Dreaming of Fall

It’s that time of year and nothing is better than fall decorating, I like it even more than Christmas.  This is so warm, so inviting, nothing at all that would work for me, well except for the grapevine and twinkle lights.

Maybe those lights will happen on my back porch, or maybe they won’t but it’s a nice little dream on a Sunday afternoon.

And last week we were in an antique store in Franklin and saw this poster.  It’s perfect for my kitchen, but I have no wall space, so I guess this isn’t going to work either.

But wait, there is a positive note here.  It’s the butcher block.  My buddy V sent me this picture last summer and I loved it.  

John and Deanna had a very similar butcher block in their garage, it’s sat there for years, they weren’t using it so they hauled it to our house, hubby cleaned it and it’s in my kitchen.  Isn’t it amazing, it called to me.   

The shelf above it holds some of my favorite things, mother’s butter mold, an old cow bell with the brass embossing worn off where it rubbed against a cow’s neck, an Elsie the Cow cookie jar, mother’s chicken cookie jar that always sat on her kitchen table and my favorite, a green cow pitcher that Veronica gave me after I told her how much I  loved it.  She had it for years, and she gave it to me.  It was a huge deal for me...

I could take down the cow collage, put up the Gentry Farm picture, I could redo the top of the butcher block to make it look more like the photo V sent me last year, and if I really wanted it to be authentic, I could draw the pumpkin on chalkboard, well not me, I’m not arty, but hubby is and so is Deanna or Veronica.  I’m looking at this picture and I know I can do better, it’s not vibrant enough, it needs shades of orange and gold and a real pumpkin instead of this raffia one.

It’s only August, one of these days I’ll get a wild hare and redo it.  It’s too cluttered, I need to take away some things, ditch the pig and the turkey, use that real pumpkin, get rid of the snacks in the basket, take better pictures with a real camera instead of my cellphone and repost it.  And I will, as soon as there is a chill in the air I’ll be ready.

But this afternoon I’m going to play with my granddaughter, take her some chocolate and see what’s going on in her three year old world.  Works for me... 

Lexi's off to School...

When your youngest grandchild starts preschool you cry a little bit.  It’s what Grammie’s do.

Just not ready for her to be this old yet...

Look who's turning 2 today!

Oh Lexi, what a joy you are.  This post is full of Grammie brags, but our Lexi is just such a special little girl.

She’s the happiest little child you will ever meet.  She has the sunniest disposition, full of giggles and smiles and seldom cries.  I always say about Lexi what Minnie Pearl always said about herself, “I’m just so proud to be here."

She’s such a precocious little girl.  She talks non-stop, we’ve been able to carry on a conversation with her for a few months now.  She talks to me on the phone, she FaceTimes me and says “Hiya Grammie” and it just melt my heart.,  She sings the ABC song, knows all her colors, can count to fifteen, and knows all the shapes, told you this was a Grammie brag.  Her mama works with her all the time, and at this age they soak it up like a sponge.

She’s an animal lover, too.  She just loves every animal she sees. She and her Cocker Spaniel, Izzie are besties, she scoops up cups of dog food from the pantry and transfers it to the dog bowl several times daily, to the delight of Izzie and the frustration of her parents.  It’s just the way she rolls.  Izzie loves Lexi, and is always by her side, sitting at her high chair at mealtime of course, just waiting for the bites of food to come her way.  No Dust Buster needed in their household, Izzie licks up every morsel that falls. She’s  a little worker bee, too.  She’s Mama's helper in the kitchen, and loves to transfer all the bottled water from it’s packaging to the refrigerator and she sits on the center island and helps Daddy make cookies.  She likes to help unload the dishwasher, she’s an organized little girl, lines all of her toys in rows and separates them into piles, it will be so much fun to watch her as she grows older to see if these traits stay with her.

Their family just got back from a trip to Florida.  Disney was a huge hit, this child is a Mickey groupie, and loves nothing better than dancing to the Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog Song.

She loves her Daddy and he is just crazy about her.  They have date nights, just the two of them every month when Mama has hair appointments, he’s done this since she was a month old.  He takes her out to dinner, and then to the park when the weather permits.  She goes down the big kid slide now, how can this be possible?  She loves water, and swimming pools and of course the ocean.  She’s just has the best time, regardless of what she is doing.  But oh, she’s growing up way too quickly.  If we could only freeze time...

We traveled to Nashville last weekend to celebrated her birthday, she loved every minute of it, especially the Mickey balloons and her little eyes lit up as she dug into her Mickey cupcake with gusto.  She says “Yummmmmm”  when she likes something and this child definitely has a sweet tooth.

Happy Birthday sweet little Granddaughter, you are just an absolute delight!

XXo ~ Grammie

The Grands are growing up...

Ben is three now, he loves anything Thomas the Train.  He’s taking Karate lessons, mimics everything his big sister does and is just a bundle of giggles.

 

 

Lexi is eighteen months old, talks non-stop, runs instead of walks, and is a little ray of sunshine.  Lexi is the happiest little girl you will ever see, and like the other two, just adores her Pa-Pa.

 

 

Abby is six now and is our little equestrian.  She’s taken horseback riding lessons for a year and a half, and does a great job controlling her mounts.  She’s a reader, and wants to know everything about all things science oriented.

 

 

Nana Sugar, I just may have a shot at this yet...

The seed was planted for this story many, many years ago when I saw this sweet little role poly white haired grandma wearing a bib apron and selling her jam on QVC.  She said that her nickname was “Nana Sugar,”  all of her grandkids called her that.

Well, I thought that was just the cutest thing I ever heard, I didn’t have grandchildren at the time and when I brought up that idea, my family informed me that there was no way they were going to have kids and let them call me “Nana Sugar,”  they shot down that idea faster than a New York minute.

If you read my blogs back in the day, or if you know me personally, you realize that I went on and on and on about this, I thought I would be the perfect Nana Sugar, but I had to give it up, because the first thing you learn about being a grandparent is that you are no longer in charge.  Parents rule!

And then I became Grammie and it was just the best thing, there is nothing sweeter than hearing those little voices calling my name.

I’ve worked with Lexi so much, trying to get her to say Grammie.  Larry is known to Ben and Abby as P-Pa, and Lexi has called him Pa-Pa for several months now, but she just can’t or won’t say “Grammie” despite my constantly pleading, trying to get her to say it. I’m always saying to her, “Grrrrrr-ammie, Grrrrr-ammie” and she looks at me and just cracks up.  When they were here last weekend it was the samo, samo.  They arrived, walked into the garage, her Daddy was carrying her, and she pointed that little finger right at LC and said “Pa-Pa.”   Then she looked at me and giggled.

Well, this can’t continue, so out of desperation, I said to her, “Nana.”  She immediately parroted back “Nana” and said it over and over the entire weekend.  Well, let me tell you, I also worked on the “Sugar”  part of it.  No luck yet, but I’m hopeful. 

There is no rule that says that one set of grandchildren can’t call you one thing and the other grandchild can’t call you something else.  Nowhere is that written in stone!  And John, now that he lives in Nashville and is married to Deanna, a true Southern woman, has softened to the idea of “Nana Sugar.”  Deanna loves the idea, so I’ve got a shot at it.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if I could pull this off?

Oh, quit rolling your eyes, I know it’s hokey, but I just love it.

Yep, with a little luck I may still be “Nana Sugar” after all!  Hot damn...

The Grands were here...

 

Hubby had the big 7-0 birthday this past weekend and the family was here.  There was also a surprise party, but that story is for another day.

Lexi has gone from being a baby to a toddler at warp speed.  She has changed so much this summer, it’ shocking.  The kids all played together so well, she was such a big girl, right in the middle of everything.  Ben, especially, was good with Lexi.  He was very gentle and patient with her, he’s the sweetest little boy.

I love the picture of Ben and Abby with the iPad, they look so angelic.  Sweet, sweet little souls, my grandchildren.  I truly am blessed!

Little girls love to play office...

 Abby was here last week for her annual summer visit.  We had a wonderful time, almost six year olds are full of joy and their giggle is infectious.  We had lots of activities planned, and while she enjoyed them all, at her age she was content just playing in the house.

We had a rainy week, so we were indoors a lot, and her favorite thing to do by far was playing in my office.  She sent her Daddy emails, which by the way, she pulled up, addressed, and typed by herself.  Grammie is so proud of the things she does, sometimes she just amazes me.  We bought her safety scissors, her idea, since we didn’t have kids scissors to use, and she printed off things that interested her.  She cut them out, glued them together and by the time she went home she had a big envelope, on which she had typed her name and printed in Photoshop Elements using fonts and colors, another first, she had never used a graphics editor before, just stuffed with her papers.

But by far, the thing that intrigued her the most was my stapler.  I have an old retro one, the big one with the round knob on the top.  She must have gone through a whole row of staples.  I showed her how to use it, hovered over her and kept telling her over and over to keep her fingers out of the way, and she had a blast!

I have lots of colored pencils that she enjoyed, she loved my paperweights, too, and my markers, it was a little girl’s delight,  my office.  And now that she’s gone, I look at my things and smile, remembering how much she enjoyed using them.

And the flurry blob behind her, that’s Boo-Boo Kitty, a recent family edition that I need to tell you all about in another post.  Boo-Boo and Abby were the best of friends, wherever Abby was, kitty was.  She was absolutely crazy about Abby.  Is there anything sweeter than children and animals?  Nope, absolutely nothing.

To be repeated, same time, same place, next year, Grammie can’t wait...

A Daily Dose of Cuteness...

 

I haven’t posted pictures of the grandkids in awhile, but this one of Lexi was too cute to not share.  LC got her the little Barbie Jeep and she’s mastered how to make it go.  She twists that handle and she’s off, with Daddy trailing her as she’s still trying to figure out how to steer it.

She’s such a little cute patootie, rockin’ her Vans in this picture.   She’s in big girl shoes now...

Happy July 4th!

 Lexi is here with her parents this weekend, she’s such a cute little firecracker...

Look who's having a birthday!!!

 

 

Our little granddaughter, Lexi is one year old today.  She’s a busy little bee, rocks her sunglasses on a regular basis, took her first trip to the beach last week, loved the sand, loved the airplane, loved the nightlife, Lexi just loves life, period.  Joie de vivre describes this child perfectly.

As Cousin Minnie Pearl would say, “She’s just so proud to be here."

Happy Birthday, sweet Lexi, Grammie will see you soon.  We’ve got a date with a cake!!!!

A Monday morning smile for you...

Bebe granddaughter’s first Valentines Day.  Pure joy!

Abby came home from school today with this Valentine Card for mama.  She’s the only girl in a class with all boys, and her teacher has two sons.  Looks like the teacher had a lot of fun dressing her up for this picture.  Love the camera!

She is such a darling little child, our Abby.  My grandchildren are all the sunshine of my life.  

Lexi's on the move!

Sweet bebe Granddaughter is growing up.  Her mama posted these pictures on Facebook yesterday and said that she has figured out reverse, now she’s working on forward. 

Wish I could just reach through this computer and smush those sweet little cheeks!

Her hair is curling now.  She’s hanging with her bestie, Izzie in this picture  I’m thinking that Izzie really loves Lexi now that she drops morsels  for her to eat.

Yep, these two are quite a pair.  Iz is just patiently waiting for one of those Puffs to drop. She’s a Gerber dog now. :-)

Just a little smile for you this cold, February morning.  ~ Jan

Abby's a member of the horsey set...

With every age, grandchildren are a delight, and none more so than last weekend when Abby competed in her first horse show.   She was simply amazing, this little girl on this huge horse.  She was so excited, no fear, no nervous tummy, she just wanted to “do it."

Here’s her day in pictures, Mom and Dad were so proud of her and Grammie and P-Pa were front row center, cheering her on...

Little brother, Ben, giving her a big hug before we left for the show...

Her trainer from Windswept Farm, where she takes riding lessons, giving her instructions.

Not only do the horses have to be prepped, so do the riders.  They’re gathering her hair up into a show bun.

She looks darling, with her netting and sparkly barrette.

It’s time to attach her number and finish getting her ready.

All of the ladies from Windswept Farm love Miss A.  She has lots of help with the gloves.

It’s almost showtime, her trainer is giving her a leg up.

She’s checking her tack and making a few necessary adjustments to the stirrups for those short little legs.

And she’s off...

She controlled her horse so well, she was the youngest rider in the competition, riding without a lead line. You could just see the excitement in her face.  She walked, trotted, reversed her horse, it’s so shocking to see this little granddaughter do all of this.  When she came into the arena,  she came in at a gallop and Grammie’s heart was in her throat!

The judging is over and she is proud of placing.  She did so well, she’s only five years old.

This is our favorite photographer, the amazingly talented Adam Brennan, who volunteered to come and take pictures of her debut.  His photographs are below, the man has an amazing eye, and he had a wonderful little subject to work with.

 And finally, here’s a small video of her as she leaves the practice area for the arena...

 

 

 It was such a special day, and I count my blessings that I live close enough to be able to share in the memories…  You’re just the best, Abby Leigh!  Grammie is so proud of you...

 

The Grands at Christmas

Oh these precious little children.  Aren’t they all just adorable.  Gushy Grammie here...

Grandchildren melt my heart...

I look at these precious little children and sometimes I can’t believe how lucky I am.  Oh, what sweet little souls they are.  It’s hard to believe that Ben is two and Abby will be five in October.  Time passes so quickly and having baby Lexi brings back so many memories of Abby and Ben as babies.

We were in Nashville last weekend, Lexi is four months old now and she’s just the sweetest little puddin’ pop.  She babbles non-stop, crows like a little rooster, laughs out loud, and loves her bouncy chair.  It was Abby’s when she was a baby, and I have such wonderful memories of Abby in it, and now Lexi.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.   How did I ever get this lucky...