Uncle Charles

I just found out that my Great-Uncle Charles passed away in his sleep. I was saddened by the news. He was such a fun, entertaining person & I truly loved being around him. (Even if he could say mean things & frustrate me at times.) He always had a way to liven the room & make everyone laugh! I just wanted to post a few pictures I took of him the last time I visited. He gave my Mom away at her wedding & he called Nannie everyday to make sure she was okay. He will be greatly missed!

Gracie may not miss him as much as the rest of us! :)

WAHOO!

WAHOO! I did it. I went 2 laps on my bike around the neighborhood!!! I feel exhilarated, tired, & my butt still hurts, but hey, I did it!!!!!

Spoiled?

My Mom & Dad gave me some cute pictures of the kiddos. Not at all spoiled by their grandparents??? Mom said that Gracie won't let Grandpa hold her, but she will grin from ear to ear when he talks to her. She prefers Grandma to hold her though & Grandpa suggested that maybe Grandma spoils her. No way! I can't imagine Mom spoiling the grandbabies. I just had to share the pictures. By the way, Ronnie played his first softball game yesterday & he was amazingly good. We actually think we finally found a sport that he will thrive at! Once I download the pictures, I will share.

Thanks to Mom & Dad for the pictures on this blog...

A Much Needed Break

My friend Beth watched Gracie for me so I could have time to myself. Guess what I did??? Cleaned up my house. We have ants everywhere & I have discovered that Gracie drops her little cookies all over the house & the ants must really enjoy those! So, once I started deep cleaning, it led to pulling out the stove & refrigerator & cleaning behind there, cleaning out the fireplace, & deep cleaning whatever I could find. What a fun way to spend the time I had to myself.
Tonight is the baby sale! It's my favorite day of the year. Can't wait to get lots of stuff for the kiddos. The pictures below are from my friend Beth. She got some adorable shots of Gracie...

By the way, poor little Ronnie has been so sick this past week. His allergies are just terrible. He is now on 3 medicines & has been prancing around the house all day today. I think the meds are not only working, but giving him extra energy!!! I wanted to take a picture of him because his face was so swollen, but Ron took the camera away & Ronnie didn't want to have his picture taken. He finally saw his face in the mirror & panic set in. That's when he realized just how sick he was. Fortunately, the medicine worked fast! I just thought it would make for an interesting blog if I could post that. So, I have no new pictures of Ronnie because of the sad little swollen face...

How out of shape am I???

So I decided to start my farewell to fat life change. Ronnie has been begging me to get out the bike trailer & pull him & Gracie around the neighborhood. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, for someone who has avoided any physical activity for the past year or 2, I had pretty high expectations for myself. Ron pumped up the tires, we buckled in the kiddos, & I set out for a long, leisurely stroll around the neighborhood. Five minutes later, after almost pushing the bike back, I pulled into the driveway, feeling like I was dying. I actually don't know if I was even gone 5 minutes, but it felt like an eternity! I calculated that with Gracie & Ronnie's weight & the weight of the trailer, I was pulling 100 pounds. I guess that's my excuse.

Day 2 of my life change, I decided to raise the seat on the bike because I thought that would help. Ron wasn't home & I spent an hour trying to figure out how to use his tools to raise the seat. I got the bolt loosened half way & then decided to wait for Ron to help me. The seat felt tight & the bolt was rusted on. So, we set out for another trek around the neighborhood. I must add that my hind end was quite sore from the previous bike ride. This time, not only did I feel like I was dying, but the seat started swiveling while I was riding. Quite an experience!

So, today we shall see what happens. I want to keep this up so that eventually I will be able to be gone for 10 minutes instead of 5. Time will tell! And to add, you should see a 5 year old & a 9 month old squeezed into a tiny little bike trailer. They say it's built for 2, but that's a stretch!

On another note, Jason spent the night with Ronnie a week ago & they had such fun! I had to put in a picture of Jason who was all smiles!!!

Ronnie takes such good care of his sissy!

Screaming! Oh the joys of the shrill sound...

Gracie has picked up a new talent. She screams to the top of her lungs - happy or sad - it all sounds the same. I can tell you that I am not a fan of this noise, but she likes to explore new sounds. We went to the library & I put her in a stroller. She let me & the entire library know that she wanted out of that stroller. So, in order to keep her quiet, I put her on the floor. She very quickly pulled off all of the books on the bottom shelf before I could catch her. Never again will I take her to the library!!! She has also mastered climbing stairs, though we try to discourage this. I had to get pictures because I'm very impressed with this skill. She will be 10 months old next Saturday.

Ronnie has signed up for baseball. He tends to hate things before he tries them & often decides he doesn't like something without ever giving it a try. He told Daddy that he hated baseball & didn't want to play. We told him that he already committed to it & we paid for the season. He had to play this year & then we wouldn't make him play next year. He thought it wouldn't be fun because he likes to wrestle & football seemed more interesting. He had his first practice last Thursday & he LOVED it! We are figuring him out & learning that we need to have him try things before he decides he doesn't like it.

On the pictures, I took some of Gracie screaming. I wanted to capture the essence of this most annoying noise. However, I think it looks cute & she appears as though she is smiling. It didn't work. If only I had a digital camcorder to record the noise for all to enjoy... Also, note the scratch on her nose. Mommy's thumbnail met her nose. Let's just say that she was very unhappy with me!

By the way, my Dad wrote an article about Gracie. Click on the link if you are interested in reading it. It's quite comical!

http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/archivesearch/local_story_096163116.html

Here is a picture of Gracie SCREAMING!

Another one of Gracie screaming & Ronnie laughing at her!
They LOVE to wrestle...
Isn't that too sweet! He's ready to play ball.

Daddy, aren't you going to stop me?


Look at that scratch! Ouch Mommy!