Sarah Can Stand Up (with a little help)

She is anxious to be able to keep up with her brother!

Doing My Part to Keep the USPS in Business!

I love to buy for my grandchildren and it was easy when they lived close enough that I could go and see them every week. I always tried to take them a little gift when I would go to see them. Since they have moved far away, it is a little more complicated to give them "things". So, now instead of putting the things that I buy for them in the trunk and driving to give it to them, I have to depend on the United States Postal Service to deliver things to them. They may not recognize me when they see me, but they will know that Mimi is thinking about them and trying to maintain a relationship with them. So, even if they know me as "The Mimi who mails me stuff"; they will still know me. It has changed the way that I shop for them though. I have to consider how hard something will be to mail, how big, how heavy, etc. It will also affect my Christmas Shopping....no more large toys because they won't have much room in their car. It is a challenge, but I am up to it!

I will probably get a "Thank You" note from the USPS, but I don't think that their mailman will put me on his Christmas list :)

It has been a good weekend!

Drew, Lindsay and Maddie came home for the weekend and it was great to be able to spend some time with them. We didn't do much, but it was nice to have some time to just sit around and be together. We all went to a wonderful wedding reception on Saturday night and it was nice getting to talk to lots of people that we hadn't seen in a while. When your children are young and involved in lots of activities you see people (usually the same people) at these activities and form a friendship. After your kids have left the nest, you loose contact. So, attending a social event is a great time to catch up. I am amazed at how easy it is to pick right back up chatting with people that you don't see once a year and carry on a conversation as though you still see them every week. It isn't an ackward situation at all and the talk flows freely.

Sometimes Life Just Jumps Up and Bites You in the Butt!

And I am having one of those days!
The day started out as any other. I got up and started to do my nails. Half way thru I ran out of polish...ok, start over with a different color.

Then, I go to get in my car....where are the keys? I look all through the car with time running close on me making my 8:30 meeting in the next county. I get my purse out and put it on the trunk and start to look all through it...no keys. I come back into the house and look everywhere, finally got my spare key and I jump in the car. I finally get out of my driveway, because by this time I am right smack in the middle of the school traffic and as I am heading down the road I see something fall off my car...oh my goodness what was that? I remembered that I had taken things out of my purse on my trunk in the desperate search for my keys, so I immediately pull off at the first safe place and look thru my purse, ok, wallet is there, planner is there, and then I realize that my glasses were not there. So I drive back up the road and sure enough on the side of the road is the case that I keep my glasses in. I pull over in a driveway and walk back up the side of the road, in the wet grass with white pants on, pick up the mangled case and no glasses..they were laying broken in the middle of the road. Well, I could have sat right down in the wet grass and cried. Oh well, it could have been worse I guess. The glasses were very expensive, but were two years old so I guess I will be getting new ones. I came back home to look for my old glasses and as luck would have it I found them. I also looked for my keys and low and behold there they were in my purse.

I think all things happen for a reason, and for some reason God just didn't want me traveling to the next county this morning.

When Smiling Makes You Sad!

All around my house I keep running into things that make me smile and sad. I smile at all of the sweet memories that I have of my grandchildren, but then they make me sad as reality sets in. I am thankful that they are happy and well, but I sure do miss them.




This distant Grandparenting is tough.

A Tree Alone

I love this tree. It stands all alone in the lake. It looks dead, yet it stands upright. It is like it refuses to give up. I just like this tree.

Anchors Away!

We finally got a new boat....it starts and idles...woohoo!! We really like it, now if the weather would just cooperate maybe we could enjoy it.
We didn't like the position of the trolling motor so Gene moved it farther away from the pontoons.

We are surrounded by lake scum. It is worse this year than we have ever seen it. Gene made an attempt to move it away from the dock by getting in our little fishing boat which we have named "The Minnow" and using the net to move it on out into the cove. It helped, but there is still a lot there.

Last year I attempted to "grow" a worm farm. I wasn't very successful. Somehow the worms just seemed to disappear. I am attempting it again! Wish me luck!

P.S. I miss my grandbabies soooooo much.

You Load Fifteen Tons and What Do You Get.....

You get your name on a brick on the Coal Miners Memorial Wall

My paternal Grandfather

My Maternal Grandfather

They worked so very hard all of their lives and this job took a toll on their health. But they were proud that they were able to work and support their families. Young people today should work so hard to support their families instead of expecting the government to take care of them. The most work that many able-bodied young people do in this day and age is stand at the mailbox waiting for their government check. JUST MY RANT FOR THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alzheimer's or Do You See What I See

I just visited my parents and other family members. My dad has dementia. My mother and aunt have Alzheimer's. Both are such horrible diseases.

I called my parents when I was about 5 miles from their house to tell them that I was coming to visit. As usual, when I pulled into the driveway and got out of the car, I heard my dad ask my mother "Who is that?" My mother said "Mary Jane". Your heart can go to to your throat when you realize that your dad no longer recognizes you. As soon as I get out of the car I said "hello, daddy, whatcha doing?" and I think something in his brain clicks when he hears my voice and then he recognizes me.....I just wonder what I look like to him; for just a few minutes I would like to be able to see what he sees and maybe I could understand...just a little. He actually handles his dementia very well; but it hurts to see how confused he is all the time. In his mind his house is always full of people. These people get on his nerves and he doesn't trust them. Every time we get in the car to go for a ride he wants to know who all is going with us and what about all those other people. He doesn't like the fact that he thinks that we leave people at his house..he is afraid they will get his "stuff"

Mother on the other hand does not suffer from delusions, she just has the very typical Alzheimer's symptoms. She constantly repeats herself. She can't remember what she was doing five minutes ago or what she just ate. She does still recognize everyone. She puts things up and can't remember where they are and finding car keys or any keys for that matter, is like a scavenger hunt. She is on Aricept and it has really helped her. Daddy cannot tolerate Aricept.

Then I ran down to the nursing home to visit my Aunt. She is younger than my dad and also suffers from Alzheimer's. I walked into her room and she recognized me immediately. I thought to myself "well, this is going to be good" (I was worried because her doctor had told me that she was crying all the time anymore). She said "I have been thinking about you and Tammy a lot the last couple of days" and I was so pleased and thought to myself that this is going to be a good visit. And then it started.....she proceeded to tell me about how tired she was from tap dancing all night with an Elvis impersonator and how the crowd was yelling for her and how he kissed her and she kissed him back...and then nothing else made any sense the whole time I was there. I took her a chocolate milkshake and some french fries, but she ate very little.

After I left the nursing home and went back to my parents and told them that I had taken my aunt a milk shake, they decided that they wanted one too. So, we pile in the car and I buckle mother in and set the child locks on daddy's door and off we go. As we are riding down the road I spot another Aunt driving down the road by herself...she is 87. When we get back home I call her and have the only sensible conversation that I had all weekend. It is wonderful to live to be that old and still very sharp mentally and physically ok. Unfortunately for me, this is an aunt by marriage..the dementia and Alzheimer's are all my blood relatives.....I guess that I know what I have to look forward to. I can only hope that medical science will come up with something to help this disease. I think that I could handle the situation with my parents when I could go from visiting them to visiting my grandchildren; because my grandchildren always make me smile and warm my heart and give me hope for the future. I sure miss my sweet babies....3 weeks and counting :(

Whose Afraid of the Water!

It certainly isn't any of the Creech family! These boys love the water. They just jump right in and swim like fish.
Paula, Austin and Trevor cooling off.
Trenton Paul "cheesing" for the camera!

Bobby and Trevor.

Austin and Trevor just taking it easy!

First Day of School

My great nephew, Trenton Paul, will have his first full day of preschool tomorrow. He did very good on his entrance exams. I sure hope he likes school. I am very anxious to hear how it goes! He is a very fortunate little boy because his babysitter has been his Granny, my sister-in-law. I'm sure my sister-in-law will be very anxious about his first day too.
Here is a picture of my sister-in-law taken in Gatlinburg a few years ago!

I am an old soul!

I think that I actually belong to a different generation than most people my age...I think I am older. I am the only person that I know that likes to sew. I don't like to make clothes because it is cheaper to buy them than to make them and I have never really been good at sewing clothes. I like to sew crafts and home decor stuff. I learned to sew at a very young age on an old big, black Singer sewing machine. Mother would make dresses for me and my sister and she would give me the scraps to make clothes for my dolls, or furnishings for my shoe box doll house. Barbie clothes were particularly hard to make because Barbie dolls are very small. I made pot holders and embroidered pillow cases when I was very young. I like to cross stitch, but I didn't start that until my teens. So, you would think that I would be good at it by now, but I'm really not; I just enjoy doing it. I think that sewing is like playing an instrument, singing or any other skill; you can practice all the time, but you still need to have the innate talent to be exceptionally good at it. Anyway, I decided to make Aaron's name in stuffed letters to hang on his wall in his new room in Crystal Lake. I didn't really like the "N" but that was the only pattern that I had; but here is the result It is hard to tell from the picture, but the pattern of the fabric is Thomas the Tank Engine. I cut and sewed the letters at home and I stuffed and closed them sitting on the deck at the lake while Gene took a nap. He has had an abscessed tooth and has been really sick this week.

I still sew on the machine that belonged to my grandmother. So these pillows were made on a sewing machine that belonged to Aaron's great-great grandmother.....pretty neat! This sewing machine has NEVER been serviced and runs like it is new.

We got the leaking water pipe fixed at the lake and tomorrow we are going to work on the TV cable. Always something to do..............

Sad but True!

Today I had to drag out my old high school yearbook. Not something that I normally do for fun, but I have had several "friend requests" on my Facebook that are from people that I went to high school with, but I absolutely do not remember them. So, out comes the Redskin, 1972 edition (which smells a little like mildew; isn't that depressing) and off I go into my jouney back in time. I found myself stopping and wondering "where is this person" "wonder what profession this person has" and then of course remembering some of my friends that have passed away. I think it is very odd that you can live within walking distance to people, go to school and Church with them for 12 years; and then, for some very strange reason, many, many of these people you will never see again after you walk up on the stage and get that high school diploma. Sad but True.

Distant Grandparenting

I am trying to get the hang of this distant grandparenting; but it is going to take some getting used to. Today I ordered a few Thomas the Tank Engine things for Aaron (his favorite thing right now) and a little purse for Sarah. While I enjoyed shopping for them, I will miss giving them these things in person to see the expressions on their faces when they get them. I also went to the Walmart and bought some fabric to make something for his new room.

Trenton Paul starts preschool this week. He has a Spiderman theme for his school supplies, so I made him a Spiderman pillow for his nap time. Since he and Trevor are so close in age, I figured I had better make Trevor one too. I sure hope that Trenton likes school.....time will tell.

Eventful Weekend

Drew and Lindsay came home this weekend. We were at the lake so they stopped there Friday night. After we cooked out some steaks the boys took a ride on the boat and did a little fishing. Drew caught 6 bass in about 30 minutes! HOW DOES HE DO THAT!! We have been fishing that lake for 3 years and we have never caught bass like that! He must be a natural.

We found a water leak at the lake house between the meter and the house. The water was seeping into the house. So, we had to turn off the water and head home. It worked out good though, because we got to spend more time with Drew and Lindsay. Lindsay enjoys the pool so much and with the temps around 90 it felt really good. Some of her family came up and enjoyed a swim too.

I have some new baby fish in my eco-pond. (I call it that because I do not maintain it at all, it doesn't even have a filter) I think that there are 3 or 4 new fish.

Aaron's bird feeder makes me smile everytime I look at it. Here's a little background on this story. I have always called this bird feeder "Aaron's bird feeder" because he would always help me fill it up with birdseed. He seemed to like doing that. Well, on one particular day we were filling up the feeder and he was wearing shorts but no underwear and sometimes he would scatter more seed around and on the ground than would go in the feeder. We were all out by the pool and Aaron came around the pool walking funny and we asked him what was wrong and he said "I GOT BIRD FEEDER IN MY BUTT'. I think about him everytime I walk by the feeder.

Happy Anniversay to my mom and dad today. I think that it is 58 years...it may be 59.

Drew just called and they got caught behind a wreck on the interstate. They have the worst luck traveling home.

Just a look at the sun coming thru the clouds as I sit on my back porch and swing.

Mushroom Garden!

All of the rain has caused the mushrooms to pop out of the ground. I thought this was pretty neat because they are all in a circle.

Sarah's new passion.

Most babies love Cheerios. Sarah likes a banana with her cereal. Isn't she a doll!

Aaron can drive!

He is really getting the hang of driving his truck. He is also excellent at backing up!

Sometimes you just get tired of driving and want to take a little walk.

What I Miss Most!

I miss being a "hands on" Mimi already. I am sure missing:

MIMI! BIG HUGS!

And BIG SLOBBERY KISSES

And I am missing more things than I could ever mention in a Blog!

MIMI LOVES AND MISSES YOU!

Josh's Wedding

Fortunately the rain quit just in time for the ceremony. It was a beautiful wedding.

The youngest flower girl fell behind because she was stopping to pick up the flowers dropped by the older flower girl and had to be picked up by the wedding coordinator. It was very cute.

Stephanie was a beautiful bride. They looked very happy.

I loved this cake topper! It was too cute.

It was great getting to spend some time with Lindsay and Drew!

Good Luck and Much Happiness Josh and Stephanie!