Papa's Garden!

It's that time of year again. Papa has a pretty large garden this year. I also bought way more tomatoes and peppers than we had last year. Tanek and I were planting the tomato plants here.

Tanek wanted to help papa plant his pea's. This is one thing papa planted way more of this year. We had such good luck with them last year and everyone loved them so if the deer don't get them again like they did last fall we should have plenty.

This row papa dug up just for Tanek to plant. He wanted to help papa plant peas and this is his row.

You can see in the backgrownd the corn is coming up.

You can see to the right of papa's foot the pea's that are already coming up.

Covering up the pea's after they are planted.

A job well done.

1350+ miles in one short weekend!

This past week-end we drove up to Waynesville, NC to visit my brother who is very ill. We drove over 1350 miles in 3 days. We went up to Waynesville to spend the day and evening with him and then to Ashville to spend the night. The next morning we went over to Raleigh to spend time with our good friends Jean and Patrick. On Sunday we drove back home. It was good to see everyone, but a very long drive in a very short time. North and South Carolina were just having spring bursting out. I took the picture of this beautiful tree from our hotel room in Ashville. There were so many of these trees blooming and they are beautiful. It was very cold up there. I don't know if they consider this spring weather but when it gets below freezing it is Winter to me. They had these white trees (some are pear, I don't know if they all are) all along the drive from Waynesville to Raleigh. Going over the smokey mountain pass was very pretty too. It will be really pretty in a couple more weeks.

This tree is in Raleigh. I took a close up of the flower. This is a pear tree.

Here is my friend Jean. We went walking in her neighborhood so I could get some pictures of these trees. They live is a beautiful neighborhood and had lots of flowers blooming. Jean and I met 20+ years ago when I made leotards for her gymnastics club. We became lifelong friends and have had many neat experiences along the way. Whenever we get together we take right up where we left off even if it has been a couple years. Gary and Patrick hit it off real good ( when they met several years ago) and we had a great visit even if it was only for one afternoon and night.

This picture was taken from the car window at about 75 miles per hour. It was in South Carolina somewhere and I thought the trees were so colorful. They are budding out for spring and almost look like they are fall trees with all the color.

These yellow flowers were all over the trees and plants growing in a vine and they were so pretty. They were hard to get pictures of and I almost waited too long to get any.

It was a very long trip and I am very happy to be home.

Finally Spring!

Spring has finally sprung around here. I LOVE it. The azeala's are just beautiful. However, the allergies are really bad. Tanek has had his eyes so swollen and itchy and sore from all the pollen and whatever else is blooming around here. Just had to take this picture of him in front of the flowers and as soon as he got near them he started sneezing so it was back to the house.

These lillies are blooming all over the yard and I love them. They have really multiplied this year and are coming up in quantities I didn't used to have.

Tanek's Prayer

Tanek always prays before he eats. Here is his prayer he says.

This one's for Pam & Brooke

Finally the shoes fit (well almost). Thank you very much. They are very cute.

A little big, but Nana couldn't wait any longer.

Happy Birthday to Sweet Hannah!

Happy Birthday Hannah. I can't believe a year has already past since we took these pictures. We celebrated your birthday here in Florida at Nana's with all your grand-parents on March 17.
I wish we could do it again. I hope you have a wonderful birthday. We love you. You have made the past 9 years very special for us.

Hannah blowing out her candles on her 8th birthday. Today she is 9.

Double "D" Day

Today was double "D" day for Tanek. First to the doctor for his 3 year old check up and then to the dentist for a cleaning. "Are you kidding me?" Cleaning the teeth of a 3 year old? Oh well.
First was getting through the hurdle of the dreaded doctor visit. Mommy had a little bargaining going on. If he was good, he could get a new toy bulldozer. He loves that kind of toy. He was quite excited about a new bulldozer. Well when the nurse came in to weigh him and measure him and he had to take off his clothes he wasn't too happy about that and he let her know about it. I think he intimidated her more than she did him. But when the doctor came in she was so good with him and she soon won him over. She sat down and just talked to him and she was so good with him. She is a very good Pediatrician She thought he was doing great and even told us he was quite smart. (actually we already knew this but we were glad she also could see it). What parent or grand-parent doesn't think their child is brilliant??? I certainly knew from a very early age that my children and then grand-children are very brilliant. Nice to have it confirmed by the doctor.

Waiting for the doctor to come in.

I can do this. It will be a breeze. And a new bulldozer too. Not a bad deal.

Oh, when will it be over?? I am ready to go shopping.

After we got through the doctor visit it was time to go find the new bulldozer. Can you believe that neither the regular Wal-mart or Super Wal-mart in Gainesville nor toys-r-us had it. We had to go to Wal-mart in Starke to find it. He was very patient though and didn't get upset. So then it was time to go to the dentist. Luckily being good in the dentist office wasn't part of the bulldozer deal. But I didn't blame him. I am sure that crying and carrying on in the dentist office is a very normal thing to do. I am sure that if I hadn't done so outwardly, I certainly have cried and carried on quietly when I am in the dentist office. So, I didn't even go in because I knew I wouldn't be much help in there. Some things are best for just mommy to take care of. I didn't think pictures were necessary. Anyway he made it through both "D" visit's and got his new bulldozer so he is once again happy. So for awhile there will be no more haircuts, no doctor visits, and no dentist visits. Life is good again.

Happy 17th Anniversary!

This is a very special family. This couple celebrated 17 years of marriage today. They have accomplished quite a bit in 17 years. The greatest being these 3 precious girls (by the way,my grand-daughters). Just wanted to say Happy Anniversary. Hope you had a wonderful Anniversary.

Barber shop at Nana's!

Today we played "barber shop". Tanek wasn't exactly a willing player but he endured the best he could. It beat the alternative of going to get his hair cut somewhere else. First off, this black cover didn't stay on for anytime. We had hair all over him and me and everywhere. I am definitely NOT a beautician. I don't really know how to cut hair at all, but I worked at it until at least you couldn't put a ponytail on top of his head. Everyday one of his favorite things to say to me is "Nana, you are not sad, you are happy". I always tell him yes, I am happy. While I was cutting his hair he sat there and said "I'm not happy". Usually he always says he is happy. Well after we got his hair cut and gave him a shower and got all the hair off of him and me and he was all clean and hair free he was happy again. I am sure the haircut will need some adjusting by mommy and daddy, but it is a work in progress.

Above the look of dread. Below, I'll humor you for a short time. Let's get it over with.

All done and fresh from the shower. "Tanek is happy again".

Not too bad of a haircut even if I say so myself.

He still loves his nana. Just not a fan of haircuts.

His reward for going through all this was a mini Hershey bar. That made him quite happy.

A mind of his own!

This is one sweet little guy. He is happy about 95% of the time. He wakes up happy he goes to sleep happy. All through the day he is easy going and pretty much goes with the flow.....until you take him to get a haircut. Today was the day we were going to go get a haircut. I had trimmed his hair about a month ago and he was so good and I talked to him about how when he went to his next haircut it wouldn't be a big deal. He agreed. Until today when it was actually time to go get one. He kept saying "I don't want a haircut". He wasn't kidding. When we went in to get his hair cut he started "rebeling" (to put it nicely). The girl said "if he cries and carries on we can't cut his hair". I told her he would cry and carry on, but that they still cut it. WELL....it seems since the last time he got a haircut they have passed a new Child protection law that if the child rebels against it loud enough they can't do it. Give me a break. Did someone see him the last time he got a haircut??? Did someone see us holding him upside down to get his hair cut? Well, I don't know when or why but there is now evidently a law that says you cannot cut a childs hair if he is carrying on since they are using a sharp object and could possibly hurt the child. So now a child has the right to wear his hair long because he doesn't want a haircut. He kept saying he wanted Nana to cut his hair. SO....we shall see what kind of a haircut Nana can give him. The other thing he really doesn't like to do is go to the doctor. That comes on Monday. I wonder if they have any new laws that if a child rebels loud enough a doctor can't check him out. We will find that out on Monday.
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Where did Spring go?

I am wondering will we ever get to Spring. Saturday was a beautiful 80 degree day although it was quite windy. It rained Sunday morning and now we are in the 50's and headed for a night in the 20's. I am SOOOO ready for Spring to come and stay. Even "hot" sounds good right now. Everything is just sprouting out and now it will probably be brown by morning. At least we don't have snow, but it is still cold and I for one am ready for this winter to be past. This is one of the longest and coldest winter's we have had here. It started in November and here we are in March and it is still going on. Enough is enough. Let's have SPRING please! I have these flowers getting ready to open up all over the yard. I sure hope they won't freeze tonight.