And the Doctor Says.....

Got your attention, didn't I! :) No, the doctor has nothing new for me but there are just some days and events that have to get mentioned - even on a silly blog.

Had my first dentist appointment yesterday bright and early. That's the first in a gazillion appointments made, but it's a great step. This doctor was not the same one I saw Tuesday, but equally as great a guy. Since I was one of the first patients, he told me he hoped he would do good work since he'd only had a double shot of espresso in his one Caribou coffee, instead of TWO COFFEES each with a double shot of espresso in them! OK, this doc has me won over also. Caribou is awesome coffee, and espresso? THAT is a treat I rarely give myself, but I could relate to him having fun.

After this, I grabbed the two Gray grandkids and got Dylan to the eye doctor before school AND before we don't take his insurance any longer. OK, those of you who know me, know Raegan and Dylan are talkers, movers, shakers, questioners, etc.... These children suffer from NO social anxieties whatsoever. Questions, questions, questions... Raegan was pulling every piece of advertising and cards out of their holders so she could show her friends. She was as involved in Dylan's eye exam as he was. (sorry, my dear co-workers) Dylan could not believe that his eyes actually PLUGGED into his brain - and he adored the 3-D eyeball. I don't know if Dr. Brightman had a chance to really talk but he did mention that the kids were certainly not shy kiddos. No, they're not shy by a long shot. They certainly don't get it from their mother, do they! :)

After dropping off Dylan and Raegan back at day-care, I had a miss call from the hub. Oh, my, he never calls so what's wrong. Called him back and you got it! More car problems! He was driving my Ford and as he stopped at the first stop sign past our house, the break lines broke! He just wanted to tell me that he had nursed it over to Metzger's and they had it fixed already, for a pretty little price. So after picking him up from downtown, going to pay for the car repair, and driving home to do some figuring of (lack of) money... mr. anxiety came to visit me. I had plans for the afternoon! I didn't want any part of this and I had to shake it off....

After coming out of the basement working on the checkbook, the sun was back out and in that instant I decided to keep going with the plans. So off I go to our oldest daughter's house to play with them for the afternoon. Yep, 3 kiddos in an underground pool was just what the doctor ordered. I have to say, her two oldest kids do not suffer from social anxiety either! Abby was adorable and needed to let me know everything about her life - and I couldn't be prouder. She pays attention to detail (that will pay off in her life), she is proud of the work she does and adores showing it off. DANG! This girl has got some of her great-grandma Smith's perfectionism in her! Hunter was a hoot and boy did I LOVE throwing that kid as hard as I could in the pool. I even got a couple honest hugs out of the kid. That's not easy when you're a 6 year old boy. But I treasure it. Little Beau cracked me up - at 16 months the kid is swimming his heart out. And to see him push his boundaries - priceless. On many levels.

So overall, the day was great - my grandkids are strong, personable, and totally delightful children. I did miss having girl talk time with my daughter, but some time that will happen and when the time is right. Yes, after all that action I was totally pooped. I didn't follow through with my evening plans to watch Bill play with "Cowboy Cut" and open for Mark Wills...... but my man understands me and let me off the hook.

Social Anxiety? Nope, no longer an issue in this family - NONE of us!

Car problems? Yeah, guess it's becoming a habit. HA

Lancaster County Fair

What FUN it was for the kids to see the farm animals the die-hard 4H-ers always show at the county fair. The llamas were cool, but the goats let themselves get hugged and kissed. Not my thing by a long shot, but these two sure enjoyed petting and getting to know the animals.


And of course, when the animals have been all petted and I got my fill of the needlework entries, the rides can then begin! We only did two rides - it's just too expensive for what it is. But we were all happy as clams with doing the kiddie rollercoaster and the ferris wheel. The little guys did the coaster alone, but here is Dylan with his mom and I got to ride with Raegan. Or should I call her OH FEARLESS ONE!!!!! Yikes, I'd forgotten how ambitious and crazy 6 year olds can be, and have no fear! I made her hold MY hand. LOL


A trip through McDonald's for ice-cream afterwards was the perfect topper to a great evening at the fair, and our 32nd wedding anniversary. You know how much we LOVE ice cream!

Prayers for Family

We are babysitting two of the grands today and we are trying to find something to do, which isn't easy now that our house is so bare. Here we are messing around the pond and Raegan loves flowers and is modeling an Oriental Lily. This little family is under a great deal of stress right now, so please offer up a prayer for them that peace and serenity will surround them. God has a plan, we just don't know what it is yet. :)

Last Weekend's Eagle Fun Days

I totally forgot to post some cute photos of the grands from the Eagle Fun Days event last Saturday.

Dylan loved the boxer pups that were running around and Raegan adored the kittens that someone brought.

These two definitely LOVE animals!

Dancin' The Night Away.....

Thank you Haley for inviting us to your wedding and an incredible amount of fun!!!

Christmas Wishbone Winner 2007

Grandpa was smart this year and dried the turkey wishbone out overnight for the Gray's to have fun with today for Christmas dinner. Here are Dylan and Raegan being patient so granny can grab a quick picture...... And here is the WINNER of the wishbone wish this year. DYLAN!!! He just liked the idea he had a bigger piece than his sister. Didn't care about wishing anything. What a hoot!

From the weekend......

The little kids came over Saturday so their mom and I could go to Sam's and guess what grandpa had in store for them outside before we left! Letting the cattails from the pond explode in their hands like dandelions. Poor Dylan was getting it all up his nose so if they get sick, it's not MY fault! Got that grandpa! LOL They were having so much fun and I hated to say no, even though there was so much 'cattail' stuff everywhere afterwards. So I didn't - I watched and took pictures and kept my mouth shut - letting them have their harmless fun. :)
I did a lot of knitting over the weekend, but nothing is finished. Just in progress, which is a good thing. This is the first of 5 strips to be done for Haley's wedding in May. I blocked out a little of it so you could see how pretty the hearts and tulips came out. There was some work done on the 'formal boot bag' also, but there is a lot of handwork to it to get it to be what I WANT it to be so.... that meant loading the printer that works onto the computer that works. There needs to be printed tags on the projects I finish and just wanted those fabric tabs done (even though it took over an hour to load the printer software) as it hinders me from the finishing touches. Kodi, our resident shop dog, needs a hunting sweater, too, so that got started and almost done over the weekend. (Thank you to TCM for Gone with the Wind and Jezebel and Rebecca) That is in Hunter Safety Orange and when he models it, I'll post it. He's a gorgeous chocolate lab and has a November hunting trip planned, so he'll want it. LOL Have to take final measurements so his hiney doesn't hang out too bad. :D

Pumpkin Time Once Again

Here are Raegan and Dylan doing their best to make scary wormy jack-o-lanterns. Dylan named his Monkey just like last year and Raegan named hers Sally at first, but changed it to Wormy by the time they left to go home. Grandpa got a little bit creative this year, huh?

A Camping We Will Go!

We got to take Shawna and her kids to Branched Oak this weekend for some fun and sun. Saturday morning was very relaxed and while Bill was off the campsite taking care of some things, we decided to go walk and see what we could see. Dylan and I went first because the girls were still sleeping and we saw 'tons' of geese in the water. He decided all the geese were boys - NO GIRLS! After we walked for awhile we thought we better wake up the girls and take the dogs for a walk. It ended up that Jack took all of us for a walk!

Along the way Raegan found treasures galore!!!

After having a little brunch, we made it over to the beach area for a couple hours of swimming and sand action.

It was terribly hot - here's Raegan melting a sandy ice cube on her back. Now THAT had to feel wonderful!

Best part of the day was when Captain Jim came to take us all out on the boat again, only this time it was to try some tubing! The night before he came down to get us all out on his boat and see if the kids even wanted to try tubing the next day. They didn't want to go fast at first, but within 5 minutes of riding, they wanted to go REALLY fast! We had so much fun that night. So tubing on Saturday was on! But when the real thing was going to happen, Dylan wanted no part of it. He chickened out, so Raegan and Shawna took a spin and they had a great time. Raegan made more faces during her ride that we've seen in a long time - she was hilarious. By the time we all got back from boating, everyone was pretty wiped out, so our trip back to Lincoln to take the kids to their dad was very quiet, they fell asleep pretty much before we even were out of the campground. What a marvelous day we had.

Bill and I ran into a few people we knew by accident at our campground, so after Bill got done having no luck fishing, we went and crashed one of their campsites like they did to us during 'happy hour'. I got a chance to see inside one of their rigs this time and a person could just live in that thing - holy cow! Very cool, like a house. But by the time we got back to our campsite, we were absolutely too tired to even eat (even after preparing the fire pit before we left). Guess we aren't as young as we used to be, huh. :)

Dylan the Builder

Bill couldn't resist getting a couple of sets of tools and hardhats for the kids. Next time they come to visit all the work getting done in the new shop, they will have the right accessories to help! Yeah, right. Pretty doggone cute, though, huh?