Friday, August 31, 2012

Alphabet Laughs- Q Is For Quints And Quiet And Quips

This post doesn't start off
with a laugh today.
Does anyone remember the
 They were the first known set of
QUINTS to survive.
Aren't they beautiful little girls?
At four months old they were removed
from their parents and not returned
until they were nine years old.
You can read about it by
clicking on the link.
So Sad!
Which made me think how
QUIET
that house must have been with
all those babies removed.
I experience only a shadow
of what that must have been like
when the kids leave after
being here for a day or two.
The house is
QUIET.
And, while I do like the quiet,
I also like the hum of activity.
While SweetCheeks is visiting
I almost always jot down a
quip or two from her.
She is just 
FULL OF IT
and you know what I mean by that
when I am driving her home-
She is always thinking about
something-you never know 
WHAT will come out of her mouth.
Nana!
What?
How come Papa sleehps 
with his underweahr on?
Those are pajama shorts, SweetCheeks.
No theyhre nott-theyhre his
underweahr.
-Okay- 
I am not gonna argue
with a 5 year old- well...I might
sometimes but not today.
You know WHY he weahrs his
underweahr to bed?
No-Why?
So, God dusn't see his buhtt
when he gehts up to go to 
the bafthroom!
An answer for everything!
....Gotta love a kid like that....

Can you tell she is her own
best audience?
your photo name

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Alphabet Laughs- P Is For Places And Pickles

I try to meet my daughter, Mimi,
and her two little guys,
BigBoyE & CharlesInCharge,
for lunch in Sheboygan  every
so often.
This time we met at a great 
place on the waterfront
with a fantastic view of the
channel into Sheboygan.
The place we meet is usually
Brisco County Grill.
They are kid friendly and it is
reasonably priced.

Someone was good natured today...
and hungry...
And our BigBoyE was as busy
as usual.
As you can see he is already a 
multi-tasker.
He was quite excited to see one of these...
Listen to 
HOW BIG 
he thought the pickle was.
This little video is
SIX SECONDS LONG
Click on it and
WATCH how animated
he gets  over a PICKLE.

And has THIS QUESTION been
burning in your mind?
The End Of Silliness?
Probably not anytime soon....
at least on MY blog!
your photo name

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Alphabet Laughs-O Is For Opals And Okra And Oh My!

Did you know it is supposed
to be 
BAD LUCK
to wear
OPALS
if they are not your birthstone?
Well, I love opals.
Fire under Ice.
That kind of describes me---
well, except for the ice part....
I'm a marshmallow inside.
So.....Is it true that
wearing opals is bad luck
if it is not your birthstone?
Fact or Fiction?
Well....I say it is 
A FACT!
How do I know that?
Because I have LOST
every single opal I have
ever owned.
Never lost any other jewelry..
just the opals.
Which bring us to 
OKRA-
How did that happen?
I lost one of my OPALS
eating okra.
Seriously!
Okra is NOT for the
Faint-of-heart.
You either love it or hate it..
no fence sitting on this veggie!
I like it FRIED-of course I do-
which is why I no longer eat it.
has a great recipe for it
if you want to try it.
And after you finish that
mess of okra
(Mess of anything is a strictly Southern term-
it means a whole bunch of it)
You might want to pop in to 
someone's wedding
for a piece of cake.
Can I get an
OH MY!
Okay-the one in the middle is the 
BRIDE.
The one on the LEFT is the
WEDDING CAKE!
OH MY!  OH MY! OH MY!
your photo name

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Alphabet Laughs- N Is For NO and Naughty (SweetCheeks)

They say a picture says a
Thousand Words.
Step by step
I will show you how
NAUGHTY happens.
I sit with the kids at
STARBUCKS
(imagine that)
while Mom runs an errand.
We get a 
Strawberry Smoothie
to share.
SweetCheeks!
(Who is starting to pull her
straw out of her glass)

Leave your straw IN your glass!!!

Whut, Nana?
I repeat...Don't pull your
straw out of your drink.

I'hm NOTT!
Well, it looks to ME like you are
doing that.
I'hm NOTT- I promise!

Okay- so what happens when you
sit for an hour and drink coffee?
Yep- Potty break.
I come back from the bathroom.
SweetCheeks!
Did you take your straw out of
your drink?!?

NOH! I din't!
Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire!
your photo name

Monday, August 27, 2012

Alphabet Laughs-M Is For Marriage- Happy Anniversary To ME

There was so much going on
that I forgot to
post about our
Anniversary~
August 17th.

Here we are-
THIRTY SEVEN YEARS AGO!
It was a hot August day
in 1975.
Yes...yes...she wore flowers in her hair....
When anyone asks how
long we have been married
we respond in unison
37 YEARS...
Well, I say it immediately..
MyHero can never remember
exactly how long we have
been married.

He says- Seems like yesterday.
I say- Seems like forever.
The straightman
and the
joker.
We make quite a pair.

It has not been an easy
37 years, despite what it
may look like from the outside.
We both came out of broken
relationships....
and probably should have gotten
to really know each other
BEFORE we got married.

We dated 30 days before
we said
I DO
under an old oak tree
in
Alva, Florida.

There were lots of ups and downs
over the years.
Some easy to accept,
others much harder to deal with.

BUT-
If WE can do this-
If WE can hang in there for the long haul,
then I believe that if
two people really
WANT TO
make a relationship work...
they can...
and will...
and should.

Take a look at your partner
today...a really hard look...
and think about your
life without them.
Marriage is not always easy,
but no one ever promised us
that it would be.

I only have one piece of
advice for you....
Keep your sense of humor.
Why?
Because you are going to
NEED IT!
......Trust me on this.....
your photo name

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Guess Who Won The Giveaway?

Well, you know I don't
go for that old
Random Number Generator.
There's no heart in that
for me.
No, I must make it 
much more complicated 
than that.
I have to go back to 
SIX posts
and tabulate names.
Then, of course, I must
double check them to make
sure I have each of you
entered the right amount 
of times...
the number that you signed in
and left a comment...
Next, I must enter those names
in a word processing program.
Then, I must make sure that
you all have equal amounts of
"space" on the paper so that
everyone has a fair chance.
I then use an office cutter to
cut them apart.
Then..they are folded and
put into a fishbowl..sans fish!
Whew!
I know...I know...
you want to know who won...
Right?
First you must suffer a tad bit more.
SweetCheeks stayed at her 
other grandmother's house
this weekend 
(God bless and preserve the woman).
Ria stayed with me for some
one on one time.
That meant that SHE got to 
dress up and do the drawing.
So....ready?
Here we go....
Click on this 10 second video
to find out who the winner is....
Pffffft.....Did you really think
I was going to TELL YOU?
Seriously?
You should know me better than that!
Want a hint?
I will say that the winner and I just
connected on a deeper basis
over a book.
Congratulations-to-?!
Shhhhh...let her discover it herself~
Edited to add:
Now that she has found out-
you will be delighted to know
that it is
Diane @ Lavender Dreams
Congratulations!
your photo name

Saturday, August 25, 2012

To The Moon And Beyond

I just read the news on 
An American hero
has passed across the
wide expanse of time
and space to his
final home.
A man who went above and beyond
what was expected of mankind..
a dream realized
of seeing man on the moon.
I remember sitting with my father
watching the landing on
an old Philco TV,
pregnant with my first son.
My father in awe having 
lived from horse and buggy  to
a space rocket on the moon.
I have a lump in my throat
tonight as I bid good-bye
to someone who was part
of my youth's history.
RIP
Neil Armstrong
You will not soon be forgotten.
your photo name

Little Lulu's French Themed Bedroom

As  you know,
if you are a regular follower,
(and by regular
 I am not talking bathroom
habits here if you get my drift)
we had a special French themed
birthday party for 
Lulu at my house last week.
If you missed it you can see
it here.

She had no idea about the 
party because the day before
her Mom surprised her
with a makeover for her room.
She moved into the guest room
across from her sisters' room.
It was all ready for her.
She went out for the afternoon
and when she came home
this is what she saw...
The colors are black and pink
and silver.
Three sweet little chandeliers
hang over this area.
Her bed was dressed with
some stenciling.
And decked in new bedding
in black and white and silver.
Are you awake, sleepy head?
A cube to hold  her treasures.
Mirrors and more~
Her Auntie Mimi painted this
special old window sash
using the Eiffel Tower
for the A in her name.
Lulu wrapped one of the boas
from her birthday party around it
to hold onto the memory
of a fun day.

Is she one lucky little girl...or what?
ha-made you tip your head sideways,
didn't I?
I knew I could!!!!

Ummm...just a reminder...
4 months until Christmas
your photo name

Friday, August 24, 2012

Alphabet Laughs- L Is For Le French Table

Okay- 
You asked for it-
You got it!
That is what 
MyHero said to me when
I asked him to trim the
bushes out in front of our
second house.
It was NOT a pretty sight.
So, since then I have
been very careful
about asking for 
things that might involve
a saw....or a chipper.
(anyone that saw the movie
FARGO will know what I
am talking about).

HOWEVAH!
You asked me about my
little table-
I am by no means an expert
at furniture fix ups.
I just do what I like.
First off,
I had some 
Annie Sloan Chalk Paint
(ASCP)
that I used.
That meant I did NOT have
to sand the piece down 
beforehand.
I removed the hardware
which looked like this...
You probably all know the trick
of sticking a toothpick
into the little handle hole
to hold it up for spray painting.
Anyway, I decided to reuse the
original hardware and just 
spray painted it soft black.

Then I dug out my little cones.
Do you use these?
They lift the piece off the 
ground so that you can paint
right to the bottom without
hitting ground zero.
wallah-
Yes-I painted IN THE HOUSE.
shhhhhhh

I washed the piece down with TSP.
I use that because it cuts through
all the crud and gives the piece
a good "grab" for the paint.

I base coated it with 
antique white ASCP.
One coat did not quite give
me enough coverage so I 
did give it a second coat.
I then used a sanding pad to 
lightly sand and smooth
the paint a bit.

Next-I went to 
She has the most amazing
images for anything and everything.

I printed out two images
from two different graphics.
I used a very simple transfer
method.
I simply placed a piece of
graphite paper under the 
image and traced over it
with a sharp pencil.
I lifted the paper off
and used a 
PAINT PEN
to copy over the lines
of the image.
I did Paris first...
Then the laurel design...
Once I paint inked that in
it looked like this....
I then sanded over the design
slightly to give it a
slightly aged look.
I then applied two coats 
of paste wax.
I buffed between each coat.
I put THREE coats
on the table top.

All I had to do was
screw the painted hardware
back in place and 
Presto-Chango
Here she is!
Purrrrrty cute, huh?
Please ignore the cord hanging
down in back- I have now
fixed that~
So...If I can do this- 
Anyone can!
Hmmm...I have noticed that all
the kids are starting to put 
their names on pieces of 
my "stuff"....
You know....for 
"someday".
I better look underneath
and see whose name is
on this one.
Pffffttt.....maybe for a 
joke I will leave it to
The Cat!
That'll fix 'em!

If I don't reply to you personally it is because your name does 
not come up with an email addy attached on my reader.
Just know that I do send a Thank You to ALL comments
unless it is not listed. Just  know that I want to
Thank all of YOU, too,that don't have your email enabled.
your photo name

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Give Away Update-And ANOTHER Giveaway

Okay- 
Remember this?
I have my end set to go.
My names are all printed out.
I am just waiting to get
SweetCheeks over here
to pick the name.
I am aiming for tomorrow-
Friday.
So, please be patient a day
or so longer.

Meanwhile,
while you are waiting for me
please pop by my friend,
Jettie's blog,
She is having a giveaway
for a book.
She is an avid reader and
reads and reviews books
for companies and authors.
She said this is a wonderful
book.....
Would you believe it is
Christian based?
Well, it is!
Jettie is a wonderful friend.
She is the reason I am 
blogging today-
She got me interested in it.
So, pop by her blog,
sign up as a follower
and sign up for the 
giveaway.
And..
maybe she can convince
her granddaughter
to do the drawing for her.
If not...
I can always loan her
SweetCheeks for the day!
Wait-wait-
I need her THAT day!

Jettie can have her 
the day she looks like
THIS!
She'll bring the cheese.
(Well, we are from Wisconsin, you know!;>)

Anyway, please pop by 
your photo name

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Alphabet Laughs-K Is For Krispy Kremes And Kites And Kinky AND Giveaway Update

I think you all know I used to
EAT SUGAR.
What kind of SUGAR
did I eat?
Well,
This  wasn't far from
my mouth
when we had them in town.
They left town before I 
quit eating sugar.
I think I had a
mini-breakdown 
when that happened.
I stayed in bed for days
and cried.
I was never was a big donut
eater.....but....man...
I won't even tell you how 
many of those warm, fresh
babies I could eat as they
came off the moving 
production line.

When we were working 
on this house I would
bring the guys a big
box of these on 
Monday and Friday.
(they loved me...actually
they loved the donuts and 
only PRETENDED to love me)
Seriously,
I don't know WHY
they used to tell me to 
go fly a kite 
when I asked
them to do something.
Which, cleverly,
brings me to kites.

I don't know who is the 
bigger kid in this family-
My son-in-law, 
The Brawny Man,
or MyHero.
Give them a kite and they
will play on the beach 
all day long.
We are talking 
BIG PULL YOU 
ALONG THE  GROUND KITES
here!
My son-in-law goes home and
relaxes.
After MyHero wrestles one
of those things for the 
afternoon he needs something 
like this....
and this....
But he is still a
Kid-At-Heart
and definitely
NOT KINKY.

So....
You want to see 
KINKY, do you?
How about THIS?
Anyone remember
The Kinks?
I am using the title to one
of their best known songs
here-please apply it to
yourself if you perked
up at the word
KINKY.
The song?
"You Really Got Me"

uh-huh-you have a good
day now- m'Kay?
(notice how I cleverly worked
that K in just one more time-
I just tickle myself sometimes!;>)

As you know every time you
signed in on the 5 days of
the giveaway your name
was counted.
Some of you have 6 chances!
There are just under
THREE HUNDRED entries.
So....
I plan on getting SweetCheeks
over here to pick the name
for the giveaway this week.
Bear with me-
She is busy getting ready for
her first day of
Kindergarten.
your photo name