in my yard

And how about that gorgeous sunset the other day?!

The roofers [finally] came Friday and started tearing off the old old shingles [in the rain ~ they didn’t seem to mind]  and began to repair the damage done by that Maple limb that blew over onto this side of the house last October. We decided to take the plunge and do a whole new roof [which the house badly needed] and replace it with a metal roof [burnished slate is our color]. Remember those beautiful Buttercups in the picture above? They got squashed under the falling roof debris. Daughter Holly picked a bunch on Thursday, so they weren’t all lost.

It’s kind of scary to see the roof over your head looking like this.

Looking out my front door on Friday

Friday was the last day to eat at our fave Thai food restaurant, Ocha, before they closed for the next two months. [They do this a couple of times a year, it seems, as the owner returns to Thailand for a vacation. It will be June before they open again {{sigh}}] Kelly figured she may as well make use of her chopsticks skill. Look at her go! I’d starve to death if I had to eat with these. She’s really good at it.

And look at the dessert she [and Knox] made and shared with us ~ chocolate dipped oranges and strawberries. Major yum!!

Looking out my back door this morning

Showing off my spring wreath on my front door [Hobby Lobby rocks! especially when you’ve got a nice gift card to spend] Something pretty to look at in the midst of all the flying roof debris

Kelly treated Neil and me to a Frozen Lemonade at Chick Fil A this afternoon. We really enjoyed it. I’d definitely get it again. Grandson Knox had a good time in their playground. At one point, he climbed up on a ledge and didn’t know how to get down, so ….

…. Mommy to the rescue! Kelly had to climb up inside this tube to show him how to climb off the ledge, and watching her maneuver her own way down and back out was pretty amusing, so of course I took pictures and made this collage and posted it on the world wide web. Isn’t that what moms are for?

They were starting to put the finishing touches on the roof late this afternoon. By the time they were done, it was too dark to take a picture of the finished product. I’ll save that for another post. It turned out nice, and we’re pleased with their good job. The only thing left is replacing the soffit that runs up the right side of the roof where the tree fell ~ maybe next Tuesday if the materials come in and the weather cooperates. Happy first weekend of Spring, y’all!

“She turned to the sunlight And shook her yellow head, And whispered to her neighbor: "Winter is dead.” ― A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young

You could not have ordered a more beautiful day. In a word, perfection.

Kelly and Knox came over this afternoon and brought bubbles which are a must on such a day as this.

Playing the blues on the bubble horn. It didn’t take long for Knox to get the hang of it.

A dish of D.Q. ice cream with sprinkles is also a must on an almost-Spring day. Delish!

Neil didn’t get to play today. He was up on the roof, removing our chimneys that serviced fireplaces we will no longer be using.  A tree fell on our roof last October and made a mess. Tomorrow (we hope) the roofers will be coming and we will be replacing the whole roof with a shiny new metal roof. Stay tuned. Wishing everyone a blue sky, sunshiny week!

WAY TO GO, ELIJAH ~ VISION BASKETBALL AWARDS NIGHT 2015

"Give me the vision to see what God wants me to be. I will do my very best and let God take care of the rest. No matter the outcome of this game, I will give glory to Jesus's name."

Tonight was Vision Basketball awards night. Grandson Elijah has played the past three years. He was totally wishy-washy about attending the awards ceremony tonight. He wanted to go but he was very nervous about having to stand up in front of all those people. His Grandpa talked him into it, and Elijah decided to go at the last minute (which is why he didn’t have his team shirt to wear).

Each team member received a participation award or team trophy, which Elijah was very pleased to get.

This was the stunned look on his face when he received the “Paul Award”, which is the award for most improved player on his team this season. He was totally taken by surprise (and I love that he was). He kept saying, “I was not expecting this.”



We are so proud of you, Elijah Man! Proud that you were brave enough to overcome your fear of standing up in front of all those people. And proud that you played so well this season, improving with every game and having fun while you played so hard with your teammates. Way to go! Looking forward to watching you play next season.

LET’S GO OUTSIDE!

Grandpeeps at my house after school this afternoon wanted to go outside and play. Imagine that. Grandson Knox was convinced he was jumping rope after he watched his cousin Elijah do it. Knox had all the moves down, but he jumped with the rope, not over the rope. It’s the thought that counts. Not to mention it was pretty cute.

Grandson Elijah got to Jump For Heart at school today. He’s really good at jumping rope, even on the trampoline, and has talked about maybe joining the jump rope team next year.

Granddaughter Shelby can jump, too, but declined. She and Elijah enjoyed playing some volleyball of sorts  ~ no net, no rules, just fun ~ and this one is coming right at Granny and her camera.

Even though the sky was gray, the temps were mild. I’m glad they all wanted to get outdoors. It’s been a while. And tomorrow the rain comes. Looks like a soggy rest of the week. Happy Monday, everyone!

SNOW DAY! It’s déjà vu all over again … or something like that

Old Man Winter just loves us here in the middle of Tennessee. Can you feel the love? We got just enough snow and ice here to make it nice and slick and messy but not impossible to navigate. Grandpeeps Shelby and Elijah are hanging out with me today. By lunch time, we were ready to get out of the house for a little while. So Neil came and picked us up and we slid our way over to Wendy’s and enjoyed some nuggets and burgers and fries.

When Elijah is aggravating Shelby, I always tell him, “You are such a little brother!” I know this because I’ve had experience in this area of family life. So I always tell Shelby, “I feel your pain.”

The roads are pretty messy. This is South Jefferson. I think the heat and exhaust from the traffic on this road has melted a lot of the snow and ice. I haven’t seen any salt trucks or snow plows. The county is probably out of salt by now. Either that or they've given up.

Our street is slushy. Neil made sure to speed up as he turned the corner so the truck would fishtail. Cheap thrills.

It’s so slick out there that our house is sliding right out of the yard.

By the time I had hung up my coat and scarf, Shelby was sitting on her brother. I don’t know why. I didn’t ask. But I can totally understand. After all, now is the winter of our discontent. Forecast for tomorrow: more of the same. Old Man Winter doesn’t know when he’s worn out his welcome. Not that he ever had one.

If you don’t think, then you shouldn’t talk. ~March Hare, Alice In Wonderland

I had a visitor this morning. Must be the March Hare. But probably a bunny rabbit. He’s been hopping around our backyard for months now and suddenly decided to check out the back porch. I was surprised to see him come so close and expected him to be long gone by the time I grabbed my camera. He must not have noticed me standing inside the door, taking his picture. If he did, he didn't care.

He sniffed around for several seconds, maybe looking for a leaf of lettuce or a carrot stick. Or Spring. Perhaps I should have offered him some tea.

He didn’t find anything of interest so he hopped across the deck and disappeared into the bushes. So cute. Highlight of my day, folks.

"March is a tomboy with tousled hair, a mischievous smile, mud on her shoes and a laugh in her voice." - Hal Borland