Thursday, March 31, 2022

I try not to limit my madness to March. ~Maxine

March 1
Watch out, crabgrass. He’s coming for you.
March 3
Ella art
March 4
Light at the end of the tunnel
Good times at Dogwood Park
March 6
Knox zooming by on his Hoverboard
Ella just learned how to ride a bike and got the hang of it pretty quickly
March 8
A tiny almost-Spring bouquet
from Ella
March 10
Time for some backyard T-ball
March 11 ...
…. we were wondering if it would snow on the buttercups …
… March 12
Of course it did
"Spring will come and so will happiness. Hold on. Life will get warmer." - Anita Krizzan.
And here, once again using the deck furniture standard of measuring snowfall,
I’d say that’s a good four inches. Or five.
Snow day is a good day for pizza at Mamma Rosa’s with family and friends
Sunshine made for some truly epic icicles
We couldn’t get enough pictures of them knowing they’d be gone by tomorrow
And they were
Donut run
We don’t discriminate when it comes to local tasty pastries
But first, comfort food on a cold snowy evening
March 17
Rock Island State Park is about an hour’s drive from our house
Ready for hiking a trail on this beautiful Spring Break Day
Moi, Holly, Elijah, Neil, and Knox
This was our first visit to Rock Island
I could’ve stood there watching the waterfalls and rapids all day
Let the trek begin
The only difficult part of the hike was being on constant alert
for trip hazards — roots, rocks, and hidden holes on the trail
Neil was in no hurry and brought up the rear. When he and Knox hike, they like to stop
and take in their surroundings. I was too busy trying not to face plant. I did look up now and then.
Holly and Elijah enjoyed time away from work and school
Knox wore an actual St. Patrick’s Day T shirt
I was clueless about the date. My T just happened to be green
It did protect me from unwanted pinches, though

Taking a break down by the river
We all enjoyed our three mile hike but, tired and footsore, were glad to reach the end of the trail
Great Falls Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Caney Fork, straddling the county line between White County and Warren County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the only dam outside the Tennessee River watershed owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Wikipedia
Don’t say I never taught ya nothin'
March 24
First time in more than two years we’ve had the opportunity to target practice
Had to show off my bullseye
I’m consistently inconsistent 
Neil consistently hits the center
March 25
Must be Friday
Micky D’s with Kelly, Knox, and Ella plus special guests Elsa and Anna
Elsa is here for the McFlurry
March 26
We travelled to Greenbrier to meet our 4 month old great nephew and cousin for the first time
He’s a cutie. Ella treated him like a real live baby doll which he seemed okay with
From there we went to visit Shelby at her college and got to see where she lives while she
studies for her degree in marine biology
Enjoyed a yummy meal together at Cheddar's
Holly and Shelby
Mom and daughter don’t get to see each other much these day
Hooray for Face Time though
March 28
March 30
Crabapple blooms
Hope these ferocious winds don’t strip them off the tree
before we’ve had a chance to enjoy them
March 31
Ella had the best time painting characters from the movie Frozen this afternoon
Neil found the paint with water book at Sam’s, and it was a winner.
We had to convince her to leave the book here and save some pages for later
It was a hard sell, but we hit on a compromise to leave the book but take a couple
of pages home to paint.
It’s all good, right?


“Every cold and dark phase ends and hence begins a beautiful phase of warmth and vibrance. Don't believe? Just notice March” 
― Anamika Mishra

Monday, February 28, 2022

It's February again, we must get older, now, so please wake up. ~Regina Spektor

February 1
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Is that you, February? Come on in.
Actually, I think Neil was fixing the doorknob that was about to fall off.
February 2
Nightlife in CookeVegas
February 3
Hey, somebody took a picture of me getting older
That’s okay. It’s a good thing.
February 10
Sweetheart
Ella and her class at school celebrated Valentine’s Day a bit early

February 11
Hanging out at the park
February 14
Knox and his 4th grade class celebrated Valentine’s Day
February 19
Dinner and a movie and a sleepover
and a game of Jenga with Grandpa
February 22
February 24
Here’s something you don’t see every day, not in our neighborhood anyway
Our neighbor down the street is installing a swimming pool
Either that or it’s an ark. It has been raining a lot lately.
Got stickers?
Wings up!
Daughter Kelly snapped this selfie with the one and only Awesome Eagle
at the TTU men’s basketball game where Knox and his jump rope team
performed their moves at half time
February 28
Birthday dinner for the birthday boy, hubby Neil, who turned 71 today
Granddaughter Shelby surprised us all when she popped in for the celebration
all the way from APSU. Her mom and dad didn’t even know she was coming.
Best surprise ever!
Happy 71st Birthday to my honey, who wears it very well

“Though February is short, it is filled with lots of love and sweet surprises.” 
-- Charmaine J Forde