August Birthdays!

I'm not quite sure just how we got to 

the end of August already! 

Boo hoo!!  

Summer -- please don't go!

What a great cake smash!  Borrowed this photo from his sweet parents!

But, before we let August slip away,

we must celebrate a few August family birthdays!

First, we have baby Harry, the youngest grandson!

His first birthday was a couple of weeks ago.

He is simply little Mr. Adorable -

his sweet face matches his very sweet disposition!

He's standing on his own and ready to walk -- 

the only problem is that he can get where he's going faster

crawling!  Seriously, he is a little speed demon!

Just after Harry's birthday

was my younger sister, Amy's birthday!

Wish we could have seen her for her birthday -

we need to do some celebrating!

Gin and tonics for all, right Amy?! :)

Then just last week, it was Big Al's birthday

my Dad, Al, that is!

Maddy and I were so happy to see him earlier 

this month.

He just turned 91! 

Al, in earlier years, working on the train at the Henry Doorly zoo after his retirement
from the real railroad!

Happy Birthday Harry, Amy and Al!

You are all so very special!

xoxo

A Quick Little Trip!

Maddy and I had a quick trip at the start of 

August to Cincinnati to see my sister, her husband

and my Dear Old Dad -- a/k/a Al!

It was really great to see them and spend a few days there.  

They have a  beautiful home and have

been so wonderful to have my

Dad living with them!

What a sweet blessing!

The weather was perfect and Cincinnati is an 

incredible big city!

Big cities just feel different, don't they?

Busy and exciting!

While Maddy will readily admit that 

she is not really a cat person,

Karen's cats were really fun and 

funny!

Hmmm -- could a cat be in our future?

I don't think so as Miss Muffy would not be 

happy about that at all! 

Thanks for hosting us Karen, Russ and Al!

We miss you all!

7th Grade!

7th Grade has started!

It was an exciting and short first day of

school -- they started at 8 am and were out at 11 am!

Pretty good plan -- especially for a

certain 7th grader!

It was exciting to be back to school, 

see friends, meet new teachers

and

end up totally confused by the 

switching of classes every 45 minutes plus homework!

Seriously -- homework the first couple days - no fair! ;)

The first week was a bit of a challenge for

Miss M, but she came through and we

know next week will be even better!

Retake of first day of school with her plaid uniform skirt! 

Bonus this year --

her school finally has 

air conditioning!

After cool temps earlier in August, the heat and humidity

ratcheted up to near 100! 

Oy!

Now, where's that arctic plunge when you really need it?  

:)

Back To School Shopping!

When you go to a Catholic school

that has uniforms,

back to school shopping is easy-peasy!

Yay -- green polos available this year!

Pick up a few new polos 

(white, navy or green only),

some khaki shorts, the uniform skirt from

the designated uniform store 

and loads of pens, pencils, notebooks,

kleenex and other supplies!

Khaki pants have to come from the uniform store too -- don't ask me why??

7th Grade  - ready or not! :)

Can you tell? She wasn't a fan of this raincoat!

Birds and Balloons!

Hello Friends!

Do any of you remember ever seeing the

Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Birds?"

It's a scary one and a bit creepy too!

Guess who had a "bird" experience herself??

Yes, MOI!!!

It wasn't as bad as the movie, but . . . 

some creepy mourning doves

built a nest on our patio!

I believe they are cousins to disgusting pigeons - yuck!

They look harmless, don't be fooled!

I left them alone for a long time hoping they 

would be like robins and once the little

ones were big enough, they would

all depart the nest!

But NO -- 

they stayed and stayed and stayed!

And totally creeped me out!

Every time I let the dog out or went out that door,

they were there -- lurking and staring at me!

It appeared there was a Momma and 2 babies.

But, the babies were big, they weren't teeny little birdies!

I planned to knock the nest down when they were out 

of it.  Only problem -- they never left the nest!

Seriously -- so creepy!

I did a little research and learned the fastest

way to get rid of them, beside recruiting blue jays or hawks to dive-bomb them,

would be put some balloons by the nest.

The balloons would bounce around and would scare them away!

YES!  It worked perfectly!

Almost perfectly that is.

They are out of the nest, the nest has been removed, 

but . . . .

they are lurking around and haunting me!

They sit on the basketball hoop, the driveway,

they even were up on the back porch trying to look in the window!!!!!!!!

ACCCCK!!

What next?

Know any Blue Jays or Hawks that 

need a home?

Flips and Jumps and Handsprings!

The last camp/clinic Miss Maddy attended in July

after the theatre camps was a 

gymnastics/tumbling week-long clinic.

She really, really wants to do a back handspring

following a round-off!

Maddy asked me about my gymnastic abilities??

I think I peaked at somersault a long time ago and never even

came close to mastering a backwards somersault!

She loved the camp and improved so much!

Sooooo,

she's giving up dance and switching to 

gymnastics/tumbling!
A private lesson once a week is really moving
her closer and closer to her goal!

Meanwhile, she's making me work with her on ab exercises
daily to help strengthen our core.
My core says whattttt?
She does the exercises diligently while
I struggle and
she laughs!
Tweens can be so cruel! :)

Shine a Little Light

Shine a little light on . . .

my son and daughter-in-law's

beautiful deck and lighting!

They are sooooo very clever.

Isn't it pretty?
There's Catherine cleaning up after their wonderful party!

Remember in Parenthood where they had that big 

family dinner outside and the incredible lights around the area??

Like this?

Well, Philip and Catherine figured out how to do something

similar and had it all ready for a housewarming/end of residency

party they hosted last month.

The lights are really sweet and cast such a warm and 

lovely glow!

It was really a fun party with 

their new neighbors, friends and loads of family.

We played one of those bean-bag games --

(I have no idea what they are called),

but this one was a little trickier and much

harder to actually get that bean bag where it was supposed 

to go.

You'll be happy to know that Mr. Tennis and I actually

won the match between us and Connor and Maddy!

Funnel Cake and Ferris Wheels!

What's fun on a Saturday in Nebraska??

Not time for Husker Football yet, but it is 

time for the Super Fair! 

It takes place a bit earlier than the state fair

and is a smaller version!

So, Maddy and I went to the super fair the other day!

We saw some camels, goats, donkeys, horses and wolves!

Yes, wolves!!

All animals found in Nebraska!

Curious George prizes!

Of course, we had to go on some rides -

the ferris wheel (always a favorite and

almost always a disappointment -- it goes sooooo slow).

Waiting for the ferris wheel to get moving!

Tornado almost ready to fly!!

So, we also went on one called the Tornado!

I was so dizzy I almost fell over when I got off that one.

Then we rode a small roller coaster called the worm!

The Minions were there!

And what's a fair without 

Funnel Cake!

Yummy!

Happy Friday - Hello August!

Say it ain't so!

How did it get to be August already???

Noooooo!

Slow down summer!

Maddy and I had a fun last day of July yesterday!
We went mini-golfing and borrowed Miss Kamree

to go with us!

Oh my word!

It was a blast!

We loved golfing with that girl!

And bonus -- she made a hole-in-one

and so did I! 

Amazing!

In other news,

Southern Living has reported that it's
 National Cheesecake Day!

Shocker (since I love all goodies) but I am

not a huge fan of cheesecake!

However . . .
when chocolate is involved - I'm there!
I don't make it often - but I love
this Chocolate and Vanilla Cake!
It's called just "cake" but it is really cheesecake.

Adding this to my weekend list of things to do!
Make a cake!

Happy August
Happy Weekend!