Grandbaby Boys!

As I get older I find myself at times looking back at the past and it is amazing how many people have come into my life....some have gone and some have stayed. I have a friend who came to me in quite a peculiar way, I was in college, I needed my wisdom teeth out and my dentist referred me to an oral surgeon in Tacoma. The procedure was quite painless and I came through it with flying colors, that was in 1978. Then in June of 1979 I went to work at Purdy Veterinary Hospital and that is where I once again met my oral surgeon or better yet his wife. Jeanne has been my friend for 32 years. We have many things in common, children, dogs, gardens, husbands and working for those husbands, and now we have grandsons. I spent the most beautiful Saturday with my friend Jeanne celebrating her grandson's first birthday! And to make it even more special my grandson was there too! Jeanne is a friend that I know will always be mine and now we have a better thing in common, we have the cutest grandsons!
Michael....enjoying his cake!

Jack....really enjoying his cake!

Aiden.....being 10 months Michael and Jack's junior he was a little bit more concerned about the whole birthday party experience!

You know you have a true friend when you never run out of things to talk about and now we have grandbabies......I am looking forward to another 30 years with my friend.

Milestones

When I think about milestones in my life there are many that come to mind, some you don't remember like learning to walk or your first words these are things that your parents remember. But the ones that you remember the most I think are learning to tie your shoes, riding a bike, learning to swim, able to stay at home alone, driving a car and graduating from high school. You remember these because they represent independence. Independence is what we all strive for when we are young. But once you have reached that point in your life there is more to come, college graduation, first jobs, marriage, the birth of your own children and finding the love of your life. For me I have reached all of these milestones and now I am experiencing all of these again through the lives of my children. It is an amazing feeling and brings a whole new prospective.

Darcie and Anthony's Wedding.

Holding my grandson.

And most recently Jason's graduation from Gonzaga University.


I am happy and content, but always looking forward to the next milestone!

Purple Passion

I always find it amazing that the garden blooms the same colors at the same time. In the early Spring it seems I have a lot of yellow and red. The other morning I went out to take some pictures and I was amazed at the amount of purple I found.

Dwarf Iris....one of my favorite!

Columbine

Big Iris.

The garden has suffered this year with all the cold weather...things have had a tough time blooming! I think the flowers are wanting the warm weather more than I.

Sizzle's birthday!

As usual things never go as they are planned! The day was hectic the evening was even more so picture taking of the birthday party was limited! And unfortunately my camera did not want to cooperate either!

Sizzle with her party collar on! Sorry for the red-eye:(


Aiden was much in the party mood either!


Maybe next year!

May to May

May to May, a span of 12 months. It was this time last year that I had decided that I needed a puppy! I know what was I thinking! I had plenty of dogs in my house but my heart was aching for that one special girl. I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason and you have to take advantage of them if the time is right. The time was right and I found that special girl. She came in the package of a determined, wild, confident, beautiful, smart and most of all loving little red-head. She wore the all important pink color collar as a baby which from those who know me is a tell all that is the one I am going to choose. We named her Sizzle and she was a fireball from day one, she has been a challenge and a delight all in the same breath. I can't believe that she is going to be a year of age on the 19th of May. She is not a cute little puppy anymore but she has grown into a beautiful dog. She has won my heart and soul from the moment I saw her.....hence her name "Wingate's Heart and Soul"

Sizzle, 3 Months


Sizzle, 6 Months


Sizzle, 11 Months

Garden Time 2011

As I get older I can't seem to understand why time goes by so fast or at least it seems to. I remember when I was a child the school year seemed to go on forever but once it got to be summer that seemed like a long time too! Funny thing what age does to you! Once again it is Spring or at least it is suppose to be! The temperatures are still dipping into the 30's at night and we barely have gotten into the high 50's during the day. We have been blessed with a few scattered sunny warm days here and there, just enough to give a person the gardening bug! So last Sunday on one of those rare days I began to prepare the garden beds for planting. Darcie has been itching to get things planted and coming from the warmer climate of the South is having trouble waiting this cold spell out! So we started, in between baby Aiden cat napping she came out to help me. She planted some lettuce in perfect little rows as Jeff commented on, some radishes, beets, carrots and I am not sure what else. We moved all of their St. Louis herb pots out to the garden area and arranged them in a neat order. We still need a couple more garden beds and some more dirt but we are getting ready....So come on Sun and Warm Weather we are tired of waiting!

I have been composting shavings and chicken manure all Winter long so I moved some out of one bed to fill up another and till it all up.


Prepared bed and ready for planting!


Perfect little lettuce rows!

Garden area...still more work to be done!



The girls benefited from the nice day too....they got a clean house and freshly cut weeds to scratch through....


They also did a lot of sun bathing!

So as you can see we are ready.....so let the gardening season of 2011 begin!

Babies Change Everything

When Darcie decided she was going to use cloth diapers who knew what changes that would bring! I remembered the cloth diapers I used when my kids were little...white, had to use pins and plastic pants. It was a lot of work but so much better than the disposable kinds. I have to say the cloth diapers they have today...WOW! unbelievable.
They are called Fuzzi Buns! No pins, no plastic pants and cute colors!
They are easy to change, wash and dry!
Babies change everything who knew that a dog ring gate would be used as a drying rack!
And who would have known that a formal living room would change into a diaper drying room! We may have to invest in a clothes line!

Being a Grandmother

Everyone that I talked to who was already a Grandmother told me there is nothing else like it! Well, I am here to say they were 100% correct! It is the most wonderful feeling!
He is just the cutest thing ever!

Grandpa thinks so too!

Aiden Paul Cantor

Aiden Paul Cantor Born: March 14, 2011 @ 7:26 pm Weighed: 7 lbs 11 oz, 19 inches
Love Love this picture!

Baby Nursery meets College Student!

Baby Nursery before college student!













Baby Nursery after college student! Good thing baby is not here yet!











Sizzle inspecting the damage! Jason arrived home Friday afternoon and flew out for Vegas Saturday morning! He promised his sister he would pick it up before he left!








Here is how he left it......He does have to have somewhere to sleep when he comes back home on Tuesday! Poor Jason....it is tough being a college student!

Sophie La Girafe

This 7 inch rubber toy with a squeakie is the talk of the baby world! If when asked does your child have a Sophie and you reply "NO"....well let me tell you they look at you like you should be sent away to Siberia! I have seen this very plain looking rubber toys for months now and being a giraffe it was hard for me to pass up....but paying $22.50 for a 7 inch rubber toy just did not seem rational to this grandma. But then when I actually was told the story about Sophie the whole idea seemed quite rational! Here is Sophie's story.

"She was born on May 25th 1961.....Saint Sophie's Day! In France, Monsieur Rampeau, who had assimilated the roatational moulding of rubber for toy making, he came up with the idea of designing a giraffe. First on the market, its size and shape would be ideal for a baby's small hands to hold. Sophie looks exactly the same then as she does today. She was an immediated success. Mothers saw that she was must for teething babies. By simple word of mouth her fame spread. (Hence when the women at Nordstoms told me the story, I walked out of the store with one!) From then on in Europe, generation after generation children loved the squeak of Sophie. Vulli a company base in Rumilly in the Haute-Savoie region of France has continued to keep the jealously-guarded secret how this wonder toy is made. Sophie is still produced today, a process that involves more than 14 manual operations. She is made from 100% natural rubber derived from the sap of the Hevea tree."

So now my grandson has a "Sohpie" so if anyone asks I can stand proudly and say "YES" I paid $22.50 for a 7 inch rubber toy!

Amelia

Amelia was born on May 11, 1996, she died 2 months short of her 13th birthday on March 5, 2009. I fail to be able to put into words how much I loved her, how much she loved me and how much I miss her today. I wish she could have lived forever.

Amelia loved the beach!



One of Amelia's many birthdays!

This birthday actually fell on Mother's Day! She was sure Uncle Joe was going to give her some of his dinner!

Amelia and Sydney! The only dog Sydney has ever liked!

Amelia always setting a good example!

She never missed a good party! Grandma's 75th birthday party!

Amelia's twelfth birthday!

Amelia was always in the center of every day, every event and every party! She always knew how to nap on the couch!

I miss her, sleep softly.

Giraffes

I am not sure but it seems everywhere I look I find a giraffe! When Darcie and Anthony picked Aiden's theme for his room one of the animals in the group was a giraffe! Who knew giraffes were such a big deal.

This was the first one I purchased. It was part of the nursery group and I bought it so that I could put it up once the painting was finished! Pretty cute!

This was the second one I bought. I had my eye on him for quite a while and made the big splurge becaue Aiden's room seems so big and empty! He defenitely fills it up!

This one was sent by Darcie's friend Stella from South Carolina. Stella was our secret deliverer of Jason when I got my surpise back in South Carolina! Thank you Stella.

This is the little guy that is on the crib quilt that Darcie and Anthony bought!

I bought this one along with a monkey and an elephant. Darcie says I had to fight off some little kids for him! It wasn't quite like that but I knew the child's mother was not going to buy him so I just reached over and snatched him up :))))

Now this little one "Sophie La Girafe" I just bought her yesterday! I have seen them around and of course the box is in French so I could not figure out what the big deal is about this little toy! I knew it had to be something because she is a little expensive per pound! Finally the lady at Nordstoms asked me if my grandson had a "Sophie" yet and I said No....well she said every child should have one, explained to me about them so.......out of the store I went with a "Sophie" in hand!
I will tell you the story of "Sophie La Girafe" in my next post!

Spring is not just around the Corner!

The weathermen have been saying for days that we would have snow in our forecast. I tried not to believe them but yesterday while at work it began to snow! It snowed and snowed and then would get sunny (Spring really trying) it would melt, then snow some more. We got home from work everything clear.....settled into our evening of Idol and when we got up to go to bed it had been snowing for who knows how long! I have to say it is really beautiful but I don't think enough to stay that way and I am sure in a day or two we will just end up with slush and yuk! But enjoy these pretty pictures I took this morning before going off to work!
Our pond out back.....not cold enough to freeze running water!

Looking out into the dog yard! The dogs had great fun this morning not sure all of them did their business while outside....too busy playing!

Picture out the back looking at the girl's house.....they did not even come out this morning when I opened their door!

Looking at the front of the house......pretty slippery out there!