MOTHER'S DAY 2014

I have a lot of pictures to share today. It was such a fun day, I can't just choose a few.

We had a wonderful Mother's Day brunch at Cousin Helen's house. Great food, company, and HATS! We must have taken a zillion pictures. The following are a choice selection of mine.

The food was delicious!

The table set so beautifully!

It was a beautiful day and we had fun taking pictures. This is me and my beautiful niece, Sarah.  Her hat was outrageous and suited her perfectly!

Me and my two sisters.

Another of me and my two sisters.

Cousin Helen's husband is involved with the Indy 500 and they have a pace car for the month.

Cousin Helen took the aunts for an exciting ride in the pace car!

Sister Beth having a quiet moment on the veranda.

Sister Patsy also having a quiet moment on the veranda.

Niece Nellie waited until last to decorate her hat. I guess the flowers were all gone because she only used leaves. Nellie looks gorgeous in anything!

Niece Sarah making the most out of her hat.

Sister Beth and her two beautiful daughters.

Gorgeous!

Hats from the back.

Niece Sarah making goo-goo eyes.

Mom and Nellie having a moment together.

My creation.

Sister Beth and Mom.

Lovely photo of Mom and her three daughters.

Last, but not least, Sarah photo-bombing our picture. Cute!

BUSY SPRING

Spring has arrived and suddenly my life is very busy. Here are a few snapshots of the events from last weekend.

Nolan had his 2nd birthday while they were at Disney World, so his parents had a little party for him on Saturday. The cake was not only adorable, it also tasted delicious!

On Easter Sunday, I went to a gathering at my cousin's house. It was also Aunt Patty's birthday. This is the view looking down from the upper deck. It was a beautiful Spring day!

My cousin's backyard was beautiful, a kid's paradise. The swing was fantastic! I tried it out, and it was like flying.

Now, you know I'm not much of a cat person - I have no pets - but this cat was very special. He loved to be held and was limp, like a rag doll. Adorable.

Here is the birthday girl with the kitty.

Easter dinner was at my house. We had a great Easter egg hunt. I was so busy, though, I didn't have a chance to take many pictures. 

Happy Spring!

A March Hike to Wolf Cave

On Sunday I took my second grandson hiking at McCormick's Creek State Park. It was a beautiful day in the winter woods.

We hiked to Wolf Cave, a hike I have taken many times. 

Fortunately, at least for me, the cave is closed now, with a fence around it, the path diverted. There was no temptation to try to go through it, like in the old days.

This was a much-needed day in the woods for this boy, a day away from school projects and his little sister.

The woods were so gray and bare that even the littlest splashes of green stood out.

The moss on the trees and rocks was a glorious green. 

It is my belief that every boy should have a day in the woods, become familiar with crossing a little stream, have time to clear his mind.

And get a little mud on his shoes.

A RED BEARD

I visited my younger son and his family last weekend and was very surprised to see he has grown a beard.

This is my son last summer at a family reunion.

And here he is with a beard. He looks so different! In a good way.

A red beard. He can't understand why he has a red beard, but has decided to embrace it (I guess). I looked it up on Wikipedia, and it turns out if you get the red hair gene from both parents, you have red hair. If you just get one red hair gene, you can have a red beard, but another color on your head.

Here is my son with his son. Time will tell if he got the red hair gene. 

Cupcakes

I had a lovely day with my granddaughter this week. She was out of school due to strep throat. She really felt fine, but couldn't go back to school until 24 hours after she started the antibiotic. 

So we made cupcakes.

She had such a good time decorating them.

And I had a good time taking pictures.

She was so cute in her apron.

I love when I can take pictures and she is totally absorbed in something.

When I was a child, we called the leftover batter or icing "licklock". She thought that was hilarious, but enjoyed the licklock anyway.

The Fisher Price Cash Register Repost

(I am reposting this blog that I posted way back in February of 2014, because it garnered 22,711 views. Does that mean it went viral? I haven't been writing blogs for awhile - since last August, in fact. Maybe I'll begin again. The baby in these pictures is now 5, and has a little brother, who particularly loves the Jack in the Box.) 

Way back in 1975, for my oldest son's first Christmas, we bought this Fisher Price cash register. Over the years it has been a favorite toy for my two little boys, and then all four grandkids. I'm sure I have pictures of all of them playing with it, but here are some of my youngest grandson from last summer.

Amazingly, the cash register still has the three little coins it came with.

Love his little chubby fingers. 

I love his little suspenders. 

He was determined to eat this apple while playing. 

Behind the cash register in this picture is the jack-in-the-box that was also bought in 1975 and has proved to be very popular.