What a Difference a Year Makes!

What a difference a year makes!  Happy  Birthday to one of the cutest, luckiest, smartest little grandsons a girl could wish for!  We are truly blessed to have three of those - but today is all about this little guy!  Happy Birthday to you, Mr. B !  Love, Grammie and Papa.

Valentine Decor

Can you believe it?  It's almost February and with that comes Valentine's Day!  So I've done a little re-decorating here on the ol' blog.  If you're viewing this in a reader you might click over to my actual blog site so you can see the results and let me know what you think of my new header.  I signed up for the premium version of picnik and was able to do some fancy artsy things with photos I took of my grocery store tulips.  It brings a little bit of spring even though spring seems like a long ways off most days. 

In keeping with the Valentine theme, here's a peek at one of several projects I've been working on these past few weeks.  Sharon over at Daisy Cottage Quilting posted a tutorial for a Valentine table runner.  I didn't take the time to do the entire project (yet!) but did use a portion to make a little "mug rug".  But if you want a cute project for coming holiday, be sure to go check out her website for the instructions.  The mug rug is the perfect size for a cup of coffee and a cookie.  Notice, no cookie here.  New Year's resolutions are still in effect here at our house!!

So other than some secret sewing projects and a couple of quick out of town trips, nothing much going on here.  We finally made it to St. Louis for Christmas with the family there.  We enjoyed an afternoon with the grandsons while Mom and Dad had to work but came home the next day.  Another quick drive up to Indy last weekend for D to attend the Woodworking Show at the fairgrounds.  While he browsed through aisles of router bits and designer tools, I ventured out to find a new (to me) quilt shop, Quilts Plus.  (Loved it!)

Warning.  The remainder of this post is purely just a little Grammie bragging.  But it's my blog and so I guess I can!

Mr. J is getting so grown up!  He doesn't hesitate to carry on a conversation - and loves to watch the Packers.  Here he's showing us how he can "smile from ear to ear" !  "Little" Mr. B is such a happy guy and will be walking soon, and just might have the weight advantage over his big brother. 

Local boy Mr. D loves to come to Grammie and Papa's house where his favorite thing to do is sneak down the stairs to Papa's home office and check up on him.  I'm not sure that Papa minds too much though.

Okay, thank you for allowing me to exercise that prerogative!

Thanks for stopping by - and Happy Valentine's Day - just in case I'm just as slow with my next post as I was with this one!

Progress in the Kitchen

Another weekend of kitchen demolition and re-construction! This time, D had the help of our son who provided some much needed muscle and also his math skills to double check those measurements! For the better part of the day on Saturday, I was without a sink, dishwasher and counter. But by the end of the day, it was pretty much all back in place, even if we do have to use the old sink and Formica top for a few more weeks. Sloooooowly, it's taking shape! Hopefully by next week, we'll be ready for the measurements for the quartz tops to be taken so we can get them ordered. I still need to find a kitchen faucet, tile and lighting. While all this was taking place at my house, I was over at our daughter's house helping her with a garage sale. Now I'm not a fan of garage sales. I know some people can't pass them up and know how to find some treasures, but it's just not my cup of tea. I have held a few over the years and every time I do, I wonder why I bothered since it is almost more profitable just to take the stuff to Goodwill or somewhere and write it off as a donation. But it is kind of fun, especially when it is a neighborhood event like this one was. I was able to help her out, got rid of a few things ourselves, and spend some time with B and J and little J (who were here with our son, J. Confusing isn't it!) The weather was finally turned beautiful here. This weekend was gorgeous. After boxing up the last of the leftover rummage, I enjoyed the rest of the day and played with my grandson. He loves to sit in the grass and be outside. Of course he was wearing his new Harley shirt, so I had to get a photo with the little cutie! We've been lucky to see him pretty often for the last couple of months but I swear, he changes so much each time!

Happy Easter!

Did you have a nice Easter? The Easter Bunny has paid a visit to someone special!A family tradition: the Russell Stover chocolate marshmallow bunny. Don't underestimate the satisfaction of chewing on the package if you are too young for chocolate!

Beamer loves the warmer weather now. He's discovered a better view of the birds from the table. D's been extremely busy with his real job, so the kitchen project has slowed. But we did get the hardware last week so he's been working on the drawer fronts. Sometimes you just have to really get into your work to get the job done.


Last Thursday I hopped over to Among Friends Quilt Shop for a Handi-Quilter open house. That's on my wishful thinking list. The nice folks from Handi-Quilter were there for demos so I visited with them a little. Right now, there is no way I would have room to set one of these up the way I'd like plus I would certainly have to commit my time to a major learning curve. Maybe someday when the kitchen is done and we re-arrange the office/sewing room...... It would be so nice to be able to finish a quilt myself from start to finish like so many of you quilty gals do. But I did manage to win a door prize at the open house (a nice set of scissors, etc.) and of course I couldn't leave empty handed so there were a few purchases too!

Come back later this week for more of my adventures in St. Louis as little J and I get re-acquainted. I'm sure there will be some fun to report - at least for Grammie!

Have a great week!

Remodeling and Modeling

In honor of the beginning of the month of March and St. Patrick's Day, there's been a little blog remodel going on here.

The header photo came from searches deep within the computer files - on an old computer. Now all the digital photos we took on our once in a lifetime trip to Ireland a few years ago have found a new home here on my laptop where I can play Photoshop with them whenever I get the urge. Mostly it just gave me the urge to go back to Ireland. This photo was taken from the Rock of Cashel as we looked out over the surrounding countryside. We would love to go back again someday! There are so many places we'd like to go but for now we'd be content with some warm weather so we could get the Harley out again.

Look what came in the mail today! The kids had little J's photo taken at Sears at six months. I just had to scan this one and share it with you all. Someone needs an agent! (Note Grammie's quilt!)Before we know it, it will be necessary to give equal time - hop over here to check out grandSON #2! The new-parents-to-be who did not want to know the gender of their little one, succumbed to the curiosity and opened the envelope from the last ultrasound! I'm sure he'll be just as adorable as big cousin J !

Sharing Some Cuteness

I can't resist. I have to share this with you all. Isn't he the most adorable grandbaby? I'm not prejudiced either. Well, maybe a little :) Just think, next year I'll have even more adorables to share! Joey's other grandpa (Coach) took this photo during their Thanksgiving visit. Thank you J and Coach for sharing this cuteness! We're excited to see the whole family at Christmas. And it will be here before you know it. I'm staying busy with lots of shopping, eating, baking, eating, sewing, eating, party going, more eating so my blogging and blog reading time is limited. We may well look like one of these Santas next Spring when it's bike riding time again! And no, this is not our house. This is a house up the street from B & N. I'd like to drive by at night to see them all lit up!

I hosted OLBC (our little book club) this past week with a simple soup and appetizer supper. There are only five of us in our club, but we enjoy getting together and sharing our friendship. We don't always read a book, but we try to at least talk about reading! Can you tell that I prefer to stay simple with the table decorations? At least I had an excuse to get the Christmas dinnerware out. The kids gave me these dishes a few years ago when Macy's was still Lazarus here. I love using them!

Someone finally joined the ranks of the 50 year olds! We had to celebrate a little with cake and little gifts. Happy Birthday Mrs. D!

Our official group photo. It probably would have turned out better if I'd had D come from his hiding place in the basement to take this picture instead of trying to balance the camera on the back of the recliner. Note to self - when you are the hostess, you have the right to remove your shoes but just remember to put them back on before group photos or your shortness will be documented for all to see!

Back to work on some holiday baking and sewing projects so this is all for this morning. Hope you all are enjoying your holiday activities too!

Cuddling or Blogging? Guess Which Won.

Guess where I've been! A few days of grandbaby cuddling took precedence over blogging this week. He is such a sweet little guy, it was hard to leave him behind. His mommy says he likes to be held a lot, so I was happy to comply. Sorry I haven't posted in ......wow, over a week ! But a few days with J, J & J then a couple of days of motorcycle riding with my hubby, followed by another evening and morning of cuddling little J, then another two days on the Harley with hubby and now home again. Over 200 photos and where do I begin! So tonight I'm sorting through all of them and will get them online tomorrow for those of you who want to see more and then I'll get another blog post together about the rest of our trip.
So tonight I'll leave you with this quilty photo, but somehow a baby got in this shot! And just in case you all want to see why he was so easy to cuddle - take a look at this. And I've got many more! Miss you already, little J!

More Joey!

Now that the big event is over and little Joey has made his grand entrance, how about a re-cap of some of the weekend events? When we arrived Wednesday evening, J & J unwrapped little J's quilt. I am so pleased with how this turned out. I hope they like it too. The lady who quilted it for me lives in Louisville and did a beautiful job. Thanks Sandi! Isn't it amazing how much difference it makes in a quilt when it is all quilted and bound!


Thursday was to have been the day of the birth. But instead it was a day of preparation and waiting. Poor Daddy was hungry so we brought him (and little J) a cookie that said "let's go Joey!"
Years ago, the Dads were the ones filling the waiting rooms. Now it is the rest of the family. Here B was able to get a few minutes to stretch out to pass the time. We brought books and stitching projects, but neither one of us was able to concentrate. We were actually one of the smallest family groups waiting for word on the arrival of new babies. Some seemed to bring all the in-laws and the littlest cousins. The date of 08-08-08 is supposed to be lucky so it was a popular date for those moms who had an option to pick their baby's birth date!

The big moment finally arrived and little J (or maybe I should say "not so little" J) made his appearance. Mama J was super tired after a long, exhausting morning but the joy of motherhood is obvious! She's going to make a terrific mommy! What a lucky baby you are little Joey!
It's been several years since this proud Grandpa held one this small!
Joey's other Grandma was lucky to be there for the birth of her second grandson! Our little one has two Grandma Janet's! What is he going to come up with to call each of us?!All it took was one cuddle and Auntie B now has the baby fever ! Auntie E was on vacation in Colorado and can't wait to get her hands on the little guy too.

Well, here's my little boy with his little boy. It doesn't seem like it was twenty-seven years ago, but he turned out pretty good! I have a feeling he'll make a good Daddy too.
Isn't he adorable? Of course I'm not prejudice at all. He's definitely got our family resemblence, but I can see a little of his mommy there too. J had the same hair, but a little darker. His chin, lips and nose remind me of his Daddy and his Grandpa. It will be so much fun to watch him grow. I wish we were a little closer, but I'm sure we'll get to see him often. Grandmahood will be good!

P.S. For those of you looking for the give-a-way drawing winner, I will draw the name tomorrow and post it then!