The Pond.

Hard at work.


After.

My Granddaughters are Pond Scum!

Oooops, I meant to say, they are cleaning pond scum! I can't believe how excited they have been to help their grandpa clean out the pond. We're taking a little trip to Green and Hagstrom in Fairview tomorrow morning to buy water plants and fish. So we planned to get the pond ready tonight. I've taken some pictures of them siphoning and scrubbing. It's a stinky, nasty job. I'm surprised they are liking it. Kind of reminds me of when we were kids and our basement leaked. We would get on our hands and knees with rags and sop it up into buckets. We weren't told to do it, or made to do it. We just wanted to. It was water. It was play. It was fun. I don't know why. Seems stupid to me now. But at the time, we couldn't wait to get to it.

With the enthusiasm that the Jordan and Morgan are showing, I think we'll make it an annual tradition: Family Clean Out the Pond Day. Ranks right up there with our Family Clean Out the Garage Day, or Steph's favorite: Family Clean Out the Pantry Day. She used to complain that no other family had a Family Clean Out the Pantry Day. I don't understand that. Call it what you want, but make it a tradition and give it a name. Continues to work for us. On to the next generation!

it's no surprise---I'm obsessed!

I've been researching my turtles. Sidney and Sheldon are officially called Red Ear Sliders. I have found out that they are both boys because they have very long--------tails (what did you think I was going to say?). That's good since I've been referring to them as "the boys". I also found out about their care and feeding. I've been giving them a shower every Saturday and I scrub their little shells. No smelly boys for me!

I took Jordan and Morgan to PetSmart today to buy some minnows as a treat for the guys. I also bought them some live plants as I discovered that they like to snack on them. We waited for Butch to get home so he could join in the excitement. We even let him be the one to release the minnows into the tank. Only Sidney went after them. Sheldon was scared off by them. It turned out to be a bit gruesome, so I felt guilty about those defenseless little minnows. The violence made me lose respect for Sidney. I don't think I like him very much anymore.

I think I'm getting tired of these guys. They are starting to seem like work.

What a Way to Start a Saturday

Okay, so I was up at 4:30 a.m.---not unusual for me. Despite the fact that Butch had come out to the couch in the middle of the night and would be suseptible to noise, I decided to tackle the most dreaded job on my weekend to-do list---clean out the closet in my scrapbook room. Last summer, when I re-did my room, I never did the closet. The obsessive part of me couldn't just be happy doing the closet. Oh no, before I knew it, I was in the attic trying to make sense of that mess. I finally heard Butch about 6:15 and called down to him, "Buuutchhh, I need your help up here", very sweetly. He came upstairs to the 50+ boxes that needed to be discarded. (I don't know what it is about boxes. I save way too many. And when I really need one, I never have the right size anyway. If there's ever a box shortage, we're covered)! Butch started to grumble about who cleans out the attic at 5 a.m., so, I told him that at least I hadn't asked him to help me. After that, he didn't say another word. He did all the hauling. What a guy!

At 7:30, the phone rang. I answered and a guy on the other end said, "Are you just as gorgeous as you were 15 years ago"? Being the honest person that I am, I reluctantly replied, "well, not exactly". Then started the guessing game. I finally got it right---Rich Aubuchon---an old friend of Butch and his brother's---was 20 minutes away and wanted to stop by for breakfast. I assumed that he was with his wife. What is it with Butch's distant relatives and friends that they don't believe in giving advance notice that they are coming? They just give us a call when they are around the corner. Of course, Rich asked if we were busy. Well, who is at 7:30? We told the appropriate lies so that he wouldn't know we really were sort of put out.

I quickly put on some clothes and make-up (might as well do the best I can). I came out of the bedroom and noticed that Butch had turned on lights all over the house---even the dining room (isn't that so cute---he "threw caution to the wind" and disregarded the waste of electricity and dollars).

When Rich arrived, I about died. He was on a motorcycle. I knew that I wouldn't hear the end of that. Butch has been talking about a motorcycle for at least 5 years. I keep saying "no", as if I really have a say. Since he hasn't gotten one, maybe I have more "say" than I realize. We'll see if he tries to wear me down this time.

Anyway, I made bagel-wiches and we had a nice visit. It is nice catching up with old friends. I'm glad that he felt welcome enough to call us.

Falling Down

I've always been a faller downer. Or actually, I should say a faller upper. My falls almost always occur while walking UP stairs (unless, of course, I was faking being sick in high school. Then I would set my alarm for 5 a.m. and then pretend to fall down the stairs because I was so "dizzy" and sick. Worked everytime!). Well, on Tuesday, I had a handyman here to give me an estimate for a bunch of odd jobs. As I was taking him upstairs, I fell. He was behind me, but luckily I wasn't wearing a skirt, nor did I fall on him. He said, "oh, mam, are you all right"? I quickly reassured him that this happens all the time. And then---I fell again! At that point, I just told him that I fall everyday! I felt ridiculous saying that, but that's the best I could come up with.

So now, fast forward to Friday. The handyman is here doing the work. I leave to deliver some gift bags. When I arrived at the lady's house to whom I was delivering, it was starting to rain. As I took the first box to the door, I rang the bell and hurried back to my car for the next box. In my haste to beat the rain, I fell on the front porch--totally down and sprawled out. I was quickily trying to get up before being discovered. I was about half way up when the lady opened the door and said,"oh my, did you fall"? I considered lying, but decided she had seen too much. So, I just told her I do it all the time. I mean, really, what can you say under those circumstances?

When I got home, I told "Glen" about it. I just wanted to prove to him that I really do fall all the time. He must have thought he was working for a nut case.

I really must slow down. Don't want to break a hip!

And a few more...

Brantley and Victoria have become the best of buddies. We're so happy to have Brantley in the family. She's a sweetheart---very well-behaved and easy-going. Finally, someone Victoria's age!

More Vacation Pictures

I'm Baaaaackkkk!

The Grand Hotel---Mackinac Island is the most incredibly beautiful place I've ever been---talk about luxury! The island is exactly what I expected Martha's Vineyard to be (and was really disappointed when we visited there). You truly feel like you've stepped back in time. No cars allowed, bikes and horses only. Very quaint with darling houses perfectly landscaped with beautiful gardens. The hotel itself was built in 1887 and contains most of the original furniture. Each of the 450 rooms are decorated differently---no two alike. The entire place is very colorful and inviting. The front porch is 650 feet long with 1000 red geraniums and 100 white rockers. I had expected to park myself there for most of the week to read and stitch. There was so much to do that I only did that for about 3 hours one day.

You have to dress for dinner and the guys had to have coats and ties everywhere in the hotel after 6 p.m. We girls loved getting all "gussied" up---but the guys weren't too thrilled. The dining room was to my liking with cloth tablecloths, fresh flower arrangements, china and crystal. The original china was made in St. Louis and was in a display case in the grand parlour. I thought that was pretty interesting.

I took the garden tour and Butch joined me for the historic lecture. I love all the educational "stuff"! I just want to know everything!

There were so many activities---it was great to see the kids having the run of the place. They had a great carnival on Tuesday and Wednesday with really good prizes. Butch had a good time winning stuff too. You know how he likes free stuff! This was such a family oriented place----we highly recommend it, but wait until most of the kids are 5 and older. They have to be 5 to participate in all the children's programs. It's an all inclusive type place---breakfast and dinner, on your own for lunch (we mostly had lunch at the pool).

The best part---this vacation was about half the price of Disney!!! We'll definitely be going back.