Friday, June 3, 2011

Catching Up

It's been awhile since I've blogged. So much has been happening around our place!

The horrible storms that brought tornadoes into Missouri and Oklahoma for one. AD and I, along with our 4 dogs took shelter in our safe room for a little while one of those nights. That was an adventure in itself since Dani doesn't particularly care for Mikey. You know she thinks she's the boss and he's so much bigger than she is, I think it kind of unnerves her a bit.

The storms didn't do any harm in our immediate area though, thank goodness.

We had scheduled an appointment to have the carpets cleaned in our living room, dining room and our bedroom the Friday before the storms hit. Long story short, the technicians didn't make it until the following Tuesday. Because we had moved all the furniture, AD and I, along with the 3 inside dogs, stayed in our 5th wheel thru the following Thursday. It took awhile for the carpets to completely dry even with "speedy dry" fans blowing.

G3 pretending to race G1's mini-Sprint
 Son brought his kiddos up from the city the following weekend.


G1's girlfriend was celebrating her birthday that weekend and I'd asked several weeks earlier if I could make her cake this year. I wanted to make her one of those topsy-turvy cakes. It was a fun cake to do.

I also made cookies (see some of them in the picture below), chocolate covered pretzels to look like lady bugs, and lady bug cake balls.

If you enlarge the photo above you'll see lady bug place mats that I made using black foam and red place mats that I bought at the dollar store. The special birthday hat was made using a glittered bowler, also from the dollar store, and the remnants of the black foam.

The flower balls were made by stringing ribbon through 2 holes of a wiffle ball and tying a knot, then hot-gluing flowers and leaves into the remaining holes. They were then tied to the chandelier.



When G4 celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago we gave him a Hex Bug starter kit and some bugs. Son told me the kids said I was the best Granny ever. Seems they all love the Hex bugs and have been adding to the collection.

They brought all their bugs and some of the other pieces to show us how they worked. It's pretty fascinating to watch all the little roach-type bugs move around the pods or whatever they're called.


When G3 and G4 were little I did a "My First Crush" (Orange Crush to be exact) photo shoot with them. I wanted to do a similar one with all the kids and this time use the title, "Orange You Cute."

This is one of the photos I particularly liked.


And this is another one of my favorites.


Girlie has some darling flamingo clothes. She wanted her photo taken with the turtle and snail in our front yard. It almost looks like the turtle is saying, "Listen, do you want to know a secret?" Ok. . . ok. . . I was a Beatles' fan back in the day and that's the first thing I thought of when I was going through the photos I'd taken. But it's a great title for a scrapbook page, don't you think?

We also made a trip to the Kiddie Park. The new photos in the header were some that were taken that evening.

So, that's what I've been up to recently along with the regular day-to-day stuff like laundry and cooking and mowing, etc. I know everyone is busy. It's that time of year. I'll be stopping by your place when I can and blogging here and there.

Have a great summer!

18 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness! You are the best Granny ever! The cake is absolutely beautiful! I bet the girlfriend loved it!
    I really enjoyed your photos! You certainly have some great talent there Granny!

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  2. Oh my goodness!! I LOVE THE LADYBUG BIRTHDAY STUFF!!! ITS just absolutely adorable!!! I'm so jealous!!! **giggles**

    I'm so glad you and your family are all ok w/those crazy storms going around your area!!

    The hex bugs look crazy LOL, if my son was young enough I'd get him some :)

    The pic w/the orange crush is adorable!!! You're quite talented w/your photography!!!

    Such cute grandkids!!!

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  3. You always make everything so special. I know all of your grandchildren will always remember that and how much fun they all have when they are with you! The ladybug themed birthday is so sweet from the cake to all the decorations. What kind of cake was it? Girly and G5 seem to have always been a part of the family. I love the photo of Girly with her arms around the boys. Precious.

    Your Friend,
    Deborah

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  4. Deborah, The top and bottom layers of the cake were yellow. The middle layer was chocolate. (The top layer was actually an over-sized cupcake.) Son and his wife actually brought both Girlie and G5 home directly from the hospital after they were born so they really have been part of the family all of their lives.

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  5. I love the cake and all the various decorations. You have a talent.

    I loved the orange crush pics also.
    Thanks for the update.

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  6. Glad you were spared the storms. Nice having you back blogging as well. Your blog is always interesting to visit.

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  7. Wow, am I ever out of the loop! Never heard of Hex Bugs! Those Lady Bug mats are so cute and I sure could go for a Lady Bug cookie about now! The cake looks great! You keep so busy!

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  8. Wow, you have been busy! That cake and the ladybug decorations are the cutest things. No wonder the Gs love you and your house! Stay cool and safe in this crazy weather.

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  9. Love the cake. You are so talented in making things. Remember I copied your snowmen at Christmas :o)

    Enjoy every blessed minute with your kids and grands. I know you do. Love the picture of the 3 on the edge.

    Penless

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  10. Granny!
    I cannot say you are the bestest Granny ever, but you are right up there let me tell ya for sure!!! Such cute idea's... you could start a business!

    I was glad to hear you were missed by the storms! And to know you have a safe room too! 87% of the houses in Joplin didn't have basements...! Can you believe that!? So sad.

    Keep cool!

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  11. You have been busy! I was telling my daughter-in-law about the topsy-turvy cake that you learned to make in T-town. She loves to do things like that and I thought since she lives in B.A. she could take the class. Where did you take it and I'll tell her. Love the photos that you took of your grands.

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  12. That birthday stuff is adorable!
    Orange crush is one of my favorite drinks. Cool to have a photo series with all the kids at different times with the Orange Crush.
    My Mom did the same with a Nascar coat of hers with my kids. It was so big it swallowed them but it was so cute.
    I hope those tornadoes are done for this season!
    I love the whispering turtle. LOL

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  13. What a great Granny you are!

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  15. What great pictures! I love the one with girlie standing in between the two boys as they look into the water. I also like the idea 'orange you cute' for the orange crush picture. What beautiful children!!!

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  16. THat orange crush picture is adorable!!! Great shots of the grands. I hope all the storms for the most part are behind us....I don't like storm season myself...makes me nervous!

    I need to have our carpets cleaned as well...it is just a pain to have them done and then wait for the drying!!!

    Have a great week!

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  17. You are amazing!! I want some HexBugs. The photos are so beautiful, so glad your family was safe during the tornadoes. You can buy Toby's new song today on iTunes.
    Have a great day.

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