"And that's when I know it's over. As soon as you start thinking about the beginning, it's the end." ~Junot Diaz

December 1 ~ a soggy beginning to this month (and end as it turned out)

December 2 ~ grandson Knox celebrated his 7th birthday with a Harry Potter themed party

December 2 ~ my sweet grandpeeps Shelby, Elijah, and Knox

December 3 ~ RIP #41

"Be bold in your caring, be bold in your dreaming and above all else, always do your best."

~George H.W. Bush 

December 12 ~ Ella the elf

December 13 ~ Merry & Bright

December 16 ~ Some of the thickest fog I think I've ever seen

December 16 ~ daughter Holly celebrated her 40th birthday

December 16 ~ celebrating Holly's 40th at Red Lobster ~ with Knox, Elijah, and Shelby ~ the wait staff sang The Birthday Song to her and served up ice cream and chocolate with some extra spoons to share

December 19 ~ Ella the candy cane

December 21 ~ Ella the reindeer

December 22 ~ late afternoon on Broad Street

December 22 ~ Knox and Grandpa at Poet's playing a video game online together

December 22 ~ I sneaky snapped a pic of my niece Julia with her friend at Poet's ~ nice smile, Julia

December 23 ~ Sunday lunch at El Tapatio with granddaughter Shelby, grandson Elijah, and daughter Holly

December 23 ~ daughter Kelly, grandson Knox, and granddaughter Ella ~ I borrowed this selfie from Kelly

December 24 ~ my Christmas grandpeeps in reindeer gear ~ Ella, Shelby, Knox, and Elijah

December 26 ~ watched the Christmas tree light/music show in Dogwood Park ~ borrowed this pic from Kelly's Snapchat

December 26 ~ Not sure if Ella got to see much of the light show ... the music was really loud so she couldn't get too close ~ she was snug as a bug in her stroller on this chilly night

December 26 ~ some local businesses sponsored this carousel in the park near the big Christmas tree ~ free for all the kiddos who wanted to hop on and ride as many times as they wanted 

December 26 ~ the day after Christmas at Wal-Mart ~ when we walked into the store, I told Neil that I'd bet the Valentine candy would already be on the shelves

December 27 ~ nine foot fake Christmas tree back in the box

December 27 ~ the struggle is real wrangling that tree back into the box ~ that thing bites me every year, same hand, same scratch

December 29 ~ another late afternoon on Broad Street

December 29 ~ this kid loves her bouncy chair and the fun mobile her Aunt Holly gave her for Christmas

December 31 ~ saying so long to 2018 and wishing everyone a very

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

FUN IN DOGWOOD PARK

My family has a tradition of getting together for lunch whenever we’re able to. We’ve been known to gather in fast food restaurants when the weather is cold. But on days like today, we hit Dogwood Park and have a zany good time. Sometimes, only four or five of us show up. Now that school is out, there were 16 of us out there under the blue sky and hot sun. Thank God for the nice breeze! But we could have done without those pesky carpenter bees, which seem to love those wooden picnic tables. We had to spread out to eat our lunch and everybody was all over the place, so this picture represents most of us there today ~ I didn’t get Ashley, Ethan, Neil and Knox in this shot, but I did manage to capture Sarah, Holly, Kerry, Kelly, Ann, Jane, Ken, Chris, Julia, Shelby and Elijah. Like trying to get a group shot of those bees!

Julia and Knox making sidewalk chalk art ~

Knox loves his cousin Elijah, much to Elijah’s aggravation at times [well, most of the time] ~

The city finally turned on that beautiful fountain for the summer. Kelly took this awesome shot of Elijah playing under the cold waterfall. I’m sure it felt pretty good on this 85 degree day.

Knox had a great time getting wet, too! He ran  in circles around the fountain.

When we were at the park, somebody said, “D.Q.!” Who could resist that?!

Kelly took this great panoramic shot with her iPhone.

See anything different [and kind of weird] about this panoramic shot? Shelby decided she wanted to be in the shot twice, so after Kelly’s camera swept past her, she crawled under the table and popped up on the other side in time to be in the picture again. Pretty cool. Our lunch bunch had a lot of fun hanging out together this afternoon. We always do! Let’s do it all over again soon!

HAKUNA MATATA

We turned Grandson Knox loose in Dogwood Park this afternoon, and he took off running. It was an awesome day to be outside ~ felt like Fall which is always all right with me. Knox has been singing ‘Hakuna Matata’ from The Lion King lately. I think it might be his new favorite song. It’s a problem free philosophy, don’t ya know.

He was running so fast, I don’t think his feet ever touched the ground. Neil and I just sat and watched him zoom around. Thanks for the pic, Kelly!

After the park and some supper, we hit Big O Donut Shop to check out their goodies. Their donuts are really … big!

Knox enjoyed his cinnamon donut so much that he had cinnamon and sugar in his hair, down his shirt, on his lap, and on the floor. Thanks again for the pic, Kelly! He’ll probably be jitterbugging the rest of the night from the sugar high. But, hey, no worries! It’s all good.

T. G. I. F. !

Beautiful warm spring day in my neighborhood

Our little pink dogwood is finally blooming after all these years

Frog be like The pool is dry!

Dogwood in bloom

Yellow tulip soaking up some rays

These are two of only four yellow tulips that bloomed in our yard this spring ~ they’ve died out in recent years ~ need to plant more [hint hint Neil]

Peeps were at my house after school this afternoon ~ Grandson Elijah made some bubbles

Monkeys on the trampoline ~ Grandsons Knox and Elijah and granddaughter Shelby ~ Elijah is a regular acrobat on the trampoline
 Knox has gotten good at jumping, too ~ Shelby sat this one out

A little backyard baseball ~ Knox wants to play baseball like his cousin Elijah

Time out for Bomb Pop Popsicles [Granny keeps these stocked in the freezer and they go pretty fast]




Our fave Thai food deli is only open for takeout for supper the next few weeks. We picked some up and headed to Dogwood Park for a picnic dinner al fresco .

Knox had a great time hunting pine cones [for Granny ~ thanks, Knox!] There may still be some left in the park ….

Decisions, decisions ~ Ralph’s Donuts for dessert ~ yum!

The dark storm clouds started rolling in and the rains came shortly after we got back home. Maybe it will wash away some of the pollen. Happy TGIF, y’all!