Sunday, December 14, 2014

Hi everyone,

Well! I certainly got a rise out of my mother! Shortly after I sent my letter last week, this was waiting in my inbox for me.

“Peggy! I was not glad that you didn't call me at the hospital because I didn't care. It was because I had to get out of bed to reach the phone. It was kind of back in a corner, and both beds in the room used the same phone so the call might have been for the other person (and mostly was). So, I let her answer it first! Love you very much and now you CAN call me anytime. Mom.”

See! You were right! She didn’t mean it the way I took it. And I’ll be honest with you on a couple of points. First, my feelings were only hurt for about a minute and second, I can be just as guilty of having things come out wrong too.

I had this photo of an evergreen bough up on my desktop for a while this week. I like the soft colors of the background.

But it’s not what’s on my desktop now. No siree! Guess who got to watch Andrew for a little while last week? Yep. Me! And Pop-pop. Once again I got lots of wonderful photos of this little guy who is the star of my show.

Andrew and Baby Blue grace my desktop now. Those two seem to have a special relationship. Even though Andrew sometimes grabs Baby Blue by her tail, she just cries until he lets her go. She has never-ever, not even one time-ever used her nails on Andrew. But before you go feeling too sorry for Baby Blue, know that once he turns her loose, she usually comes right back for more. She’ll rub against him and teasingly flip her tail at him and that’s it. The chase is on.

In case you are wondering about this photo of Andrew and Baby Blue, I’ll tell you how it came to be.

Like I said, I was watching Andrew and Andrew heard some pounding. Construction noises from next door and I don’t even hear them anymore but Andrew sure did. He gasped and looked up at me expectantly.

“What was that?” I asked. “Let’s go and see,” I scooped him up and we went into the bathroom, pulled the blind up, pushed the window open and I stood Andrew on the toilet tank. “Those guys are working right over there,” I said pointing. “See them?” I held onto Andrew as he stood there in the rush of cool air; the hammer and saw sounds even louder now.

About this time Baby Blue came bounding in. She may be mostly blind but she can hear a window open from anywhere in the house and Baby Blue loves to sit in the window anytime it’s open. She jumped up onto the toilet seat, then the tank and stretched her front paws up to the window sill. The two of them just stood there, side by side, looking out the window and THAT’S the photo I wanted! But I didn’t have my camera. I picked Andrew up, “Let’s go get my camera,” I told him as I hurried us away. I got my camera and went right back to our construction site viewing spot as quick as I could. I stood Andrew in front of the open window and he greeted Baby Blue who had taken that opportunity to get in her sitting spot.

Then he turned to look out the window and Baby Blue leaned in closer to him. Her ear tickled his cheek. Andrew laughed and looked at me, then he turned back and waited for her to do again, and you know what? She did! He stood still and she leaned closer and her ear tickled his cheek again!

I sense an air of anticipation in this photo, don’t you?

Andrew said something to Baby Blue…

Then he reached his hand up to her.

Perfect…just perfect. One of my favorite shots.

Then Andrew’s attention was drawn to the hammering and he sees the men on the roof.

I snapped another picture as Andrew turned to look at me. This photo totally surprised me when I saw it on the computer. I had no idea there was a tear in his eye and I don’t have a clue why it’s even there. He hadn’t been crying…allergies? The cool air? I don’t know what caused it.

And my last favorite shot is this one where both Andrew and Baby Blue have their faces turned towards me.

After we were done in the window I put Andrew and Baby Blue down and closed the window up. Then I went to check the pot I had cooking on the stove. Andrew saw me lay the big wooden spoon down and indicated that he would like to have that.

“That one’s dirty,” I told him. “But I’ve got lots more.” I picked him up and let him pick two spoons from the holder on the counter. I say two spoons but he actually picked a spoon and a rubber spatula. Then I put him down and let him get in the cupboard for a bowl. He took everything to the table and pushed the chair out and climbed up in the chair. Once up to the table he spotted the bag of domino’s that live on my table. He added them to his bowl and gave it a good stir.

Andrew played at that for a while before he thought about playing in the sink.

“If you’re going to play in the sink you have to go find your dishes,” I told Andrew. He hopped down and went to his toy drawer, opened it up and started rummaging around in it. He came back to me holding this.

I smiled, snapped the photo and helped Andrew get set up for an hours worth of play at the sink. I tossed him a towel to dry his wet belly.

Believe it or not, Andrew rounded his night out with some quiet time in the big chair with Pop-pop.

Andrew loves this little book of Halloween Riddles and always asks Pop-pop to read it to him two or even three times in one sitting.

Hey! Check out my latest flea market finds. I found a red handle potato masher in the style of the one my mother used to use. I haven’t seen one in years and I have been looking too! The handle came off mine. I’m guess that when it was washed and put in the drainer to dry, it was put in upside down. The water stayed in the ferrule and rotted the wood. So I needed a new one. I also found a new set of dominos for a dollar. I didn’t really need another set, but it was a hard deal to pass up and we love to play dominos in this house.

Another thing I find hard to pass up, even if I don’t need anymore is jigsaw puzzles. The one on the table with the masher and dominos is a drive in movie from the Home Town Collection. Those are easy, fast and fun puzzles to put together.

Yesterday was the Christmas Parade here in Lake Ozark, Missouri. The Betterment Committee is in charge of it and even though it seems like we won’t be ready or don’t have enough help, everything seems to come together at the last minute.

That beautiful lady, Mary Ellen (the owner of Curves), her husband Jim and Massey agreed to judge the floats for us.

“It was fun,” Mary Ellen told me when they got back.

Thanks to a couple of gals on the committee we had a fabulous spread of snacks for all the kids that came to see Santa.

And guess who got to ride in his mom’s work car while mom was driving in the parade?

Yep! Andrew! The best part of the whole parade! Okay, that might just be proud grandma speaking there.

Let’s do January birthdays.

Edward Mark Bowers, 7^th; Dylan Allan Ammerman, 8^th; Katilynn Mary-Eva Buhmeier, 11^th; Ashley Bowers, 19^th; Kandyce Buck Kraft, 19^th; Paul James Bowers, 20^th; Noah Lee Dycus, 20^th; Charles (Cork) Luby, 21^st; Taysha Moon Bowers Burns, 21^st; Gerald J. Soden, 22^nd; Twins Lisa Renee and Anthony Michael Cosentino, 28^th.

I like to include middle and maiden names and as always, if you have any additions or corrections to my list, please, just let me know!

Lots and lots and lots of love,

Peg and Mike