What has been going on....

This summer is flying by.  Way too fast if I say so!  I have been having so much fun with my precious grandaughters and with my own daughters.  We have just been playing, swimming and spending a ton of time together.  We are still very busy with Megan's wedding that is coming up way too fast too!!  Megan and Thad have been finishing up small things on their house that are tedious and time consuming.  But it will be done and ready to move in right before their wedding.  Thad said he might move in a few days before they get married to have some peace and quiet before Meg comes stormin' in!!  Ha-ha....very funny Thad.  If you know Thad you know that he is very loud and very noisy!!  But so is my Megan.  They will for sure have a very noisy but happy home.  I have had some awesome experiences too this summer.  I got to sit with my dear friend Kelley while her husband was undergoing surgery for cancer.  The doctors got it all and Billy is recovering well.  Just being with my friend and helping her pass the time was just precious.  Sometimes just being with someone is all you need to get through something.  She and I are definite people watchers and while you wait for hours at a hospital....you see some sights!  I also got the most awesome priviledge in the world to photograph the birth of a precious baby.  I have some sweet young friends at church who allowed me to stay with them through the whole labor and delivery of their sweet baby boy.  The daddy in this case is my dear friend Angie's son.  To welcome this baby into the world with one of my "sisters" was amazing.  Natalie, the mommy, was a super rockstar through the whole thing.  Birthing is not for babies....enough said.


This is the sweet and all smiles mommy, Natalie.  She is such a Godly, precious woman.

Our Pastors came by to pray with the family.  I love the two grandmothers with arms around each other.

Things were getting a little more intense

Childbirth is so heart-wrenching and beautiful to me.  The anguish is just unreal but just part of the joy of being a mommy.

I absolutely love this shot...pure joy on one face and such strength on the other!

All for this...sweet Caleb Noah...7 lbs 6 oz of pure love

The precious new family.  Look at the joy on Natalie's face now....pain???  All gone.

My dear "sister" Angie...now that is pure love in her arms!!!

This was for sure one the best days of my life.  To share this with people so dear to me was such a joy and honor.

What we women....endure

Today was a real fine day.  First day of summer.  My favorite season.  I shopped for bridal shower foods for Sunday and Megan's "big" shower!  She is very excited about this shower.  I came home and swam with my grand babies and a dear friend , Cathy, and her daughter Anna came over to float around the pool with us.  We went next door to my parents and they played with the great grand babies and swan some more.  Fun stuff.  But....you knew there was one didn't you????  This morning I went for my yearly mammogram.  I do not have any breast issues and there is no strong family history of breast cancer so this is just a routine thing for me.  But still it is something that we as women endure.  Other than those four words we all cringe at...."Can you scoot down"???? I think the words, "Can you place your left (or right) breast on the plate, dear?" are just as cringeful.  I know no other place in the world where I stand with my capris and shoes on topless and carry on a conversation with a 14 year old tech that says "Now, honey, hold your bray-eth" while I stand in a position that a contortionist would envy.  Oh, what we women endure.  I am just thankful that the techs at the breast clinic are all women.  It is horrifying enough to have your "lady" doctor to be a man but please Lord above not my mammogram tech person!!  I know, I know that there are perfectly good female doctors of that persuasion but I am not one for change and I will switch when my doctor keels over or I do!!  While on this fascinating subject., I caught myself doing the dumbest thing while there today.  I hid my bra under my shirt so no one would see it.  Why????  I am standing completely naked from the waist up and I am worried about my bra being seen!  I also hide my panties at the gynecologists office in the bathroom.  Lord-ah-mercy he should not ever know that I wear panties!!!  If you think about all the stuff we women endure for our health it really makes you cry or laugh hysterically.  which when you do start laughing hysterically someone will look at you weird and whisper to her friend, "I think she needs some medication from her doctor, don't you? I mean, look at hysterical the poor thing is!"  I mean if you think about all the stuff we have to describe to our doctors.  I think next time I go I will just hand them a sheet of paper with all my symptoms and questions written down while I place a big ole paper bag over my head.  I'll bring two paper bags to the visit.  In the other one I will place my bra and panties in it to hide them really good.

Fun Days

Yesterday I went to the NC Zoo in Asheboro, NC.  I went with Blake, Erica, Piper and Savannah.  It is a fabulous zoo and we had a great time.  Savannah was so good and she never fussed one time at spending the majority of 7 hours either in a car seat or a stroller.  She is such a sweet, sweet baby!  Piper had a wonderful time looking at all the "aminals".  I gave her Erica's binoculars from when she was a child.  Being a "hoarder" I never, ever throw anything good out and voila....Piper loved them and looked through them all day long.  Watching her see animals up close and personal was so fun.  She was so impressed with the zoo and talked about everything she saw all day.  The ladybug playground was a huge hit too and she asked about 2103 times to go back to the "Wadybug Pwaygwound"  She really did have a good time.  Looking at things I see all the time with the eyes of a 2 year old is very refreshing.  New discoveries, new things, same old things with young eyes is very important to grandparents.  Or at least it should be.  Watching her just makes my heart swell with love and appreciation of the world we have.  God is just so good to us.  He gave us beautiful creatures, plants, flowers and a bazillion other things we look at all the time but never really see.  Piper commented on things like turtle necks.  Really??  Who looks at the differences in turtle necks.  Two year olds do, that's who.  I watch birds and butterflies everyday but do I really appreciate their beauty?  No, I have gotten used to them.  Used to everything.  Lord, help me "see" the beauty of this world...again.

Piper hitching a ride on a bronze chimp!

The whole family...Piper would not stop looking through her "beenockulars"

Buckled up, sunscreened up, snacks ready, juice cups full...we are ready!

Piper looking at an alligator.  She was just so cute I could not stand it!

Riding a ladybug at the Ladybug Playground

Savannah standing by the giant spiderweb.  She was so good and so sweet!!

Piper riding the animal carousel.  She chose the alligator and said he was very nice.

No thanks, Mimi....I'll stick with cruising in the stroller.

I did get some pretty nice shots of many of the animals at the zoo.  During the heat of the day most of them are sleeping.  We saw most everything but the bison.  They were moved to another are for field maintenance.  Whatever that means!!


The Mountain Lion.  This guy was huge.  I can see why they could kill a man with a single bite or swipe of their paw.  But they are just so beautiful.  Piper said, "Awww, look at the sweet kitty."

These turtles were eating their lunch of Caesar Salad.  Complete with Parmesan cheese and dressing!!

Some of the gorgeous flowers in the bird aviary.  These are some kind of tropical flowers that were so pretty.

The big male gorilla.  He is just waiting for the zookeeper above his head to toss him some apples and cabbage.

This is a white rhino.  They are really big....and kind of scary looking to me.

Well,  here is old Mufasa.  Lions are so majestic looking even while taking a cat-nap!

guess what??????

school is out.......moment of silence please.....................


now THIS!!!

I really, honestly and truly could not resist.  Alice Cooper just rocks!

Winding Down

We are down to just four days of school left.  Four.  4.  FOUR...do you hear me????  I cannot wait for school to be out.  The kids are so tired and so over it and so.....restless?  Is that a nice word for outta control pains in the patootie??????  When school is out I can get to work for real on Megan's wedding reception centerpieces and the table runners I am making.  So far she hasn't been too impressed with a few of my creations but I haven't really spent a ton of time on making something really great either.  I just wish the things I pin on pinterest were as easy as they look.  Believe me they are so not.  I struggle with crafty things anyway so to say that I can feel my inner monster rumbling.  Just beware.  Remember with Erica's wedding I had never in my life cussed so much as I did making her pew markers!!!  Sorry, just keeping it real.  A couple of the boys in my school got into some trouble for starting a "Cuss Club".  I am seriously thinking about joining(ha-ha) when I start with these flower arrangements and lantern making I have planned.  With this year coming to a close it always makes me a little lonesome to see the kids go on to other schools and grow up a little more.  Reminds me that my own children are grown adults now and in the not so distant future I will have two married daughters and no one at home to bounce thoughts off of or to just bum around with.  Makes me sad but I am very excited for her too.  The empty nest is a very real thing and I am currently stirring mine one more time trying to keep my little fledgling from flying off too fast.  This season of mothering is winding down...like school years and seasons and so many other things.....they just wind down until they stop.  But they do start back on a different track and do the slow trek to another path.  This path will wind them through many different turns that I hope and pray to be a part of, to see and to, at times, experience with them.  Life does have its waxes and wanes.  Its different seasons.  Its ups and downs.  Its super-packed events to long stretches of loneliness and aloneness.  This is as it should be as our lives wind down.

Showers

Megan had her very first bridal shower yesterday.  Thad's Aunt Joyce gave it to her at their church.  She had a very good turnout from sweet church ladies and from Thad's dads side of the family.  When Megan went to register she at first was reluctant to register at anywhere but Bed, Bath and Beyond because let's face it....they have everything.  But I told her that if she wanted good gifts from dear sweet little old ladies she needs to register at Belk.  The southern staple.  Sure enough 90% of her gifts came from Belk.  I love that store and if that makes me an old lady well give me the Tuesday 15% percent discount!!  Women of my generation and the one above me really do know how and where to shop for quality, nice wedding gifts.  I love looking at registries and picking from them and ooohhhing and aaahhhing over their china pattern and their everyday dish patterns and their pots and pans and towels and all that super great stuff!!  Makes me wish I was getting married (ha-ha).  Joyce and her two daughters Annette and Anita were so very sweet to do this for Megan and Thad.  Megan is marrying into a really great family.




Hey Mimi...Is there cake??

 Annette, Megan, Joyce and Anita at the shower.  Such sweet ladies!

Megan and Thad.  He was very shy about coming into a bunch of women!

Sweet Piper was a big helper to Megan.  She was very good and bow picking up and unwrapping!  Megan's dear friend Suzanne helped her out too.

The future Mrs. Williams with their welcome mat for their new front porch.