15-07-19

Evan presidents list. Evan showed me his invitation to participate in the special event for students that made the President's list. 
Tyler report card. Tyler had been asking about his report card. He came to me last night and said, "My dad found my report card for me." 
Shawn work with Chris. Shawn went to work with Chris Saturday morning, to film a wedding, and spent Saturday night with him. 

14 10 08

We woke up, but hadn't gotten up. Moonlight had flooded the room, but was darkened now because of the lunar eclipse. We could hear Shawn stirring. I said, "We should get up so we can be sure to get to tell Shawn "Happy Birthday" before he goes off to school. Barry jumped right up.

14-10-06

Annette was cute, and sweet, presenting the gift she made for me. She folded the pages of a book in a way that makes a heart. She said, "I chose the roses for you," and that she liked the way you could still see whole pictures of the flowers, even when the craft was done. It looks like an enormous amount of precision folding and care, and when I commented about the time, she said, "I enjoyed doing it for you."

Beverly wrote me a sweet note, and is going to take me to lunch and to see the Sandhill Cranes.

Beth gave me a theme present -- a movie night, at her house, where she said there will be appetizers, and she put Champagne in my gift bag, along with some movie candy. She said, "And I made a definite time, so it can't just never happen."

John and Kim and Noah gave me a sweet card.

Shawn brought his girlfriend. First girlfriend to come to Second Sunday Supper. Brittany was the first to meet her. She sent a text to all of the girl cousins. Morgan's response: I"m currently driving 90 miles an hour down Schillinger.;-)

The girls all cooked and the kids helped set up and clean up, so it was a really easy night. Barry spent all day helping me, and took care of getting and heating up the Boston Butt.

Kim, going home with leftovers, "Thanks to you, I won't have to cook tomorrow night!"

Skyler, sitting at the table: "I'm waiting for Noah." When I told her about her ring shopping trip with Papa, she said, "Cool!"

14 09 22

We had a good time at Goodtimes.

Noah: "We don't call it 'Goodtimes for nothing,"

Brittany worked, and Skyler was sick.

Angela and Ryan came and we all sat out on the pool deck and talked and played Phase Ten. She said it was fun to just come and hang out for a little while. Tori was here last weekend and couldn't make it back. Kennedy kept in touch, but was busy wrangling with her washer and dryer. She said she thought she'd be in Mobile today, and that she would probably get to stop by.

Blake and said he was going to try to come. Morgan was in Atlanta. Amber came after while and sat out by the pool with us. I was glad Beth checked to see where Zak was --- turns out his truck is broken and he needed a ride, so she went to get him. He sat with us for a while, too.

When Evan sent a message last week, he was sick, so I guess he was still sick Sunday. Faith and Daniel didn't come, but Michael was here. He said he'll be playing the drums at a game this coming Thursday.

Noah was here, as were Shawn, Tyler, and Willo.

Noah has become a French Toast fanatic, Kim and John said, now that he can eat eggs even if they aren't in baked goods. He gave lots of hugs and pat-pat-pats.

It was the smallest group ever in the pool, and for most of the afternoon was just Willo and Rodney. She is all about her Uncle Rodney. She said his name so many times Sunday that she really was saying it more clearly by the end of the day.

Beth played Phase Ten with us. Most of the rest of the kids stayed inside, playing the video games, I think. Barry was inside.

Chris went to get Faith, Michael, and Daniel, and while he was gone, Willo started saying that she wanted to swim. She was dressed in her shorts, but no shirt. Beth told her she needed her bathing suit, and Willo told her that she was wearing her "silly suit."

She took her shorts off and asked again. I told her we needed her swim pull up. She said, "Please let me swim in this pull up." I told her would mess up the pool, and I thought we were done with the conversation. But....we weren't. She solved the problem by removing it.

14 09 15

Tori said she must really have Josh attached to this family. He was really sorry he couldn't come.

My turkey turned out really good. I just hadn't roasted a turkey in years. I hadn't ever brined one. I followed Alton Brown's instructions, and really turned out the best roast turkey I think I've ever eaten. The crock pot stuffing was good, too. Not exactly the way I remember my mothers, and not quite as good stuffing in the turkey, but very good. Used a Jazz apple in the turkey, by the way. The Summer Pudding was the biggest surprise of the night. The Meyer-Lemon cake may be my new favorite dessert. 

Juicing night. Served left overs on paper plates to minimize after-supper cleanup, and then we started juicing. Beverly and I got a little system going on the carrots, and when JA came home from work he joined us in the kitchen, even before he ate supper. Barry showed us how to fold the stuff up into the bags, and showed JA how to work the press. Shawn came and hung around the kitchen, curious about the taste of things, and maybe about the laughter that was happening. 

14 09 15

Willo, "What's next?"

Younger kids playing with Willo.

Faith on the sofa with her cell phone.

Four very lonely tables last night. Finally scrunched them in a little.

John, hug and thank you as soon as he opened his card. Chris thank you.

Chris, John, Shawn, Beverly and JA helped me.

Beverly, doing the dishes even when her legs were tired.

14 09 12

This morning, Tyler talked about how much he liked sour things. He said that none of his teachers (3 of them) could leave a lemon in their mouth for ten seconds, but that he could. I asked if they had a contest or something. He said they hadn't, but that his teacher acted like she didn't even want to do it at all. He said the only time he's ever (made the face we make when we bite on something sour) is when he put two warheads in his mouth at once.

Beverly was with me on the sofa when Shawn poked his head out of his room. Beverly said hey, and you know how much I love you, and he came to give her a big hug and sat in her lap. :-)

14 09 06

Maybe it is in a joy journal somewhere. Beverly was telling Shawn that he said lots of funny stuff when he was a kid, but that she couldn't remember it. He said, "Maybe it is in a Joy Journal somewhere."

14 08 28

Text from Angela, accompanied by a picture: "Humming Birds have been checking out my feeder and pink hibiscus lately! I wasn't fast enough to snap a picture w him in it but hopefully he will keep coming back like our little humming bird friend did  (smile)"

Ryan and Barry talking. Really quite a while. Working together on some kind of a project for Ryan ... power washing. Comfortable with each other. 

Facebook Email from Kennedy:" Due to an unfortunate (but awesome) schedule mishap, I get to take drawing AND PAINTING this semester!!!!! I'm so excited and I love my art teachers! I did find out that I actually do have to take Drawing 3: The Figure though...

I'm not too thrilled about that, but I figure I have awhile before I need to worry about that. Hopefully some of my art from this class will be back on the walls and you can come see them! I love you both and hope you're having a good week!!!"

Swimming with the boys. I finished Thursday in the office without a lot of ... or any that I knew of... Wonderland Friday panics. Still an enormous load of things to do. Still a slew of undone things in the household sector --- like getting the phone line checked .... but no scary Thursday night thoughts. After "tea and the news" I asked Barry what he wanted to do, and he said, "I think I want to go get in the pool." I told him to get Tyler, because Tyler would love that. I had to hang up some jeans, but that didn't take long. I put on my bathing suit and joined them, but I sat in the rocking chair at the\\\\deep end of the pool. A few minutes later, Chris and Shawn came out and joined them in the pool. I sat in my rocking chair. I rocked. I settled. The evening temp was nice. The stars came out. The boys --- all four of them --- laughed. The had competitions ---- who could hold their breath the farthest, who could do jump the highest, who could do the most spectacular dive, could Tyler catch them? I tried to take a picture of Chris diving, to use for his contact picture in my phone, but just couldn't get it. So I got him to come to the deep end of the pool where the light was. "Be still, " I said. "It's hard to be still when you're treading water," he laughed. I just settled. I just enjoyed. 

Miss Belinda to Beverly: "You know,  you have a very willing heart. " Miss Belinda has a very sick son. He is mentally and physically overwhelmingly handicapped and cannot do anything for himself. The doctors have told her that he has reached the end of his life expectancy. She told Beverly that when she was at the hospital the night before, she at least did not have to worry about about the stacks of things that had not been done, because they had gotten caught up on everything. I think that is because Beverly is such a willing helper, and said so. Beverly said, "No, it is because of her work, but she did say the nicest thing to me. She said, "You know, you have a very willing heart." 

So Tori and JA have a thing about meeting famous people. Her contribution last night was to tell him that when she walked into (?) she saw herself .... a picture of her on the brochure for the Computer Science department. She told Beverly that she went ahead and grabbed one. :-) 

We pulled the wedding dresses out, and found the sixpence that Barry put in Beverly's shoe. 

14-08-11

SomeTime in the Summertime was a lot of fun. I am more and more in favor of my idea. It was really more fun than Thanksgiving. For starters, I wasn't worn out from cooking and coordinating.

JA went and got the ice and iced the drinks for me.

Barry made meatballs for meatball sandwiches, and cooked corn on the cob. Everybody loved the meatballs. He helped me things cleaned up and ready, and it was fun for it to feel like a together thing.

He also fixed the volleyball net. We didn't end up playing volleyball though. The kids headed straight for the pool, and the big kids mostly stayed in the air conditioning.

Willo wanting Beverly to help her change clothes.

Shawn and Zak, hanging out.

Brittany had fun in Florida.

Beverly offering to help Barry with the difficult part of juicing.

14 07 28

All the boys were somewhere else on this Saturday night. We called Holly to come to bed with us, but she went to their room, looking for them.

14 07 07

July 14, 2014

Angela hugged me likes she misses me.

Angela, "It's good that Willo is talking to us all."

Willo looking for Tori when she got here. Telling Tori something about her being a big kid and a little kid. A big kid at the table and a little kid when she's outside, I think.

The little kids gathering up first at their table in the reading room.

Evan, Zak and Shawn, hanging out.

Laughing and listening to the kids.

Annette, that one of her favorite memories is sitting by Kim at Mardi Gras.

I asked Annette if she needed me for anything when she called me while I was in Chicago. She said, "No." Called just to talk. :-)

And so we did.... have almost everyone here. Beverly and JA, Kennedy and John, did not make it. We pulled out the stretch table and the older grandbabies sat there. I did that because we were also having a lot of grandbaby boyfirends, and I knew they wouldn't all fit at the square table. I set the little table up in the reading room, but with only four chairs. I wasn't even sure we'd need them. The little kids tried to pile in there, but we told them they could sit at the square table. It took them a minute, but they did move in there.

The macaroni and cheese was a lot better last night. I don't think I'll do that boston butt again. It just wasn't that good. The boys gave me a kind of a blank look when I suggested it might be a substitute for the roast.

14-07-09

Did a document in Excel. Actually, Virginia had created it, but I was able to figure out how to edit it. I had never done that before. 

Mark said he admired what we'd done with the business.

My pretty fingernails!

The boys did a good job on the kitchen last night.

Morgan said that she missed grocery shopping when she was in Rome.

We are going to have almost everybody here for Second Sunday Supper!

Virginia and I laughed together after work yesterday.

Tyler said his shoes fit him. 

14-06-23

Barry got an idea for a tutor for Shawn.

I went to the gym.

I was able to reconcile the Wonderland account.

I'm in my writing shack.

Well, I"m about to go, and it took me a while to get online, but nonetheless, I am here.

14 03 10

So, we had Second Sunday Supper last night. It wasn't a full house, but it was a house full, and there seemed to be lots of love and laughter.

After supper, Papa got up and went and sat at the square dining room table and visited with the grandbabies sitting there (the younger bunch had already fled their table). Morgan talked about that this morning --- how much fun it was, and that he told them about making his own clay, and mud riding in the power lines, and got out his album and showed them pictures.

Angela called to see if we needed any ice --- she and Ryan were on their way.

She seems so happy. I told her that, as she was giving me a hug good bye. She said, "I am."

She and Ken had a lot of fun this weekend. Kennedy brings a special game for she and Angela to play together, and Ange said she thinks that's very sweet.

Skyler, to Annette, as she was getting a brownie, "I thought you said there were going to be cookies."

Zak brought Shawn.

Rodney came with a truck load of snacks. After supper, we put the boxes out on the dining room table.

Gave the albums last night. Annette said it is her favorite present of the year. Angela and Morgan took their albums to the sofa, and Brittany, Zak and Shawn joined them ---- looking at the pictures, reminiscing, laughing together.

Annette giving me the picture sign ... Brit and Shawn and their casts.

Barry and I played in the bonsai garden on Saturday. I did my first very own repotting, and my first very own wiring. Sunday, I rearranged the plants on three of the shelves. This morning Barry said that he really liked it.

Angela and Morgan, wedding planning.

Annette saying that she wants to help.

Beverly called. "Yay!" she said, about coming home.

14 01 27

Ryan and Angela cleaning up. Angela hugged me bye, mid afternoon. Homework. I understood. And then she cleaned up around the project she'd been working on, and Ryan brought the craft table in, and they both worked at neatening things up. I thought that was sweet. 

Annette visit. Annette, hug. "I feel like it has been forever since I've seen everybody." And so she sat, and we visited, and she told me about her run, and feeling a good tired, and what she wants to do next. And Skyler's competition. 

Noah helped me make the bed.  Beverly.  Pillows. Noah and I played Crazy Eights, and then I told him I needed to clean up for the cousins, and he said, "I will help you." And so he helped me make the bed, and we talked about when he used to help Aunt B with the pillows.

Faith, connection. Faith and I, chatting and visiting throughout the day.

Zak Shawn Tyler.... recycling. So, we were down to three. Three boys and two big boxes of recycling. I asked if they would take it for me. Tyler asked if there was something for him to take, so he took the original recycling bin. They did it without hesitating, and when they came back, and Zak saw that some of it had spilled, he gathered it up and took it out the bin, too.