September 25th - Happy 8th Birthday Taylor

We don't get to celebrate birthdays with the grandchildren too much so when the kids came up last weekend, we took advantage of the time to share in Taylor's 8th birthday. Here she is shown with the Birthday Hat on. My girlfriend made this hat and we're going to try to make this a new tradition for as many family members as we can. It just so happens that there are 8 candles on the hat and Taylor is 8 (she pointed that out to me!). She is showing off one of her new American Girl dolls - Molly. Happy Birthday Sweetpea! I hope you have the BEST BIRTHDAY so far!! I love you!!
 

Indian Summer!

You heard me say it in an earlier posting - Indian Summer! Sunday was it! It was beautiful - sunny and in the 80's. We thought about changing the shower to the house on the deck but after careful deliberation we still had it at the community center. But when we got done and went home, the kids wanted to go in the pool with Papa. The water was only 69 degrees but they all went in. Michael jumped in so fast and he couldn't get to the stairs fast enough! LOL - it was too funny to see his face - I just wish I could've captured it! Taylor really surprised me. She jumped in, got out and continued to jump in - what a brave girl!!


 

Tradition at Mimi and Papa's

Here's a tradition we always do. Soon after the kids arrive, they say "can we go feed the horses?" We have to have apples when the kids arrive. Sure enough, within 30 minutes, we were walking to feed the horses. On this day, we only had one horse that wanted the apples. The other two horses paid no attention to us and two horses were in their stalls. Taylor and Papa have a game they play (on the phone) where she asks him every time she talks to him if he's gone to feed the horses. If he says "no", she fires him! LOL If he say's yes, he's good for a little while. She even drew him a picture with stickers of horses on it that hangs on our fridge to remind him to feed the horses. It's a great tradition and one we always look forward to. We still have trouble trying to get the kids to actually feed them. Plus the fence is electrified , so if they touch it, they get shocked - not alot, but enough! 

Baby Showers

Here is a picture of the cakes from both showers. Marchelle's step-mom, Chris, gave her one on Saturday. It's was nice to see lots of people I haven't seen in a long time - actually - a year since Chris gave her a bridal shower. Chris is an extremely nice person and I like her alot. On Sunday, I gave her a shower. Marchelle and Tyler received so many nice gifts from both showers. It was fun to watch them go through and look at all the gifts - they were so excited. 

Happy Birthday Gail and Happy Anniversary

Sept 13th is Gail's birthday and the 15th is Gail and David's wedding anniversary. They always spend this special week in Cape Cod and I know they're having a good time!

Happy Brithday Aunt Peggy!

My Aunt Peggy's Birthday was Saturday. Not that I forgot her birthday either, but I'm just now updating my blog!! Hope you had a wonderful day!!

Happy Birthday Gabriela

September holds alot of birthdays! This is Gabriela's party that we attended on Saturday. She is 8 years old and 16 days older than Taylor. Her dad and I met when I worked at Penney's and our families have been good friends ever since!

Happy Birthday Rhonda

9/11 is my friend Rhonda's birthday. How could you ever forget that birthday?? Rhonda and I used to work together but she quit so be a stay-at-home Mom - the hardest job ever! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jodi

Happy (Belated) Birthday Jodi. Ok, no, I didn't forget Jodi - I just didn't update my blog on-time. Her birthday was last Thursday and she's 27 this year! 

LuLu

Have you ever seen a dog so cute! Introducing LuLu, Jeana's newest puppy. At the time this picture was taken, she was about 15 weeks old. She's a minature daschund (I probably spelled that wrong). I can't wait to "meet" her in January when we go and meet our newest grandchild and see our other two cutie grandsons.

Fall

To those of us who live up North, you know fall starts the day after Labor Day - seriously. Any warm days after Labor Day we consider to be "Indian Summer". I have no clue what that is supposed to mean but I've heard that term my entire life. Here in NY, our whole summer is from the start of Memorial Day weekend to the end of Labor Day weekend. This is gospel! Never mind when the calendar says summer begins and fall begins.

August was a cool month and that makes me a little worried. I've seen geese fly already and my mums are blooming. Nights in August have been in the 50's. It seems that I remember as a kid August was the hottest month of the year - in the 90's and very humid. We called them the "dog days of August" and why we looked forward to fall. I'm wondering if we are in for a hard winter?? Last winter Jamie only had to shovel the driveway two times so I'm think this is going to be a bad winter. Yikes!!

I love the spring and summer. To go outside without a coat is a joy. I love driving around and seeing all the ways that people decorate their homes with flowers. I love driving and looking at the trees so full and swaying in the breeze. So many trees have great shapes - especially the big ones. I always enjoy looking for that perfect shaped tree.

I was extremely impatient for spring to begin this year. I couldn't wait to see the green again and I am equally impatient for fall to begin. Don't get me wrong, fall is a beautiful time of year. The colors of the leaves when they're at their height is so beautiful - but that means soon the leaves will fall and we'll be stuck looking at sticks in the air for six months - agghh!!

This weekend some people (like my neighbor) will cover their pools. We wait as long as we can because it's just such a finality to summer and it's depressing. I still sit on the deck when I can. If I could, I'd bring the fire pit up there to keep warm so I could sit longer. September is such an "iffy" month. It could be 75 one day and 40 the next. It's the transition month. Even October can be beautiful but in October, you are just plain lucky for warm, sunny days.

Marchelle, Corine and kids will be here in a couple weeks for Marchelle's baby shower. I'm sure they'll be freezing as they're still getting high temps and humidity. I'm hoping it's warm enough and rain-free that we can enjoy the deck and the fire pit. Jamie and I are looking forward to that - just a nice and relaxing time for all.