wisconsin, quiet weekend

Friday night we headed to the lake after a wild week of  Vacation Bible School.

Not gonna lie--my nerves were shot.

 My parents came on Saturday, and they're easy-going company.  It also happened we had no small children at the lake--no grandkids at all. Only our own kids, and teenaged friends were along.  It was very, very quiet.

That's Julia in a fleece nightgown  my friend Jody sent her.  It was warm and perfect.

 Here's Tim working on some perler bead creations, very nice.

 And we play this horrible old version of that annoying show Family Feud. It's a 1990 version, so we must cast our memories back to make any kind of credible guesses, and that was a dang long time ago.

No wonder we're terrible at it.

 Eatin' shrimp.  We had fresh oil the second night, much better, gone in flash.

 Aww, my baby sleeping.

 And here's the friend of the kids, who took over her nightgown after she got dressed.

He's extra adorable in the hood.

 Maria and Claire, two dignified individuals.

 These are a couple pictures from the ride home. Some things we rarely take pictures of--the frenzy of house cleaning before we leave--the beds, the trash, the vacuuming and putting away?  You'd never know that whole couple hours even existed at the end of a weekend.

Or the ride to and from?  Well, here they are, asking every now and then how much longer.  It's only about a two hour trip, so they're going to be fine.

And that is the end of that, and August marches forward.  Onward to Monday.  With love, Val

just chillin'

That was our Thursday.   My Sweetie came with me back home again after we left the others at Vacation Bible School.     He brought Lunchables and juice boxes and apples for himself and p.j. for lunch.

Then he had Dannell buy a bag of puff corn for me because I love it.

I do love it, but usually avoid.  Puffcorn loves me back as much as I love it.  It wants to become one with me, and cling to my hips FOREVER and EVER because we just love each other soooo much.

But if a Sweetie wants to bring his grandma puff corn?   Who could refuse that?

 Then he wanted "real popcorn made out of seeds."   We got that.  Here they are sharing it on the patio.

And here they are swinging away.  That ivy on the house and some of those other trees that have sprouted  are way out of control from the heat this summer.  It's always something around this old house.

Okay, up in the tree, tied in a plastic bag, is p.j.'s poopy diaper.  I don't want poopy diapers in the wastebaskets in the house, and I can't really leave the kids to march all the way out to the garage to the trash can while I'm watching them--so over the fence they go.

Jay can tell how much our grandkids crapped by how many bundles are out in the driveway when he drives up.

Well this one?  It got stuck way up in the tree.  I let go of that throw a little late, and whoops.



So that guy took a broom and finally got it out of the tree.  Nobody really wants poopy diapers stuck in the trees over the patio.  It's an unpopular concept.

 They wanted Moo Jr.s, but all we had were these ice cream bars.  When l.c. objected, Little Jay told him, "Dude!  These are Moo SENIORS!"  Then he agreed he could probably eat it.

And then it was time to drive back to the city and return the little guy to his family and pick up the other kids again.   

It was a great Thursday, and tomorrow is Friday, and everything is okay.  Onward.   love forever, Grandma

an unexpected day

 I left the kids off at Bible School this morning at our church in the city.    Yesterday I had signed up to hang around for the morning in case they needed help.   The bible lesson was about the parable of the sower throwing seed down--some land on the path, some land on rocks, some in thorn patches, some in good soil.

The pastor, Mark, explained the metaphor involved and asked the kids their thoughts.   They actually had some good thoughts, squirrels that they were sitting on the floor, wiggling around.

Then he said God throws down love on us even when we're like the path--and he pointed to a hard piece of tile where nothing can grow, or like the rocks, where things might grow for a little while, or the thorn patch, and held up a flower pot full of weeds and said, "Even when my life is all mixed up and full of crap," and also those times when things can grow in good soil.   All the time.  The love is always there.

I liked it.

This morning, Dannell was there with her kids, and Aunt Michelle brought b.g. and t.g. for the singing in the morning.   This is what I saw while driving away:


Kids in a bounce house in the morning sun.

Then I took Miss p.j. and headed over to my mom's for a visit.  Soon she convinced me we should go to Applebee's where she bought us lunch, and then we went back to her house for an hour until it was time to go get the kids again.

It was a tough day, all right--grandmas and a little girl goofing off all day.  Aww, Mom, what a treat this day was.

(Here's a picture of p.j. and her dad holding Rufus.)

 Then I came home and found this in front of the garage.  I guess the plumber has been at work.  It's a good thing our neighbors love us because the scenery around our yard can get a bit challenging.

Onward to Wednesday--doubt it can get much better than TUESDAY was.  August you beautiful month--we're going to get along, I can see this.   love, VAL

his parents

I worked a while tonight, so Jay took a few kids by himself up to his parents' house. They retired many years ago to their lake place  a couple hours north of here.

The kids had fun.

Here's Tim and his nephew t.c. overlapping on the knee boards. Good grief.



Now they're apart again. Better.

 Julia

Julia and Jenny on knee boards. Jenny is Jay's little brother's child.

 Lydia, aka Kari:

Kari, aka Lydia and m.c. on  kneeboards together.

Oh, now m.c. is doing backward stunts.

 They did have a good time. I hear the food was amazing, and the lake was warmer than usual, and it was all perfect.

I have to say, it does look lovely, and I am familiar with my mother in law's fantastic cooking and also my sister in law's equally delicious feasts.   So annoying to have missed ALL THE FUN.   But Jenny, your pictures make me feel like I was there.  love you, Aunt Val

the first friday in august

 These are a few pictures from the little pool this week.

 This is from here, tonight.  I asked Maria what was going on with Sidney, and she said, "I'm whispering her. She's not listening!"

Hmmm.  She looks like a listener here.

Here's John and Dannell's dog.  We're watching her for the weekend.  She's so territorial about her kennel and kept growling at p.j., so I threw it out into the juniper bushes in the front. 

Then she growled about her jar of dog food. That also went in the bush for the time being.

This is l.c., My Sweetie.  This morning when they dropped off the dog, I was tired and still in pajamas and bed hair. I sat on the bottom stair by the front door, trying to get WITH life.  He tucked himself between my knees and held up three tiny little skinny fingers.

"My dog eats three things."

"Yeah?"

"Yes."  His eyes were wide and three three fingers in my face for emphasis.  "She eats dog food, bugs, and grass."

Why I find this so hilarious, I don't even know.   This bug-eating, grass-eating dog is tucked here under my chair now, against my bare feet, seeking reassurance from the thunderstorms threatening outside.

It's all good, Little Sophie. Fear not.  Your own best guy knows your diet preferences.

Tonight I went up to the corner for a hair cut and color. She talked fast and cut fast, and I was watching my hair disappear as I listened, but hair grows, right? 

It looks fine, actually.   When it come to my hair, fine is as good as it gets.

 Ahhh, but THERE is my bathwater.  Time to call this doggone day over, and what a fine Friday it was.

 

Good night.  Happy  August.  love, Val

sleepin' like crazy

We had the long-awaited sleepover last night.  

After his parents left, we sprawled out on the couch and I teased him, "Guess who didn't have to leave at the end of the party?"

He looked at me, "Who?"

"You!"

"Yeah! I got to stay!  I just got to stay and stay!"

He slept really late this morning for himself--he's usually up at 6am.   They all piled in Tim's bed late last night sometime after I'd gone to bed, and he didn't wake up until Heidi was dropping off p.j. at 8.  

But then Tim and Julia kept sleeping and sleeping.  He tried to wake them up several times, "You guys! You don't have to sleep anymore. You can get up now."

They didn't even open their eyes, just covered up their heads.

 He came back to the living room and announced, "They're just in there sleeping like CRAZY!"

I love that description--those crazy, crazy sleepers. 

Hey Buddy, I'm so glad you're here.   love, Grandma