Alphabet Laughs- Q Is For Quints And Quiet And Quips

This post doesn't start off

with a laugh today.

Does anyone remember the

Dionne Quintuplets?

 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?

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!

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.

 Ginger @Savannah Granny

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!

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!

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.....

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!

To The Moon And Beyond

I just read the news on 

Laura's I'm So Vintage blog.

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.

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

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 

The Graphics Fairy

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.

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,

Jettie's Ramblings

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 

Jettie's Ramblings.

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.