There's Trouble AFOOT- Conversations With Kids-

Sometimes when the grandgirls are here

I just sit and  listen without them realizing it.

Those are often the best conversations of all.

Last weekend, SweetCheeks & Ria were

sitting together.

.They usually get along quite well-

not a lot of spits and spats between them.

SCheeks:  Ria, will you rub my feet? (sweetly)

Ria:  Yeah, SweetCheeks. Okay.

SCheeks: Oh- That feels SO good, Ria!

Ria:(putting her feet up)  Will you rub mine, too?

SCheeks:  (adamantly) 

NO!  I HATE touching feet.

Ria stops rubbing.

SCheeks: (begging)

 Ria!  PULHLEASE  rub my feet? 

Ria: (starts rubbing her feet again)

Ria:  Okay- but SweetCheeks you HAVE to rub my feet, too.

SCheeks (half crying) Ria- I TOLD you I HATE touching feet.

Ria:  Fine!  I am NOT rubbing your feet then.  You can rub your own feet.

SCheeks:  (tearing up now)  

Ria- I CAN'T rub my own feet.

Ria:  Why NOT?

SCheeks:  I TOLD YOU- I DON'T LIKE TOUCHING FEET!

I am in the corner laughing myself silly.

SCheeks not knowing calls out:

Nana!  Can you make Ria rub my feet for me?

Me:  No, SweetCheeks, I can't~

SCheeks:  Fine!  I didn't want her to rub them anyways!  

As you can see-they still love each other!

At least ONE of them does!

Sound anything like YOUR house?

Tomorrow is the first day of May- 

Hooray!  Hooray!

I may have something special to show you...

or maybe not

One Of My Most EMBARRASSING MOMENTS In Life

Let me preface this by saying
this was NOT my finest hour.

This is my friend, Patty.

She is expounding on something.

She is a VERY GOOD expounder.

This was taken a few years ago.

Yes! She had one of THOSE sweaters!

I think we all did.

Anyway, my most embarrassing moment

involves moi, Patty, and my daughter, Mimi.

We were at a

WOMEN'S CHURCH RETREAT.

There were meetings that took you from 

laughter to tears.

You know that feeling, right?

I will try to make this short.

There had just been a very sad story prior to the upcoming moment.

You know that feeling?  

You are emotionally charged one way or another?

.

One of the lecturers was talking 

about someone she knew.

He was working on his car and 

GOT UNDER IT 

holding a gasoline soaked rag 

and because it was dark 

HE LIT A MATCH.

Well~you can imagine what happened.

He got burned.

NOT FUNNY, RIGHT?

Well, Mimi side whispered to me and Patty.

What kind of idiot lights a match under a car 

with gasoline there?

Patty started breathing heavily and 

covered her mouth & closed her eyes.

I started to laugh to myself (inside) 

but I was shaking.

Pretty soon Patty was shaking, too,

and then it happened.

SHE SNORTED.

I lost it- I was shaking all over 

and put my head down

on my arms on the table in front of me 

so that I wouldn't 

lose it completely,

hoping no one would notice that I

was laughing uncontrollably.

The woman on my other side (that I did not know)

thought I was taking the story very hard and 

PATTED ME ON THE BACK.

Patty and I started howling out loud.

Mimi got up and pushed her chair in between us.

We hung our heads in shame.

At the break we left the meeting and 

did NOT go back for the last talk.

So, the moral is,

never go to a meeting with Patty.

She is BAD LUCK and someone

might wet their pants!

not me-thanks for asking

ps-the man in question recovered completely

pps.  We never have.

Have an embarrassing moment 

YOU want to share?

I'm all ears-well, and mouth, obviously.

Gifts From The Heart-Times FOUR

After growing up and moving out on my own

I discovered a very important lesson that has

stuck with me my whole life.

IF you don't expect anything

you will NOT be disappointed.

So, while I have weathered many disappointments

over the years I must say that I am

OFTEN SURPRISED

by the overwhelming generosity of those

around me.

Both in loving support and gifts when

you least expect them.

Gift #1

Kris @ Junk Chic Cottage

had this in her home

and I admired it.

She was changing things up in her home and 

SENT IT TO ME!

Can you believe it?

I still can't!

LOOK!

Is that an amazing sign?

I have two different places in mind to hang it.

I will show it to you in its permanent home

once I get an area redone.

Gift#2

This is from my wonderful daughter, Mimi,

mama to Big Boy E, CharlesInCharge & 

Baby Bright Eyes.

This was kind of a "thank you, Mom" for

helping her with the new baby for a few weeks.

It was a labor of love - no gift necessary-

but I got one anyway.

It is a beautiful piece.

It is an Irish Crystal

Biscuit Barrel.

It is gorgeous----

about 10" tall and weighs about 10#.

The light glances off it in the lit built in china hutch

with a little help from PicMonkey..

Then, unexpectedly, I got another 

sweet little surprise

in the mail from my friend, Jettie

Jettie's Ramblings

She KNOWS I love to read.

She said these are page turners.

I always have a "car" book going-

one I read after getting coffee

or waiting for someone somewhere.

Oh- I can't wait to start the first one!

And last, but not least,

perhaps my favorite gift of all

(sorry girls)

Given to me on Sunday morning 

by some sweet little girls that were hanging out

in front of the house in weather that looked like this!

Nestled among the shells they found something special to bring to the house

"JUST FOR NANA"

they told Papa!

Yes- it is my favorite gift EVER!

It's a rock heart!

It should go nicely with the collection

I have in my head!

A Prayer Request For Another Blogger- Linda Loves Chocolate

I found Linda a while ago-

or she found me- not sure exactly HOW 

we found each other

but we did.

Isn't she a pretty woman and 

a happy looking soul?

She has a blog called

Linda Loves Chocolate

-oh-

I see she has CHANGED her blog name...lol

It is now called

CHOCOLATE, One of My Many Addictions

She lives less than 30 minutes from me

but we have never met (yet).

She announced that she was retiring and 

has shared the stress of finding a replacement 

and training them for her job.

But she has solidered on and risen to the task.

Her days lay ahead of her and she 

had plans for all the fun things she would do...

how she would spend her time once she retired.

Instead,

a couple of weeks ago she had a mammogram.

-something suspicious-

-need to biopsy-

-confirmed-

CANCER.

What fear that strikes to a woman's heart.

They put a port in last Thursday

so that they can give her 

CHEMO.

She will do well because she is a trooper.

She is a strong woman and 

is facing this thing headon.

But....

She is scared.

Her hubby is scared-

he has been down this road before.

Some of you have walked this path

or have family or friends that have done so.

Please leave her a message of support and love.

Something she can look at on those dark days

when it all seems overwhelming

Send her healing, positive thoughts and

PRAY 

if that is something you are wont to do.

Pray for courage for both of them.

Pray for serenity.

Pray for a deep, abiding peace.

And

PRAY FOR A HEALING.
She starts her first chemo treatment tomorrow.

Edited to add:  Please pray for Deb, too.
Her mom passed away yesterday morning.
I didn't talk to her so am not sharing her full name/blog  without her permission...but
she needs prayer.  This is a huge loss in her life. 

Thank you all so much!

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

WINNER WINNER THERE'LL BE PIE FOR DINNER

Here's what is in 

THE GIVEAWAY!

Here are all the entries.

I printed all the responses and

printed them out and then cut them apart

with a paper cutter

and didn't lose a single finger.

Yes- Yes- I know I could use the 

RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR

but this is SO much more FUN!

Here is 

THE PRINCESS BRIDE

dressed, seated, looking away so 

she won't cheat & then reading the name.

TA-DAH!

It's DEBBY from COZY BLANKET

Debby is a wonderful person,

caring, loving, funny,

REAL!

She has been a long time follower.

So, Miz Debby, I need your address

and I will get a box out to you the first of the week.

You-know-the check is in the mail....hahaha

Now,

Here's a little surprise for you!

SweetCheeks two sisters wanted to be part

of the drawing procedure, too.

So-they each drew a name.

I have something 

VERY LITTLE 
to send to two other gals.

Ria, on the right above, drew

Pat @ Gypsy Heart & Soul

Pat has been having trouble with
her computer/blogging so I hope
she sees this.

Lulu, on the left above, drew

Debbie from SheGracesHerHomeInGodsBeauty

Debbie is a brand new follower and brand new to 

blogging and has never entered a giveaway before.

So- Pat & Debbie

I need your addresses for just a 

"little sumthin"

Aren't you glad that 

THREE GRANDDAUGHTERS

showed up?

Thank you ALL so much for participating.

I wish I could send something to each and every one of  you

but I DO live with MyHero

and ummm...he wants to buy lunch this week.

the spoil sport

Rehabbing House #10- A European Colonial Revival

Well, I did such a long post yesterday

that I will make this one short and sweet.

I think this was House #10 out of the 14 or 15 

we have rehabbed and lived in.

We lived down the street one block from this house

and it was owned by friends of ours.

They listed us as an exception to the listing contract

while we made up our mind 

about moving one block.

Ultimately, we decided in a couple of days

that we would take the plunge.

This is what the outside looked like when 

we moved there.

The thing that makes this a 

European Colonial Revival

(so we were told)

is the Palladian window inset on the top.

Most Colonial Revivals have a peaked front.

If you look close you can see the original

"panel" pieces between the upstairs windows.

There were no shutters on the house and the 

landscaping was not in good shape.

This is what it looked like 6 months later.

We put a driveway in and I landscaped the front.

This house was on the historical register and was built in 1897.

She was a beauty.

Close up of the front porch-

Before-

It had a navy blue ceiling and a burgundy front door that was not original 

to the outside of the house.

It also had wrought iron railing 

that had been added in the 60's.

Front door:

This is what it looked like freshly painted with 

historical colors

Ill show you the vestibule  

just inside the front door  today so you 

can see the door and the restoration we did there.

Before

That door that you see was originally the INSIDE foyer door.

We moved it back inside and replaced the

vestibule windows that were missing.

Here is how it looked once we were finished

and had installed the 

leaded glass front door and windows.

We also replaced the crown moulding which had been taken down.

That is Mr.Midnight sitting on he floor to the left.

He was the smartest MALE cat we ever owned.

We had a female that was even smarter....

and that's all I'm gonna say about that~

So- that's it for today.

I will show you some more pictures of this house

as we restored it in another post or two.

You can see the backyard makeover I

did on this house HERE.

Have a great day.

I am picking the girls up from school so that 

SWEET CHEEKS

can pick a winner.

If you haven't signed up yet for my giveaway

HERE

you still have a chance until about 3pm today!

LOWE'S NEVER SAW IT COMING-NEITHER DID -

Grab your coffee cuz I think this is

the longest post I have ever done.

Some of my newer followers don't know  

THE REAL SWEETCHEEKS

so

I noted this down about 3 years ago

when SweetCheeks was FOUR YEARS OLD.

It was funny then and I think it is still funny.

I picked SweetCheeks up

to give her Mom time

to do their taxes

a couple of weeks ago

uninterrupted.

Imagine that!

I told my daughter that

I had to go to Lowes

but I would take

SweetCheeks with me.

SweetCheeks immediately

informed me that she

hated Lowes.

I think her exact words were~

I HAHTE LOWES, NANA!

Too bad!

Do you want to go with Nana

or stay with Mom and

stay quiet so she

can work on taxes?

*big sigh*

I'hll go witth yohu

but I stihll hate Lowes!

She brightened a bit

when I told her they had

flowers and we would find

something to do with

gardening that she could have

to "help me" come summer.

Immediately upon walking

in we found it..

the perfect thing..

a DorathuExplhoharh

watering can.

She smiled sweetly

and was a very good girl

while I found what I needed.

 Of course, before I left the store 

I had to go to the bathroom.

I don't know why because

I only drank about 4 cups of

coffee and had

ONE STARBUCKS LATTE.

~Do you think they will ever

pay me for all the free advertising I

give them~

Anyway.

.

IN THE BATHROOM

the conversation goes something like

this...

.

SC: I dohn't haffta go.

Me: Well, I do.

.

There is noone in here so just

sit tight and look at

your cute self in the mirror

while Nana goes potty.

SC: Oh-kay...

I close Door#1 behind me.

I hear footsteps coming in

.

and peek through the crack

(why are we all so paranoid)

to make sure SweetCheeks is

still right where I can see her.

She is still looking at herself in

the mirror.

I uh...ummm..you know- tinkle-

for lack of a more technical term-

and go out to wash my hands.

I get my camera out to

take some pics of SweetCheeks

making faces at herself in the mirror.

SC: Nana?

Me: Yes, honey?

SC: Did yohu see that wooman?

(Oh dear Lord in Heaven...

please...please...please...

it is echo-y in here and the

water is too quiet to drown

out any "secrets")

SC: Nana?

Me: Are we ready to go, SweetCheeks?

SC: Noh...NANA!?

Me: What? (whispering)

SC: Did you see that lady?

Me: No..

I can't help myself..I am taking pictures.

SC: Her looks like this...

Lord...please..please...please

don't let me start to laugh...

SC: Her dusn't haff eny teeth..

her looks like this...

My face starts burning..

SweetCheeks is smiling happily..

.

like she has uncovered a nice

big secret.

Me: Shhhhh...I whisper..That's

not nice....

Let's go..

(It is not lost on me that her shirt says

SASSY)

SC: Okay..Nana...

But you know whut else?

(silently to myself...I am NOT asking)

SC: Yohu know how come I knohw that...

cuz hers smiled at me.

I think hers smiled at me cuz

hers liked my

Dorha the Explorah

water can.

I hear rustling..

I hear flushing..

but I am OUT THE DOOR..

before I have to

see the poor soul

that was locked behind

Door Number Two.

SweetCheeks last words?

SC: Nana~WHY arhe yohu ahlways

is such a hurrhy?

It could be because I

don't want to get

"the look"...

you know..

"the look"

the one reserved for people

that can't keep their

kids "in tow".

I'll take my chances with

letting the chatter flow

because you never know

what pearls of wisdom

will drop from the mouths of babes.

Of course, you gotta take the good

with the bad...

If they say the wrong thing....

Just look at them like they belong to

someone else and pretend you 

are babysitting.

It worked with my own kids 

and it works even  better

with grandkids!

You have a great day and remember

PUT YOUR TEETH IN BEFORE

you go to Lowe's.

You never know when you might run into a

SWEET CHEEKS!

You can still sign up for

my giveaway here!

It is open until I see SweetCheeks later

this week.