COUSINS!

During the holidays we spent an enjoyable afternoon at my sister's in Lakeland, FL.

My sister & Clara

My niece & her husband along with their four children were visiting from Indiana.

 We wanted to get the cousins together, 

since we didn't know when they would ever be together again.

Cousins - 

are they first cousins, second cousins, third cousins, or cousins once or twice removed?

My mom probably had it all figured out.  

I googled it, but I'm still a little confused.  

To me, we are all just cousins!

Theo shares lunch with his cousins - Kelan, Ava, Miri, & Blake.

This was the first time the cousins had ever met.

 They had a great time playing together.

One of the bedrooms was filled with toys!

 My sister still had the bouncy seat that her grandchildren had enjoyed.

Clara had such a fun time with it that we brought it home with us.

 

Clara with Uncle Gregg

Clara with mom

Brothers!

The patriarch!

My sister's 16 year old cat - Tia

We had a great time making memories together!

Walk Around The Block

On the first day of our son & daughter-in-law's visit we enjoyed a walk around the block.

They were thrilled to walk outside in the sunshine & not have to bundle up.

I was a little chilly since it was only about 65 degrees.

The block turned out to be about two miles long!

Our grandson walked most of the way.

Of course there were side excursions to explore the landscape & water features.

We returned home with quite a collection by our grandson - 

rocks, acorns, acorn hats, leaves, pine cones, flowers and more.

 Our granddaughter relaxing with mom while she works on a new tooth.

Happy New Year!

The holidays were busy, but so much fun!

We enjoyed Christmas morning with my dad & our favorite breakfast casseroles:

french toast; ham, egg & cheese; and sausage, egg & cheese.

I tried a new recipe for the sausage, egg & cheese casserole.

I used hash browns instead of cubed bread.

I decided I liked the hash browns better!

So. . .  note to self for 2015:  

Use hash browns not bread cubes in the breakfast casserole.

Here's the mess hubby & I left after the two of us opened presents.

 It was fun to surprise each other with gifts.

We left the mess & went for a walk around the neighbor hood.

I love being able to walk outside in the sunshine almost every day of the year.

Christmas afternoon we went to my dad's.

My sister & I fixed dinner for our dad & our spouses.

We planned better than we had at Thanksgiving.

We didn't fix food for an army!

There were just enough leftovers for one day.

New Year's Eve our oldest son, his wife, and two children came to visit for eight days.

Theo is 2 2/3 years old

Clara is 6 months old

Coming Soon --> more pictures & comments on their visit.

Praying Blessings to You and Yours during 2015!!

Takin' The Show On The Road!!

I just wanted to share some of the video my daughter-in-law shot on our last visit.

We are playing on stage in our grandson's band. 

Can you guess what songs we are singing??

 

The answer is  . . .
 
 "Tip Toe Through the Tulips" & "Chicago Japan (an original!)"

Here is another original!
This was written by our grandson about himself as if he were our son.
Got that?

"You Are My Son (Yes You Are)"

 I'm not sure where the musical talent comes from.
It certainly does not come from our side of the family.

More Signs of Christmas

A few more signs of Christmas are now around the house.

 This is the fiber optic village that my sister-in-law gave to us for Christmas many years ago.
I love the changing colors!

In honor of Mojo & in memory of two wise men, a shepherd & sheep.

When we were still living in Kokomo the nativity scene was always set up on the 

coffee table in the living room.  The dogs were not supposed to go past the barricade blocking off the entry & living room.   One day I noticed some bits of plastic in the family room & I knew that Mojo had been chewing on some toy.  That was nothing unusual!  

 It took me awhile to discover exactly what had happened though.  Days later when I went into the living room I noticed  two wise men were missing from the nativity scene plus a shepherd boy & some sheep were also missing.  Obviously Mojo had disregarded the barricade & thought the plastic figurines were great chew toys.  

This is the first year that I have set up the nativity scene since we moved to FL.  

It brings back great memories!!

The stocking are hung by the chimney with care.

Santa has already found our house!

MERRY  CHRISTMAS  EVERYONE!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

It is nice having the poinsettias bloom for more than one year. 

We buy them for $4 at Walmart & put them in pots by the front door.

When they are done blooming we plant them in the ground (sand) around the house.

We have beautiful flowers the next year & then we repeat!

I got in the Christmas decorating mood the other day.

While listening to Christmas music here is what I accomplished.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Proud Of Our Grandchildren

We recently spent time in Chicago with our grandchildren.

It was cold, gloomy, rainy, and snowy!

But it was worth all that to spend time with our grandchildren 

(and son & daughter-in-law of course!).

Our granddaughter has grown & was more social than she was on our last visit.

 

 I should have been taking a video instead of single shot pictures.

I'm still pretty new at this grandma stuff!

Our granddaughter smiles with her whole body & 

loves to be carried around most of the time. 

 As usual our grandson entertained us with a concert.

I will have to see if I can get a copy the concert my daughter-in-law videoed

which shows the three of us playing our instrument of choice.

Dad's helper!

Lunch time

I'm paying for this visit with a cold now.

That is a small price to pay to spend time with the grandchildren!