Monday, September 30, 2013

A Gift To Me



The title to this post has a dual meaning...
 
one is obvious...
 
the other, you have to see at the end!
 
 
The obvious...
I had a weekend visit from some very special people...

Joey (in from England). Jamie. Katherine. Joanna. Me.
 

 
 
 Jim. Karla. the Twins.
 
who, even though time and distance keeps us apart,
each time we are together is very, very special...
 
a gift!
 

 
 
 
  
 
Now these two...
 
 
 
 kept the weekend quite entertaining,
and I should have followed them around with a tape recorder.
Their comments over the weekend could have been
a blog by itself without any other commentary from me.
 
There was one statement by one of these twins that I was determined to prove false...
 
Jamie's..."I never smile showing my teeth!"
(and if you scan the pictures...he was holding his ground!)
 
 
 
Joanna, on the other hand, declared...
"I always smile showing me teeth!"
And being true to her word, every time, she sure did.
 
 
 
I even tried to catch Jamie unawares
shooting from the hip...
 
 
But he had a sixth sense...
it didn't work.
Joanna had a sense that the camera was pointing her way,
and she was ready!
 
 
Then departure time came..
one more shot at the car before loading up.
 
and then it happened...
 
 
 
 
....those pearly whites were flashed
just for a moment
 
just for me.
 
 
What a sweet gift!
 
 
 



 

Monday, September 9, 2013

Animal Planet...Florida Version



Yesterday, I had an encounter with a banana spider's web.




I have a 4' black racer who has taken up residence at the bottom of my stairs.
     (I'll try to get his pic, but he is called "racer" for a reason :)

These two creatures gave me flashbacks to animal encounters over the years...

And once again, I think?, Christa may be the winner with the most encounters. 
 Although Michelle does win in the "Most Snakes Caught" category.  And Rachel has won in the
"Yes, I had Yellowjackets Crawl Up my Jeans" category.  Jessica, of course, wins in the "Looking Most Dignified with Lizards as Earrings" category.  All the girls are equal in the "Had a Paynes Prairie Alligator Hiss at Me" category.   And I, naturally, win in the "Lost-Frantic-Scary Bull Encounter" and the "Stand-Off With a Water Moccasin at the Clothes Line" categories.

But I do believe Christa wins for the most Categories:
 ~"Leapt Over a Rattlesnake on the Path" (not intentionally...thought it was a stick)
~"Leapt Over a Coral Snake in the Garage" (also not intentionally...thought it was a belt)
~"Caught a Wild Bird With Bare Hands"
~"Caught Another Wild Bird With Bare Hands"
      (That's two wild birds... I still don't know how that was possible.)
~"Chased Around a Ford Pick-Up Truck By an Angry Goose"
     (at least 4x's by a very angry goose just inches away... neck outstretched and wings flapping -  both the goose and  
           Christa!)
~"Gets Pecked Regularly by an Angry Rooster"
~"Rode a Runaway Horse With No Saddle or Bridle"
~"Swam with Barracudas and Learned That it is Possible to Scream Through a Snorkel."
~"Stung by a Scorpion"
   and, of course, the....
~"Hurry!! Pull Off My Jeans!! I have a Spider Hiding in My Crotch Seam!!"` category!

Between all of us, we have covered quite a few wildlife categories... I think we missed out on our chance of our own reality show!

Hmmmm... maybe not.   We can always recreate the scenes!

Now, just to come up with a good title!!

                                            **************************************

1st Amendment to this post:
      Jessica thinks she is a contender... along with the Lizard as Earrings win, she did win the following categories:
~"Getting Bucked Off Two Horses Without Even Being in a Rodeo" category.   (one time in the midst of a herd of cows!)
~"Got Bitten by an Angry Goose"  (had a nasty bruise for awhile to earn this award!)
    
                                            ***************************************

I now declare myself the winner after this encounter...
2nd Amendment to this post:
~"Had a cottonmouth rear back ready to strike, but didn't" category.   Was a guardian angel involved...oh yes, I believe so!  It's a miracle he didn't strike.   I was close enough to literally see down its throat...yep, white as cotton...  So, Christa, I take the title away from you :)

                                             ****************************************

3rd Amendment to this post:
Now I certainly declare myself the official winner as I won the
~"Chased Off an Alligator (Twice) With a Pool Noodle" category!!









Sunday, September 8, 2013

Lucas's Hobby

 
 
Lucas has taken up a new hobby,
well, acutally,
maybe his first hobby.
 
And I couldn't be more impressed...
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 





 Now, here you may think he's taking a pic of the toy on the floor,
but actually he was taking a picture of his arm!
(I love the toes in the background :)
 

 
 

  Selfie,
his reflection in the tv screen...lol!
 

 
 
Keep up the good work, Lucas,
Aunt Michelle will put you to
work in the future :)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Thursday, September 5, 2013

B-Day Haiku! For You!



One September night
 
filled with anticipation
 
the world was enriched!
 
 
 
 
Happy Birthday, Sweet Jessica!


Thursday, August 15, 2013

Basketball Star




During our week-long family time,
there were many memorable moments
that I may be sharing here and there.
 
But one just came to mind right now
as I was watching a Bon Jovi music video
 and glimpsed a guy playing some streetball...
and it sparked a memory that
made me laugh.
 
Because on our vacation,
we had a day at Fun Depot 
in Ashville
where alot of tokens were spent at the hoops, and
there was some serious competition going on...
 
 
 
 
And I'm pleased to announce that the
overall winner that day
with her style and finesse
was...
 
ta-da-da-daaaaa.....

 
 
 
Christa Jean
#6
 
Good job, Christa!
Your hard work paid off..
 
 
 
And you get to possess the imaginary b-ball trophy...
 
at least till next year!
 
(Do I foresee a REPEAT happening?!?!)


Monday, August 5, 2013

Some Kind of Wonderful...

 
 
Beautiful place, wonderful time,
love my family...
 




                                                             

Friday, August 2, 2013

Almost Heaven

 
 
 
 
Instead of a Nana/Hope Day,
we settled for a Nana/Hope Hour...
(any increment of time counts
as a special time when we're together!)

 
 
And this hour included
mountains and rivers and woods and horses!
 
So, I would say...
It Was Almost Heaven!
 
With Hope on Hildago
 
 
 
and me on Rapunzel...


 
off we went to explore Cedar Creek...




 
 
 

 
Hope,
it was a wonderful ride...
and you're a wonderful girl!
 
 
 
Looking forward to our next
special
time
together!