Uh, Yeah...

...definitely need a bigger wading pool!!!

Course, it is bigger than this one earlier in the day! LOL

You Know it's Summer when...

...you get to go out for ice cream in the middle of the day!!!!!!!!!!

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this picture????
No~it's not that I'm not eating ice cream (though I sure wished I was)...it's that cousin Ava isn't here yet. But in 6 days she will be!!!!!!!!! Yea!!!!!!!!!!!

Cousins

How sweet are these cousins reading together????

You Crack Me Up

Isn't hanging out with your cousin great?

Crank up the volume!

Gotta love that laugh!!!

Must be something about cousins that can make Teag laugh like that...remember this post?

Self-Discipline

Self-discipline is a remarkable trait, don't you think?

"No, no, no, no..."

But what is one to do when one's hand just has a mind of its own?!?

Memory Lane

My sister & I spent today going through old pictures. We are putting a memory book together for my grandmother honoring my grandfather's & her  influences on our lives.

In reviewing years of pictures, I realized that I really spent a lot of time during my teens & 20s thinking I was fat. What a waste of time~I had a pretty damn good body back then. It's now that I'm over-weight. *sigh*

Proof positive:

Here I was at about 16 or 17~

I was an extra on a local shoot for the briefly aired Starman TV series.

With my grandparents & siblings, at SFO, as I was 

about to leave to study in London. I'd just turned 19!

Think I was about 19 here...maybe 20

Look at that waist line! Think it was something like 16 inches!

I've no idea what it is now & I don't want to!! Ha!

My sister & me~I was in my mid-twenties & she was about 16

My brother's high school graduation

Christmas: my brother was on leave, I was on break from college,

and my sister happy to have her older siblings back with her again!

My cousin Michael, who is just 20 days younger than my brother,

was always like another brother to us. Think I was in my early 30's here

But enough of this sob story of what I once was...as someone (tactlessly) pointed out to me: I truly am twice the woman I once was. Oh well.

But I would like to point out that I have been very sick and that I shall be 40 in 2 short months!! Therefore, I think I still look pretty good.

Ok. Seriously. Enough of that.

Now, for some cute baby pix:

Wasn't I a cute lil thing??

One year old here (as designated by my proudly held finger)

Recognize the chair I'm sitting in? Yup, same one my niece now uses!

Okay~were these cousins practically twins or what?!?

 

Little man; Big Boots

 

The Three Muskateers...these 3 were always together...

...still thick as thieves even as they got older!

 

And does my sister not look like her own daughter in this???

She was about one & half years old here

Since we're walking down memory lane, I wanted to add a couple with our grandparents. We were lucky in that we had multiple sets of grandparents (the lineage is too long & complicated to go into). And we were even luckier that all the grandparents got along well with one another. Holidays were filled with extended family~grandparents, aunts & uncles, cousins, etc. I guess we weren't so much lucky, as blessed.

Christmas '92

I think I was trying to go for a sophisticated/sultry look. I have no idea why!

 

Also 1992

The annual decorating of the grandparents...one year my

Grandpa Sanders (above)  fell asleep & we grandchildren took all the

ornaments off the tree & put them on him. We hung them from his nose & fingers;

set themon top of his head; balanced them on his knees. You name it.

He never stirred. When he finally awoke with a jerk, ornaments went flying &

we exploded into laughter. I think J & T were in their teens & I was in

my early 20's...

 

Thanksgiving about 10 years after the above picture. I'm not sure, but

I think my Grandpa Sanders had passed away. My grandpa Ed (above) passed away

just a couple weeks ago. My Grandma Sanders (in the green) has also passed away

but my Grandma Rose (pink blouse) is still with us.

Thanks for walking down Memory Lane with me...going through these pictures has brought back so many (good) memories.

Wonderful Weekend

Teagan's mommy & daddy did a weekend getaway (lucky them!). Their going away made 3 grandparents & an auntie very happy too!

Here's what they did:

Yeah~I'm jealous too!!!

Anyway, while her parents got some much needed time together, Gramma Cindy, Mama Sue, Papa Tom, and Auntie M plied Teagan with adoration and love...poor child! ;-)

Adoring fans...

Reading with Papa Tom

Cuddling after her nap with Mama Sue

Setting off on a Walk

We were either very brave or very stupid (we're not sure which) and took Teag out to dinner. Chinese. I'm pretty sure the food was good~it's just that so much of it was flying onto me, courtesy of Miss TeaRose, that I didn't get to eat much myself! She LOVED the food: she was filling her face as fast as she could. Observers probably thought we hadn't fed the child in months!

Papa Tom laughed harder & harder during dinner while I gave up trying to keep either Teag or myself clean. She had rice coming out of her ears and sauce dribbling down her chin. And she, being of Italian decent, jammered on while eating waving her hands for emphasis, flinging food everywhere. I will say, however, that she didn't like everything she tried, which was proved as an egg roll hit my chest and rolled down to my knees!

Me: No! No, Teagan! No throwing food!
Teagan: Yum...mmmm...mmmmm...

Fortunately the restaurant owners' had their son there who was born at the same hospital just the day before Teagan was & the two of them made friends. This helped us when we looked under the table & saw the rice & food menagerie on the floor~I offered to sweep it up myself, but they said, No! quite emphatically & said we should feel free to bring Teagan back any time.

Sadly there are no pictures of this experience, as I was afraid to expose the camera to the carnage.


When we got home, she promptly bathed~in the birdbath, mind you!

Then she had a real bath...

Teagan cuddled up while Mama Sue sang her the "Stay Awake" song (from Mary Poppins).

Stay awake, don't rest your head

Don't lie down upon your bed
While the moon drifts in the skies
Stay awake, don't close your eyes

Though the world is fast asleep
Though your pillow's soft and deep

You're not sleepy as you seem

Stay awake, don't nod and dream
Stay awake, don't nod and dream

After we were all drowsy & cozy, Papa Tom and Mama Sue headed home and Teagan & Gramma Cindy headed to bed. Auntie M wasn't far behind them!

Teagan (and we) slept for 9 uninterupted hours!

And then we woke up and started a new day! But that's another story for another time.

Phew! Gracious me! No wonder Mommy & Daddy needed a brief break! And thank God they did: cuz we love our Teagan time!!

Reminders

This world can be a harsh place, but nature always reminds me of the tenderness of God...today's reminder came in the form of this sweet little bird that seemed to want to engage me in conversation this evening. Too bad I don't speak "chirp." But it was comforting nonetheless.

This little towhee even invited me to dinner.

Having just eaten dinner, I declined the profered worm.