pull-ie the hair, and a florida beach

Here's a cute Instagram picture of two girls in Halloween pajamas.     Last week one morning we were in my bed watching Curious George, and the little one was in the middle.  p.j. was kicking and kicking and kicking.  She's a big time kicker and wiggler in bed.

I said, "We should name you, "Kicky the Horse.""

She laughed and said, "Then we have to name her, "Pull-ie the Hair.""

And then she said, "And you are "Snuggly the Grandma."

Sigh.  All true names.

And there was this picture last week from Florida.

Kirsten moved there last month, and this woman is NOT GOING TO MISS that horrible commute across the cities in the snow and dark all winter long.  Dark in the morning, dark in the evening, seldom above ten degrees.

This is her reality.

love all you people, MOM, aka GRANDMA

october at the lake

We had a good time, mostly.

We rented three movies on Friday night:  St. Vincent, The Terminal, and something about work.  Unfinished Business, I think.

Well, the first two were great, but last night we tried to watch the other one.

Too vulgar.  We took it out of the DVD player, to Jay's consternation because he was trying to follow the plot and willing to overlook the gratuitous crudeness.

We put in Grown Ups instead, and yeah, that had to be removed too.

And I'm not even that big of a prude, but Good LOR-ed.

Anyway, Sam enjoyed the boat ride very much.  The kids, less.

 Our neighbor's cute cabin:

 I painted the fish house, and Jay scooped out dirt and put in pea rock around it, sinking into the swamp as it is.

October, you gorgeous devil.

See you in a few days.

love, Val

the view

Jay took this picture today of the view out the window of a plumbing appointment.

It's the Mississippi River near Hennepin and 3rd Ave. So.

Spectacular.  love, Val

this week

 It's been a great week.     Monday we had a babysitting day, lots of cousins here.  I snapped a picture at lunch, but that was it.

Those kids played and played, the whole day.  There were games with the stuffed animals, imaginary play, plot lines I couldn't really follow.

Later in the afternoon I was in the family room with the two babies and saw that curly haired guy was sprawled out on the floor and his cousin p.j. was walking around in a fancy ball gown, talking on a toy cell phone asking for emergency assistance:  "Yes, it's an emergency. Come right away.  My pet cat has been run over by a car."

I looked at the little guy and quietly asked, "Are you the cat?"

"Yes."

Lord have mercy.

 And our maple tree almost seemed like it was going to have all the leaves blow off before they even turned color.

But no.   It's gorgeous again.

This tree came with the house.  We bought in late fall, so we didn't even know about the tree until the following year, but Lydia says it's totally worth it.

 We're also working on this project too, scraping and painting before the winter comes.  Pretty soon I'll be far enough up the wall that Jay will take over and do the peak on the extension ladder or the scaffolding.   Last time we did this was 1989, so we should be good for another twenty-five years.

October so far has been nothing short of amazing.

Maria and I had supper at her apartment tonight, and it's adorable, and her roommates are sweet and friendly.   All excellent.

Sigh.   Happy Wednesday.   love always, Val

a beautiful girl turns 21

 Happy Birthday, Maria!

 I went looking for some pictures of you--found a couple cute ones:

 That one was from the weekend with those silly Homecoming Cows.

And one from last summer, you and that sweet niece you took care of:

And this grainy one--I have no idea what's happening here.  It's at the lake, and you're holding John's dog.  Could be anything, but I love it.

I hope this is a fantastic year full of great things.

This whole family is who it is because you're in it, and we could not love you more.

Lucky little old us.

Love, Mom and Dad and Everybody

happy birthday, joe

It was an unexpected afternoon together in the car, me, you, and your mom.

But it was great.  Your mom is wonderful, and you are easy company, true.

 And here we are later, at the end of the day, wishing you happy birthday.

Joe?

Thanks for coming to this family and being ours.

It's been a long time, about ten or eleven years now?

And we do love you so much.

Happy Birthday, Buddy.    love, Jay and Val and Everybody

beautiful october

 The sky is so blue today, and air is so fresh and bright.

The hydrangeas have turned this color:

 Bart is back, lighting up the place during the early dark.

Hey, October?

Lookin' good.

love, Val