Thursday, December 20, 2012

Quandary


Ever since I first saw her, I have known that this is the most beautiful child in the world (and the Queen of My Heart).  I have felt no shame in proclaiming this, even though I knew that I might incur the wrath of mothers and grandmothers everywhere, who are convinced that their little darlings are the most beautiful.  (It’s funny how every mother/grandmother just knows this…lucky for me, it actually is true!)
But now, there is a fly in the ointment…or should I say "a bun in the oven"?  For you see, come next summer, The Most Beautiful Child in the World will become a big sister.  I’m guessing that I could continue to call her “Most Beautiful” for a little while after that – before this new little honey is old enough to catch on.  However, I can’t help but wonder if that wouldn’t make the transition harder for you-know-who.
I’m secretly hoping for a boy; that way I could be the grandmother of the most beautiful girl in the world and the most handsome boy in the world!  (I also feel for Jeromy, who I am sure would love to have a little more testosterone in the house.)
If Paisley has a little sister, I suppose Paisley could be “The Most Beautiful Big Sister” and our new love can become “The Most Beautiful Little Sister”… Oh, what is an Old Lolee to do?  No matter what happens, I am convinced that each one…somehow…some way…will be  “The Most Beautiful Child in the World”!



Sunday, November 25, 2012

Happy Birthday, Mandy!

I can’t believe that my baby girl has turned 30!  It seems impossible; however, Mandy’s knack has always been making the impossible…well, possible.   She even managed to be born on Thanksgiving Day – a special blessing, indeed!
Here I am, ready to leave for the hospital:

She was a big bundle of joy – 9 pounds, 11 ounces and only 19-1/2 inches long!  (I still don't know why they had her dressed in blue.)

She didn’t sleep a whole lot when she was little (so much to do and see, you know), but she was just the most beautiful thing I had ever seen:

It was just the two of us for a while (with Dee Dee right beside us, of course)…

…She was just a few weeks away from turning three when Robert became “Daddy”.

She became a big sister to Alan…

…And continued growing, and doing well in school and just everything that she tried.

There were holidays and parties of all kinds through the years -- she loved dressing up at Halloween!

She did some dancing and singing in the Texas Children’s Choir and Broadway Troop…they even performed at Sea World and at a big military Christmas shindig at Fort Hood:


She grew into a lovely young woman…

…Who graduated high school with honors…

…And graduated from college with honors, too!


And now my baby has a family of her own!

I am so very proud of my daughter and of the woman she has become.  I feel honored to have had the privilege of being with her through the years.  Happy birthday, Mandy!  We all love you!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Even Santa Knows...

...That she is the world's most beautiful child!




This Old Lolee is looking forward to sharing the wonders of the holiday with her special girl!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Trick or TREAT!

For the past several years we have spent Halloween at home, passing out candy to all of the little crumb crunchers.  Sorry to say, this year the little crumb crunchers found that our light was out and there was no one home.  We were with the Lackey family, spending time with the World’s Most Beautiful Trick-or-Treater and her parents.
So what was the World’s Most Beautiful Child dressed up as?  “Super Paisley!”  Most Beautiful’s mother created the character and has some talented lady she found on Etsy execute her design.  Here is that pint-sized super hero:
 As part of her costume, Paisley got her first pair of chucks, which delighted her mother to no end.  This has been Mandy’s footwear of choice for a long, long time.  In fact, when Mandy became engaged to her cowboy, they set up a little website that, if memory serves, was titled something like “Chucks and Boots”.

Jeromy got into the spirit of things by dressing in a costume that also made a statement.  Mandy wasn’t planning on dressing up, but since Most Beautiful did not want to keep her cape (nor her armbands) on, Mandy hoped that if she had a cape too, it might help (it did):

We all attended an event at the church which Most Beautiful’s family attends – it was called “Trunk or Treat”.  A certain area of the parking lot was sectioned off and the trunks of people’s cars became the “homes” to which crumb crunchers went to beg for candy:


There were kids running and squealing everywhere, and it seemed like they were having a good time.  Mandy and I took our girl from car to car and she scored some treats, too, although she couldn’t dive in and eat anything until her parents sorted through it to remove any peanut-laced items.  We did not want to have an Epi-pen event!
This leads me to my one sore point:  Grump-Pa:


Has Grump-Pa (or “Pa Pa”, as Paisley says) ever changed a diaper?  NO!  Has Grump-Pa ever spent the whole day reading stories, singing songs, playing with toys, and making lunch and snack?  NO!  Does Grump-Pa even know how to run the nebulizer and administer breathing treatments, etc.?  NO!   Despite all of that, Grump-Pa is the only thing that Most Beautiful can even see when we are all together.  She was all over Grump-Pa at the party…getting water from the water fountain, riding on his shoulders, and chasing and popping bubbles at the car that had a bubble blower going.  And when she couldn’t have her candy right away, Grump-Pa  took her over to the table with hot chocolate and looted the mini-marshmallows.  Oh the smiles and giggles and adoring looks as Paisley and old-what’s-his-name ate a whole cup of marshmallows together!  It’s enough to make an Old Lolee gag, I tell you!
So that was our Halloween…a little treat named “Super Paisley”!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

You Know that Fall Has Arrived...

...When the World's Most Beautiful Child Visits the Pumpkin Farm...









Friday, October 12, 2012

Happy Birthday, You Old Coot!

Robert, now officially an old coot, turned 50 the day after I returned from Yellowstone.  (I can call him an old coot and get by with it because I’m about a year-and-a-half older than he is...sue me!)  Since it was a milestone birthday, I wanted it to be something a little different, but because I was fresh off the road and had been gone for a week, it took me a day or two to get it together (and I certainly had help).
Mandy, Jeromy, and Paisley decided to surprise Robert at work and invite him to lunch.  This afforded that old Grump-Pa the opportunity to show them his little plot at the community garden (he just loves that thing!).  There has been a lot of progress in making the garden look a little more dressed up and spiffy:





Robert was in for a surprise when he got home…I had invited his mother for this event, especially since Lynda did the hard part in the first place all those years ago.  She had been able to keep the secret all week and that was his first surprise for the evening:

Mandy was kind enough to take care of the cake for me:

While they were all here, I doled out the gifts that Uncle Vinnie had sent from Yellowstone, including a really cute book for Paisley:

Paisley is always intrigued with Nestlé:

We all went out for dinner at our favorite little home-cooking style restaurant, and afterwards, back at home, there were cards (with a little something extra in them)…

…And gifts (Mandy and Jeromy knew that Robert would love this):

But as neat as all of that was, Robert’s mother’s gift was the hit of the evening.  Lynda is an incredible seamstress.  No pattern?  No problem!  She concocted this really nifty conceal/carry vest (enough said about that), and the old geezer was tickled pink!

Robert told me that this was one of the best birthdays he had had in a long time.  As a girl who wasn’t that excited to see 50 herself, I’m glad that he sees it that way…

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Pinedale, Wyoming

“All the Civilization You Need” – that’s the town motto on a brochure I picked up in a town called Pinedale, just two hours south of Yellowstone.  My sister and I were already looking forward to seeing this little town because Lara’s husband had been through there a few years ago and had stopped at a quilting fabric store, picking up some fabric for her as a souvenir.  He seemed to really like the town and once we arrived there, we could see why.
Pinedale is a very small place, especially when compared to the two large metroplexes in which my sister and I each live.  The population of Pinedale is about 1,400 and one of the residents told me they only have one grocery store (the down side to that is that the store can charge whatever they want and get it).  I’m sure this place would not be for everyone, but Lara and I both found it to be quite charming.
As always, I wish I had more pictures, but here are some pictures taken when we first blew into town, looking down the main street:



There is a really neat visitor’s center, with this big guy standing out front:


There is all kind of information available regarding attractions in the area and upcoming events:




And this little honey stands guard inside:

Even more exciting for both of us was the visit to that very same fabric store that Lara’s husband had told us about:

Lara bought some really neat panels that certainly reminded us of the area:


And this little Halloween panel was so cute, I just had to get one, too!

The lady who worked in the shop told us that although they don’t have all of their fabric available on their website, they do have quite a bit available online.  If you are interested, there is a link for the Heritage Quilts Fabric Shoppe (click here).
Even though it was not our original destination, we ended up spending quite some time in Pinedale, and we really enjoyed the time we were there.