You Pay for Your Raisin'

My children will often tell me stories or send me photos of their own children telling me about things they do which are really quite humorous to me.  I mentioned some of Luci's antics yesterday and that I'm thankful for technology which allows them to share these stories.  It also makes me frequently say things like, "I can think of nobody who deserves that more."  Often, I say that because I recall their own antics.

Another message came to me yesterday from Bryan.  First, I got this photo.

Of course, his attire stands out at once - Cowboy Harris.  Look carefully, please and notice that he is standing atop the coffee table.  And, please notice that he has his chair turned sideways atop the table to serve as a counter for his tablet and a toy music machine.

Then, I get the second photo and Bryan's message:

Really, I think that says it all!

Technology is a wonderful thing!

Sometimes, during the days, I will get random messages from the children of things that my grandchildren are doing.  It certainly brings a smile to my face and brightens my day.  There are also stories that are shared which bring laughter and, later, smiles as well. 

Like when Bridgette shares with me that Luci has really been getting into some things lately that were not really appreciated.  First, she was given a large box and some markers.  Bridgette had "eight minutes, Mama.  Only eight minutes!" to finish up a project she was working on for a client.  When she turned around, the box Luci had been given had a few marks on it but Luci was completely covered in marker. 

Then, a few days later, Bridgette was exasperated with Luci because one of the bean bag cubes we gave the children had suffered a seam rip.  Luci noticed the Styrofoam beads and became a bit curious and well, I will stop the story there.  Suffice it to say, the ending was not so pretty.

Only a few days later, Bridgette let me know that she and Luci had placed a load of laundry on the sofa which is only a few feet away from the door to Luci's bedroom.  Bridgette folded the laundry and Luci went to her room to play.  When Bridgette finished folding and took Luci's clothes in to put them away, she found Luci with a tub of baby powder that had been about three-fourths full.  Was being the operative word in that last sentence.  At that point, there was no powder left in the tub because Luci had shook it out all over the bedroom.  Again, the ending here was not so pretty.

Yet, today, I get photos like these two and one wonders how on earth such a sweet face could create such chaos.

National Diabetes Awareness Month

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month.  This is a health issue that is close to my heart because in our family we have members who are Type 1 Diabetic and members who are Type 2 Diabetic.  The blue circle above is the global symbol introduced by the International Diabetes Federation in 2006 giving it a common identity and helping to raise awareness.  For more information, check out JDRF website.

Family Photo Day

I had the opportunity to spend some time with part of our family on Saturday looking through the lens of my camera. 

This one is Mike's favorite!

The photographer Bridgette has used for a few years was unavailable for this year's fall photo session.  Since Bridgette wants to get going with their Christmas cards, she was a wee bit frantic about getting the photos and asked me to take some shots for them.

We had a pretty good session and I was lucky enough to get a few that we liked in about an hour.  Then, we took some time to go in and have lunch.  Most of the time there were smiles with a little bit of goofiness thrown in for good measure.

Taking group shots is just as difficult as one might imagine when there are five of them and one is three-years-old!  When I sat down to do some editing and cropping, I was thankful I had several shots of the same general 'pose' to choose from. 

Sometimes everybody is cooperative and paying close attention and smiling pretty for the camera.  And sometimes, well, sometimes, not so much!

There were also times when the gesture I mentioned turned out to be a good thing.  And there are others that the look didn't seem to match up what I had in my head - at least not for all of the crew!

There were a couple of times when it seemed that we were going to have a Sunday school meeting in order to get everybody in the same mindset.  At times it seemed we were going to kind of have a laying on of hands, if you know what I mean.

All-in-all I shot well over 700 photos that afternoon and I'm glad I'm not the one having to pick which one will be the front of the Christmas card!  After lunch, we went back out and I made a few individuals of the children and some of just the three girls without their parents.  I must say that I really like taking the one-on-one shots far better than the large family groups! (I will share some of those later.)

Having this opportunity certainly helped to drive home just how fortunate and blessed we are!  I'm already looking forward to the next photo session.

Veterans Day

I didn't realize

When we cleaned out the milk barn to prepare for my Daddy's estate sale, I told Mama I wanted to keep the brass tags that we used to hang from a chain around the cows' necks.  At the time I didn't have a clue what I would do with those things but I just couldn't stand to part with them.

Earlier this year, I bought a few supplies at the craft store and put them together as wind chimes.  There were enough of them to make a chime for each of our children and one to keep.

The design is simple with a wood piece painted with metallic paint.  I screwed eye-hooks into it and strung the tags onto a piece of nylon cord.  The 'clapper' part of the chime is a plastic tag that hangs down below the others with a large galvanized washer that clangs into the tags.  They have a nice little tinkle in the wind and it brings back memories of getting the cows out of the pasture and up to the barn. 

I wanted the children to have the tags for sentimental reasons, obviously.  Little did I realize that the tags had any value!  I saw a blog post today which featured a similar tag as a keychain.  The post referenced this Etsy link as a source for the tags.  Wow!  My gift was far more valuable than just the sentimental feelings I had, evidently!

Hope they appreciate theirs as much as I do my own and I'm sure my Daddy is smiling about that!

Not a Hairbow

On Halloween the older two granddaughters wore their costumes to school.  So, Luci thought she should wear her costume all day as well.  Her parents had some errands to run, so off to town she went in her princess costume.  Bridgette said that she gets exasperated with Luci because she takes the hairbow out of her hair and often misplaces it.  Yet, the crown she wore when dressed as a princess stayed on her head all day.  Plus, if it got a bit tilted, everything stopped and the crown got straightened.  Maybe Luci's mom just doesn't understand what is important to a real princess!