Jaime's Owl

The grandkids are not the only ones with artistic ability. Here is one of Jaime's paintings - Owl. The scanner size forced me to crop the feet and wings a bit.

Mia's Drawings

Project from preschool

3 Flowers, 6-14-2011

Flowers

Earth and Rainbow

Mia's drawings make me happy. She likes them, too. She "posts" them on the refrigerator with her little magnetic letters as soon as they are done. I should say she posts them at her eye level, too, so I have to be careful to not brush them on the floor as I walk by.

Best Birthday Ever

Brody - Boy's new best friend

Birthday cake. The tent had a little light in it and the shadow of a boy.

Jonah and Brody

The kids stopped a wild sword fight long enough let me take one picture

Mia

Mia, Cory, Jill

Joyce and Peepaw

Music in the living room

Such a cute picture. I'm sorry the photographer messed up the focus.

Irma and Brody. Pappa Jerry in the background.

Future bride and bridesmaid Jaime and Amanda.

Gage

Cory, Elliot and Jonah. Toy gun.

Jonah and Seth

Jill and cake

Best birthday ever. A good report card from school, a new puppy and a camp out with all his friends. Happy Birthday, Jonah!

Jonah Birthday

Jonah - 8th Birthday

Dirt Cake with Gummy Worms

Jonah - 1st Birthday

Jonah - Preschool

Another preschool picture

Jonah sleeping in grandma's arms

Happy Baby

It's time for Jonah's 11th birthday party. He wants to invite girls this year. It will be a back yard camping party. Girls will be there but not overnight. I'm sure it will be great but meanwhile I am remembering the past. My first grandchild and only grandson. Happy Birthday!

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Once when he was about two years old, Jonah met me at the door with a very sad face. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "I trouble."

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One time when Jonah was picking "atapidders" (catepillars) off the neighbor's bush, I saw a big red ant bite on his face. I said, "Jonah, how did you get an ant bite on your face?" He said, "Grandma, ants have sticky feet!"

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He was just learning to talk when I tucked him into bed one night. He said, "Bugs bite toes!" I laughed and kissed him and went into the living room and told everyone what a great imagination he had. The next day my daughter said, "Mom, you are going to feel so bad!" It seems there were some ants in his bed and he used almost every word in his vocabulary to try to tell me about it.

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He was teaching himself to fish in the nearby pond. I went out to see how he was doing and noticed that he had a bobber hooked up right at the top of his fishing pole. I said, "Jonah, it won't work that way. You won't be able to catch any fish that way." He looked at me and said, "Grandma, these fish are stupid!" And I guess they were stupid because he caught one a few minutes later.

Roger and Me - Our 5th Anniversary

Roger and me

Roger

Left to Right: Darlene, Mary, Bruce and Rick

Darlene and Rick

Jonah and friend at end of school skating party

Jillian at end of school skating party

Mia and Jaime in little Barbie jeep

Mia and Jaime in Barbie jeep

June 3, 2011 - Our 5-year anniversary. Hard to believe. The kids were having end of school parties, Jaime and Aaron were working on their roof, and Roger and I celebrated by going to Ivarone's - a landmark Tampa restaurant owned by a landmark Tampa family. Click on the restaurant name to see the menu. Roger and I had steak and their fantastic house salad and cannoli's for desert. Bruce, Mary, Rick and Darlene went with us.

Mia! by Jillian

A cute picture of Mia drawn by Jillian. Mia decided to sign it on the right side, but she got her letters mixed up and signed, "ami".

Mia

I have been thinking of getting a larger dresser for the kid room and even searched on Craigslist, but this one showed up on the curb by my neighbor's house. My son helped me get it home and we adopted it. I plan on painting it. A little matching bed side table showed up the next day but I didn't get it. Now I'm sorry. Someone else gave that one a home. We are enjoying the mirror and the extra drawer space.

Memorial Day

A good quality hot dog on a soft, cheap bun with a little mustard and relish. That is my favorite. This one has ketchup and pickles on the side for my granddaughter. Maybe next year I will go to the folk festival with my family, but this year I am babysitting at home and pretending my hot dog was cooked over a camp fire.

Maybe later I will dig out some pictures of my father to post. He was a Navy medic in WWII and served with the Marines at Tarawa. He didn't talk about it much. I need to spend time with my brother and compare notes. My brother served in the Army during the Vietnam years, but he was stationed in Germany, not in a fighting zone. My brother found our grandfather's tombstone at a military cemetery in Johnson City, Tennessee. He was a veteran of the Spanish American War. His name was Robert Zell and his brother's grave is in the same cemetery. Jaime's fiance, Aaron, served in Iraq. Thank God, he is here with us now. I am thinking of all the strong, young soldiers who have served our country today.