Nine Months

Callie and baby D came over this afternoon for an impromptu photo shoot.  He is nine months old today, and that calls for a few pictures.  Some are better than others, but I think you'll agree that the subject himself makes them pretty sweet!
I brought out the old red wagon, a Radio Flyer, that Jana and Callie played with so much as little girls.  It is rusty now, and we keep it outside most of the time, so I brushed out the inside and put a towel inside for him to sit on.

Except for being a bit unsteady while being pulled through the grass, he seemed to enjoy it.

Oh, those sweet feet and hands!  

He could watch the dogs, and they could watch him.

And despite our best cleaning, there seemed to always be one more piece of grass that he could find.

A little while later, the ladies in my book study group came over to join us, so Papaw kept him busy for a while.  I caught a glimpse of them through the window.

After everyone left, we had a short Facetime session with Jana and baby B, so that was fun, too.  One of the best parts of being a grandparent is getting to savor the little things that I was too busy to enjoy when my own children were tiny.  And learning a little more about photography has allowed me to capture some of that sweetness---the dimples in their hands, the turn of their little feet, the eyelashes and the furrowed brow when they are intently looking at something.  Being a Lovey is the best!!

Who is Training Who?

At the beginning of July, Ron and I signed the dogs up for Obedience Training.   Years ago, when Emmi was a young puppy, she and I went to training, but we finished the course knowing that she needed to go back at some point.  If you've ever met Emmi, you know that, well, obedience training didn't "take" on her.   (Gee, I sure don't remember wearing that band around our arms.)

Time sort of got away from us, but with the addition of Joy to our family, it seemed like a good opportunity for both dogs to learn----okay, okay. . .  for both of the humans to learn.  The class consists of about 10-12 dogs and Emmi is the only small dog.  Joy is the next smallest.  There are a couple of Great Danes, a German shepherd, a Portuguese Water Dog, a boxer, a large hound dog, and a couple of other herding dogs.  I can't get a picture of all of them together, because some are not yet very social.

At first, Emmi seemed fairly advanced in the group since she already knew how to sit on command.

But, as the weeks have rolled by, she might have plateaued, as they say.  Last night's class of staying seated while I circle around her?   Well, let's just say that as I circled, so did she.

Joy, on the other hand, is really beginning to catch on.  She began the month, leaping through the air after Ron, hoping to snatch a treat from his hands.  But, slowly she is learning that the leash is not so bad.

And she is now walking on the leash, staying, and even sitting on her own at times.

It is really hot in there, though, so it's always nice to take a break and walk outside.

And both of the dogs (and their humans) enjoy the A/C in the car on the way home!   How's this for a little static electricity?!?!

Fresh From The Garden

Have you ever been camping?  Well, if you have, you know that everything tastes better if it is cooked over a campfire.  For some reason, the ordinary turns to extraordinary when cooked over an open fire.   Well, the same is true from vegetables straight from the garden.  We almost always had a small garden when I was growing up.  Although I don't really remember helping much in the garden, I do remember getting to pick green beans occasionally and I seem to remember Mother saying that strawberries were hard to grow.

As you know, this year I have my first garden---well more than tomato plants.  Tonight we finally tasted the first bites from it.  It's a small garden, but I started much of it from seed, so it has been fun to watch the sprouts emerge and begin to grow.  This evening, we had lettuce and cherry tomatoes fresh from the garden on our grilled hamburgers!  They were so YUMMY!!  (I had pictures, but they somehow got deleted into cyberspace by accident)

Unfortunately, this morning, we discovered a large hole in the garden and several spinach plants destroyed.  Thinking that a possum was to blame, I headed to Lowe's bright and early to purchase some bird netting with the hopes of getting it in place before nightfall.   However, when I got home this evening, I discovered two more large holes and dirt thrown everywhere.

This was definitely not the work of a possum, but more likely of that black four-legged critter that lives with us!  I was NOT a happy camper!  So, after dinner, we got out the bird netting and rigged a canopy of sorts to hopefully deter future predators (squirrels, possums or Joy!).

Keep your fingers crossed!

You Know It's Monday When . . . .

Yep, you know it's Monday when . . . .

** You can hardly keep your eyes open when your alarm goes off because you've been up for a couple hours in the middle of the night watching for bad weather.

** More bad weather is predicted for today and you realize you left your umbrella at the nail place last week.

** While you are eating your lunch, your daughter texts to ask "how about lunch?" because you previously decided to have lunch together each Monday and you completely forgot.

** Your husband send you a text that begins with "I'm fine, but . . . "

 ** That text was followed by one a little later telling me he had to go for drug testing.

** You realize at 3:11 that you you're supposed to be at the lab at 3:15 for a blood test.

** You leave the lab only to get stopped by a really long train.

** You get home to discover that leaving Joy free to come and go through the doggie door for the first time this afternoon was not such a great idea.  (this picture was taken AFTER I had things cleaned up---apparently she chewed up an entire pack of photos and brought in lots of bark to chew up in the living room)

ON THE POSITIVE SIDE . . .

--- after the living room disaster, I banned both dogs to their beds while I cleaned up and they actually stayed.  (well, Emmi did---Joy, not so much)

---The weather turned around today and the afternoon was beautiful.

---Ron was hit by a hit-and-run driver, but he was not hurt and the car is still running, although it is even less pretty than it was before.

--- Callie and I were able to chat through texts.

--- Fortunately, Mondays only happen once a week!

Easter Weekend In Texas - Part Three

By Sunday, the guys were pretty tired of working on the truck, but knew that it was their last chance to get the transmission lifted, so they made the decision to head out there instead of going to church.   I went to church with Carmelle and the kids.

Right after those pictures were taken, we seated ourselves on the back row of the church and members of the congregation made their way over to introduce themselves to me and to inquire about our relationship, etc.  Each time, as Carmelle explained that I was her step-mother, Michael added that I married their grandpa "a couple of weeks ago".  The church that they attend is a very conservative, Southern Baptist congregation, so you can imagine how startled I was when Adellelyn piped up, using her no-at-all-quiet-voice and said, "You married Papaw.  Now are you going to preggernant???"   Carmelle and I quickly tried to quiet her and assure her that NO, I was not.  But she exclaimed (louder this time), "I didn't mean yesterday!  I mean NOW are you going to get preggernant????"    OH MY!!   I wanted to crawl in a hole, but instead I was able to deflect the attention by reminding her that Callie was going to have a baby soon and they would have a new little cousin.

After the worship service, there was an egg hunt for the children.

The shoes were different this time-----Sunday best (and that means spurs, too)!

When we got back home, we discovered that Ron and Chad had to give up working on the truck so we gave Joy some more motion sickness medicine and enjoyed being outdoors while we waited the mandatory time for it to begin working.

Under close supervision, Talia and Joy even became friends.

Our trip home was uneventful and though tired, we were so glad we had the opportunity to be with them all again.

Joy

Meet  Joy, the newest member of our family . . .

Ron picked her up yesterday and we already love her!

After being the only dog around here most of the time, Emmi is not so wild about her.

Right now, she is bigger than Joy and able to outrun her  fairly easily.  Good thing, because she follows Emmi everywhere!

What a sweet bundle of fur!!

Welcome home, Joy!

P. S.  Have you ever had that moment when, at the end of a long day (AFTER attending a party with 100 of our closest running buddies--lol), when your husband says--"Do you have your shirt on backwards"??  What?!?!?!?   Yes, and there were large pockets that were SUPPOSED TO be in the front!!   I can only hope that if Ron didn't notice, then surely no one else did either?  I hope?!?!