Literal Little Lulu

Lulu is the oldest daughter

of my oldest daughter, TPot.

Now, I'm not saying the nut

doesn't fall far from the tree..

but let me tell you,

when her Mom was little

she came home from school

and was singing

The Star Spangled Banner,

a song they were learning in school.

Just for no good reason but I want

to tell you this...that song

always brings tears to my eyes..

Anyway..

So TPot was singing..

Hosea' can you see, by the dawn's earl..

Huh? What?

TPot start again..

HOSEA'

can you see...by the daw.......

What's the matter?

Nothing..start again..

HOSEA'

can you se....

What's so funny?

Nothing...start again..

No! Tell me what's

so funny?????Well, the words are ..

OH SAY can you see by the dawn's early light.

No it's not, Mom! It's Hosea'

can you see...

Cuz there's a new kid in our class named Hosea'

and he doesn't know where everything is yet..

so the song is Hosea' can you see THE FLAG..

Well, I wasn't gonna argue with a first grader..

I figured she'd get it right before she

graduated. I never did

remember exactly WHEN she

figured it out...but it

was good for a few laughs

at the time.

So, the other day,

daughter of my daughter,

needs some socks.

I told her to go up to the bedroom

they sleep in when they visit here

and look in the top drawer~

and she would find some new socks.

She comes down the steps,

looking a bit discouraged.

What's the matter? I ask.

I can't wear these!

They are for 4 to 6..

and I am 8

so I can't wear them....

Alrighty then..LULU!

Let me see if I can find some

different ones.

Up the steps,

remove the label,

hand them to her..

These fit fine, Nana,

Thank you!

Same socks-different concept~

This literal little girl loves to read.She is a very good reader..

reading about 2 years above her grade level.

I love to watch her and her friend,

sitting in Barnes & Noble

reading a book! In a world where there are

so many wordily distractions, I am

glad to see kids reading.

After we leave Barnes & Noble

we head to Olive Garden for lunch.

A treat reserved for once-in-a-while.

They order their food.

We eat and as we are about to leave

we see Lulu's ex-babysitter,Miss G,

who now has a life..

and doesn't babysit anymore.

She chit chats with Lulu and tells her

how much she has grown.

Lulu, she says, maybe someday

when you are a little older and I have

kids you can babysit for me..

just like I did for you.

No, Lulu says, thank you,

but I really don't want to.

Oh, sure you will I don't mean right

now...I mean when you get older.

No, Lulu says, very seriously,

I won't want to.

Why not? Asks MissG, smiling.

Well, because you were mean when

you babysat so your kids will probably

be mean too.

MissG's mouth dropped open in surprise.

My mouth dropped open in surprise.

(or maybe it was mortification...sometimes

I get those two mixed up.)

MissG recovering nicely said,

Lulu, I wasn't mean..

Yes, yes you were, MissG.

You were mean.

We said our goodbyes and left.

When we got in the parking lot

her Mom and I started laughing

hysterically. We hooted and howled

with tears in our eyes. I could hardly

catch my breath.

Finally..my daughter said,

Lulu! Why did you ever say that?

Lulu, very earnestly, said..

Because it's the truth...

The moral of the story is...

never ask a question you don't

already know the answer to.

Especially if the person in front of you

is our Little Lulu.

SweetCheeks & Scissors

This is Lulu.

Lulu has scissors.

Lulu is allowed to have scissors.

Lulu is cutting something but

she won't show us what it is yet.

This is Ria.

Ria has scissors too.

Ria can have scissors because

Ria only cuts what she is supposed to cut.

Whut are you mhaking? SweetCheeks asks.
I'll show you pretty soon!

Whut's hers mhaking, Nana?

I dunno, SweetCheeks...

guess we will have to wait and see.Uh-oh...Here comes the dreaded question..

Can I haff some scissors, too?

Huh? Can I have some too?

Can I, Nana, huh, can I?

Do I look like I just got off the crazy boat?

Don't answer that because there is NO good answer.

Do you remember the last time when you snipped

your hair to the scalp in front?

Huh? Or how about the time you cut the ribbons

off the pillow?

Or how about the time you took little snips

and pieces out of all my good magazines that

I hadn't had a chance to go through yet?

NO! SweetCheeks! You can't have

any scissors. Maybe next time.

Maybe in your dreams and my nightmares.

Oh! Look! Here it is, Nana!

SweetCheeks can't wait to see it!

Whut iss it? Huh? Whut iss it?

It's a snowflake, SweetCheeks!

Dat iss NOT a snowflake...

Dat is jusss paparh wiff holes cut in itt.

An' snow iss cold.

Pfffffttt...I doan want eny scissors enyways

cuz I doan wanna cut holes in paparh

cuz dats stooopid.

Sometimes all I can do is walk away

so that I don't wet my pants laughing.

Sassy SweetCheeks

Hey- Girls

I put some new Fall pillows on

the porch swing.

Come on~I'll take your picture

before you go home.

SweetCheeks is the first one to

jump on the swing.

Ready? I ask.

Yep!

SweetCheeks- don't make funny faces..

Ihe NOT, Nana...Dis is juss the way Ih luuk.

An' see..I luuk this way an Ih'm smiling..Ria and Lulu jump on the swing

and join the conversation.

SweetCheeks you DO NOT look like

that all the time.

You are a sassy girl...

Look-even your shirt says

you're sassy.

NOH I ISSS NOT!!
An 'sides that Ih chan't effen read.

So thereh!And now I iss mad at yoah two and I

iss nevah speaking to yoah again!

Right, Nana?

Yep! If you say so, SweetCheeks.

Ria?

What SweetCheeks?

Ria asks in her whispery sweet little voice.

(The child has the voice of an angel)

Can I haff a sip of yoah soda?

I thought you were mad at me, SweetCheeks..

and that you were NEVER going to

talk to me again.

Noh- I wus juss kiddin'

Right, Nana?

Yep-If you say so!

Ria reluctantly gives her a sip.

She takes one taste and....

HEY! Dat's not soda...Dat's

Papa's watahr..I doan

like dat stuff...and now

you gived me sum and yoah

know I haaate it..

Now Ih is rweally mad at yoah!

Ria just giggles...

And off they go,

just one more day spent

at Nana's house!

Where the fun never stops~

If You Have A Moment

I have a friend....a very dear friend...

She gives much of herself

and never asks for anything

in return.

She just started a blog..

and was so encouraging to me

when I started mine.

I think, in fact,

that she was my first follower.

She had (along with her cousin)

written her family history..

in true form and

self-published it several

years ago.

She sent me the book.

I looked at the cover,

plain and unglamourous..

and I began to read...

and I read..

and I read..

and I smiled..

and I cried...

It was written from the heart

of one generation looking

back to find their

roots...and making

those roots real..

and alive.

I was amazed and surprised

by the depth of the story.

Anyway.. Now...

She is thinking about

writing the sequel.

She has posted a rough draft

of Chapter One

of her new book over

on her new blog.

If you have a moment..

just a moment..

pop in and read her words

and I think you will find

she is a darned good writer.

Her blog is

Anonymouse..

cuz she is funny like that.

That being said...a little feedback

would be good...very good..

and I would thank you for it..

and so would she.

SweetCheeks & Papa

This is how it started.

SweetCheeks was looking at

her new

Learn Your Numbers book

on the ottoman in front

of the sofa.

Nana was sitting beside her

reading her magazines.

Papa asked her what she was doing.

She said..

I ahm busy, Papa!

I doan wanna play wiff yoah

rhight now!

As you can see she

WAS

VERY BUSY!

Uh-Oh- Here it comes..

It is the dreaded

Tickling Machine!

Oh...No....

SweetCheeks has been

wrestled to the floor by

Papa!Never fear-once she is up..

it is too bad for him.

He laughs so hard that he

is rendered helpless.

I thold yoah NOT to tickle me, Papa.

Now yoah isss gonna gett itt!How doh yoah like it, Papa?

How doh yoah like haffing yoah face squeezed?Suddenly the face squeeze stops..

Hey! Whass in yoah mouth?

Didchu brush yoah teeeth, Papa?

Yes, I did!

Noah, yoah didn't...lemme see!Papa tries wrestling her down to

the floor again..She's a fighter this one..

The two sisters collapse in giggles.

But not our SweetCheeks..

Nope!

She is looking for the score!

Ha! I allmosss gott yoah that timhe!SweetCheeks- Poor Papa!

Don't you feel bad for trying to slap him?
Noah! I iss gonna punch him too...

Oh, SweetCheeks~

Don't punch Papa..He loves you.

He'll feel bad if you hit him.

Hims will?

Yep.

OHKAY then...

I shorry, Papa..

I wusn't rheally gonna punch yoah.

I lovffe yoah!

Nana?

Yes, honey?

Nexxt time I gonna KICK him!

SweetCheeks At Dance Class

Tuesday night is the night for

Dance Class.

Dance Class is for SweetCheeks

two older sisters...

Lulu & Ria.

This Tuesday night

Lulu had school conferences.

My daughter wondered if I could take

Ria to...yep...

Dance Class.

Of course I could.

Wait..

What?

What's that?

You want me take SweetCheeks too?

Do you remember the last time I took her?

Do you?

Do you remember how bored she was?

She had to sit there and couldn't dance.

She had to sit there in

the dark part of the room and

WATCH.

SweetCheeks is not a good WATCHER.

SweetCheeks is a DOER!

How much is it worth to YOU

if I take HER with ME?

Starbucks for a week?

uh-huh - okay..

Here we are!

SweetCheeks...do you PROMISE to be good?

Yup! I'hm a guud ghirl!
I jusss gonna sit herah an be guud!

Hmmm...already I see the quirky little glance..

Which usually spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

Here it comes!

Nana-Dis iss borhhing! Isss it almost ovarh?Nope-Not yet...You'll have to sit a while longer.

Put your feet down, honey.

Nana-it feeels bettah wiff 'em up hearh.

An then I can see bettah too.

Really? Uh-huh!I start chatting up the lady next to me..

another grandmother.

I look over and see this....SweetCheeks...you have to stay in one place, okay?
Yup! Okaaay, Nana...I jus gonna sthay hearh!

No, SweetCheeks-You can't stay on the

bench..because the dancers will use it.

You need to get down.

Okaaay,Nana...but isss makin me feeel vury sad!

I'm not scolding you, SweetCheeks..

I'm just telling you not to get on the bench.

Buttt, Nana...I still feel sadd cuz I want to get

on thu bennch!

I know honey, but you

can't do that..

Why don't you come over here and give Nana

a kiss?

Hmmmppfff... I jusss gonna kisss my own selfff

in thu mirrorah

an' I iss neffer gonna kisss yoah evah..

cuz I iss madd at yoah now.

Wait...here is some one's little brother.

He has come to watch his sister dance.

He is bored too.

SweetCheeks asks him..

Hey! Do yoah wanna play wiff me?

How old arhe you?

Yoah iss five?

I ahm only thureee.

But yoah can still play wiff me.

I lifvve in a beeyoutifull casssle and

I will showh yoah whare yoah liffve..okay?

Poor little besotted boy..nods in agreement.

Hearah...Yoah liffves underh hearh.

Yoah liffve in thu cave!

An' I liffve in thu casstle!

But yoah can vissit me sumtimes, okay?

He looks at me and says..

What's she talking about?

I said..I have NO idea...

He says...I'm going over by my Gramma.

I told him that was probably a good idea.

After he moves by his gramma I look over.

There is SweetCheeks splayed

out like she is too exhausted to move.

Hey! Wherah did hims go?

He went to sit

by his Gramma.

Boys! They are jus carazy..

Aren't they, Nana?

Yep, SweetCheeks...They sure are.

Hey, Nana?

Yes honey?

I'hm glad I'hm a ghurl~

Me too, SweetCheeks...

Me too!

Happy Birthday To TheIslandScout

Are you wondering where our son-in-law

got his nickname from?

If not you can just scroll down

through the pictures and then leave a

polite little comment and

pop along on your merry way.

But..if you are interested..

he got his nickname

because he was the

manager of the

SeaScouts in Key West.

He was approached by them

before he ever left the Army..

and, being an Eagle Scout,

he was all about

The Boy Scouts.

He and my daughter met

after he transferred up to

Wisconsin (can you imagine?)

from KeyWest to KeyCold.

Anyway, the first time we met him

he and my daughter had decided to take

the old sailboat we had for a little

trip on the lake.

He showed up in his Scout uniform

complete with knee socks and

kerchief. Uh-huh...

We thought maybe he was

headed to a costume party...

but he had us at Hello.

We spent the whole

evening laughing..

and they spent the whole

evening-NOT sailing..

(no wind).

Well, this Southern boy

sweet-talked his way right into

our youngest daughter's heart.

She went out to

Kansas City, MO

to meet his folks..

and it was love on both sides..

(at least that's MY take on it)
He is just goofy enough to always

bring a smile out of his folks.We knew he was really an

all right kind of guy

when we met his big bear of a friend

from Atlanta, GA.

He said not to put his picture on the

internet cuz he was afraid he was

WANTED

in too many places.

Geez..I hope I didn't ruin his life
(Hey MrM-ya know I love ya)

We knew we liked him even better

when in September he married our

beautiful daughter in an outdoor

ceremony...

We didn't like him quite so much

when we found out how smart he was...

and knew that because of his work ethic..

he would be promoted 3 times in 2 years..

and move away and take our daughter with him.

However, we decided he was a "keeper"

when he gave us this beautiful

little grandson, BabyE.

Can you tell he's a proud Daddy?

Can you see that he is smitten?

Can you tell he just loves on that baby?

Please don't tell him that Nana

gave his BOY

gave HIS BOY

Yes-that's right...gave

HIS BOY!

a baby of his own to love on...

Cuz being a Southern BOY himself..

he thinks dolls are for sissies!

Shhhhh...

Ooopps..almost forgot to add- I love you , BigJ!!

The checks in the mail~

The Treasured Tinkerer

Well, you all know how much

I like plays on words by now,

don't you? Huh?

I like playing around with words..

and puns..

and just mouthing off in general.

This is a very special post..

about a very special lady..

Elyse

at her

Cottage

OR

she as she calls her "stuff"

Tinkered Treasures For Your Home

However~

The REAL treasure

over there is

Elyse, herself!

Or...as I like to call her...

The Treasured Tinkerer!

(see-there's where that little play on words comes in)

I came home from a long crappy day

at work. I mean sad..

a really sad, awful day.

MyHero was gone for the night

and I felt a bit like crying...

NOT like me at all..

I am not a sad, or down, person..

I am one of those sappy,

happy go lucky idiots

that is always looking for the

silver lining and hoping it is GOLD!

Anyway...I came home..

feeling crummy

AND

I opened my mailbox

and found

THIS!

(It cost her $1.73 just to send it...do ya see that?)

Notice how I have cleverly placed a

sticky note so you can't read

any real addresses...

Am I clever or what?

Never mind with the WHATs !

I carefully opened the box

and pulled out this sweet and lovely

little treasure..

It was sooo darned cute

I didn't even want to

open it.

But my curiousity got the best of me...

So, I opened the sweetest, pinkest

paper ever to find these!

Look how these little babies are packaged!

Look how they are so sweetly painted..

Look how they just make you want to smile

just looking at them.

The little girls loved them..

They each wanted one..

(because then I would have TWO..

and they would each have ONE)

I said very sweetly..

NO!!!

These are Nana's own!

Thank you very much.

What are you going to do with them, Ria wanted to know.

SweetCheeks had the perfect answer..

Her's gonna youse 'em to hold hurr hairh in place.

Hmmm...Whaddaya think?Now, you will notice that although I work with

some of the finest plastic surgeons in the Midwest..

I have NOT availed myself of their services.......yet...

Elyse...

What can I say?

Who sends something to someone they have

never met? Who does that?

A person like yourself!

You are just the dearest person ever..

to share your talent so freely

with someone you don't even really "know".

You are a doll and I love ya!

So, as inadequate as it is...

Please go visit Elyse's blog if you haven't already done so.

You won't be disappointed.

~I promise~

Ghostie Games & Skeleton Stretches

Well~After our Pumpkin Game

(see yesterday's post)

we moved to the next table

which SweetCheeks insisted was

The Ghostie Game.

Now..Hearh is howh yoah play.

Yoah take ah suckkar and yoah

whrap sum tissue or sumthin' around

it and then yoah draw sum eye on itt..

and yoah gott a ghostie.

I'hl phick my suckkar first, okay?

I gonna phick three. One for me.

One for Lulu and one for Ria..

But I get to pick the besst kind furst.Uh-oh!

This game is getting more complicated.

Now we gotta pick a twister to wrap those suckers with..

(get it sucker...suckers? a little play on words...never mind)

Whew~! Misssion accomplished...

Now we just gotta draw the eyes on..

This takes mucho concentration..

There's a new entrant in the

SUCKER GAME.

Who's that, SweetCheeks?

This is Colin...him's my friend.

Is he your BOYfriend?

Noooooah...I gotta real boyfwriend..

an isss NOT Colin...

Shhhhh..don't say enyfing, Nana!

Speaking of "games" they sure start early.SweetCheeks tells Colin to sit down and she

will help him. She leans in to offer advice.Poor SweetCheeks starts to cry... Why are you crying?

Cuz Colin dusn't whant eny hellp!

It's okay, SweetCheeks-

He can do it all by himself!
Him's chan?

Yep! See?The waterworks dry up and..

Like a proud mother she

looks over and tells him-

Ghood jobb, Colin!Hey! Lookit whass in thiss bowl..

Isss skuluhtons or sumfin'Colin watches her cautiously...

Look-Colin-Look

Itt stwretches out like thhisssOoooooh...Now luuk...but isss kinda skeery

cuz I'hm afraid it will break and hurht me...Look...I let it ghoe and isss just norhmal

again. Do yoah see it? Colin?

Do yoah see it?Poor Colin!

He is thinking that SweetCheeks is pretty

skeery herself...

but maybe not quite as scary as this...

And certainly not as scary as THIS!
Happy Halloween from

the Crazy Nana Witch!

(MyHero just said...That's not nice...you shouldn't put that on there-what will people think?)

Hmmmm...wonder what they'll think when I tell them you're a pastor..

Don't tell them..he said...Oooopps...Too Late!