other plans

I have to admit that the best time of my life was when my kids were little and getting on my last nerve.     

Summers were perfect then.

  kix for breakfast.  

winnie the pooh on tv.

  off to the sandbox for the day.  

chocolate ice cream dripping from dirty faces. 

children laughing outside of the window. 

skinned knees and sunburned faces.  

playing hide and seek long after dark. 

the cat in the hat and nighttime prayers.

the quiet moments just after the last giggle was heard.

knowing that morning would bring more of the same.

Fall meant goblins and fairy princesses sharing bags of candy.

jumping in crisp cold leaves piled high.

bonfires.

Winter days brought hefty snowmen with eyes made of coal and a fresh carrot nose.

hot chocolate with marshmallow.

baking cookies.

christmas plays and waiting for santa.

Spring was a time to look forward to all of the above.

i swear, i thought they'd stay young forever.  but they had other plans.

I Will Not Budge!

We have one rule in our home that goes without saying.  My children need not try to negotiate this.  I will not budge.

In less than 2 months we'll be welcoming a new angel and it shouldn't take her long to know that what happens at Grammy's stays at Grammy's.  

Lindsey gave me strict rules over the summer - 'Mom, don't pick up a lot of baby clothes at yard sales.  Jessica has a big storage box full of nice girl's clothes that she is giving me'.  

Well, you know me.  It was hard to resist...  so I loaded up. 

 Good thing.  It seems Jessica mistakenly gave all the 'nice clothes' to Goodwill.  

Below are just a few of my summer finds ~ And a picture of Lindsey with baby Rissi 4 years ago.  

I just got these clothes out, they're all laundered, smelling heavenly, and ready for our new sweetie. 

And I'm getting excited!

No Poison, Please

Dear Diary,
Now that the emergency is over, I feel I can talk about this without getting too embarrassed.  For the past few months I've been showing signs of bugs fleas.  Oh, it wasn't all that bad.. really.  But Ms. no dog that has bugs crawling over it's sleeping in my bed Mom insists I get a check morning, noon, and night to make sure I'm flea-less.  One flea can send her into an hour long search for more.  She comes at me with a flashlight protruding from her forehead and a cup of Dawn dishwashing liquid soaked q-tips.   'Let me see your belly, Gracie,' she says.  I stop, drop, and roll and let her have her way with me.  Otherwise, it's ugly.

She's passionate about this mission of hers to keep me flea free without what she calls 'poison'.  
Up until last year, she would put something called Frontline  on my back and it would burn like fire. (just my interpretation)  I'd try to rub it off, but it was in a place that I just couldn't get to.  She said it kept fleas and ticks off of me and that it was the best thing for me.  But toward the end of summer last year I had fleas all over me and the peeps at the vet's office said something call Vectra would take care of them 'safely'.   I'm not sure if it would have killed the fleas or not..  but it almost killed me.  I started to vomit in the middle of the night and Mom jumped out of bed and tossed me in a tub of soapy Dawn water and tried to scrub all that Vectra stuff away.    She was crying and saying stuff like 'I can't believe I poisoned my baby' and well.. you get the picture.  Hey, I can't believe she poisoned me either...  but it is what it is.
Any-hoo...  No more poison for me.  Just a bug-detective Mom filling up a cup with fleas she picks off of me with her q-tip cocktail.   Crazy stuff, I'm tellin' ya. 

She took me last week and had me groomed again, so she can 'see' the bugs better.  
Now there's good news and there's bad news.  The bad news first.  Mom insists that I pick up the bugs during our evening neighborhood walk.  So icks-nay on the alks-way.  Grrrr
The good news - Mom and Dad have been taking me to the tennis courts and there I get to run and play ball. 
Mom says I'm bug free for now and she wants to keep it that way.  Gracie.