Wordful Wednesday ~ Trying to Chill Out with the Super Soaker

I'm trying lately very hard to chill out

But of true success I have my doubts

I'm told the game of Super Soaker is lots of fun

You not only get wet but you also get to run


This little boy was soaked through and through
As he played with Lisa and his Uncle Andrew



I was afraid there would be someone tripping
From all this water that was dripping


But I've been trying hard to keep my cool
While everyone is busy having fun with the pool



So my peace I did keep
As my heart took a leap


Each time someone slipped
I just prayed and bit my lip



And in the end
There was not much to mend



For it all turned out good
Just as it should



But I was very glad to hear them call it a draw
So I could just relax and breathe easy once more!

(I took Diana's advice and I did turn my back
But truly my patience is beginning to lack

No matter how hard I try
I am just getting by

I don't think I'll ever be the type
to enjoy any of this hype

For I am not very cool
When it comes to breaking pool rules!)

I guess I must be an extremely strict one
because my sister Diane says I'm not very much fun

Lots of Fun in the Sun!

Yesterday the weather was beautiful, so Ray, Jayden, and myself went to the beach with Ray's brother Donald, his sister Susie, and her daughter Erika.
We had a great day! But I am paying for it now! Too much sun and not enough sunscreen. Ouch!
But we did have a really good day!

Jayden was 'all business' all day.

Jayden hard at work making something for Aunt Susie:




Susie's gift from the sea laid at her feet!




Then it was time to dig a big hole and build sand castles with Paw:


It's not deep enough yet, Paw!


Okay! Now it's good and deep!


Jayden fishing with Uncle Donald:



Caught a sea robin and threw him back (actually they caught a few and threw them back):


Uncle Donald caught a big stingray! Threw that back too!







Let's go in the water!



All that gathering, digging, fishing, and wading makes for a very hungry boy!


All fed and raring to go again!
Tossing the football:






Busy day! Fun day!

We were there for hours and hours but Jayden was still heartbroken when it was time to leave.

Is It Me Or What?

I had one of those 'Is it me, or what?' moments this weekend.

At first I couldn't believe my ears.

Jayden was in the pool with my oldest son and my husband when he said to them,
"Let's all play catch and make me be the ball!"

Then I couldn't believe my eyes!







"No! No! That's enough now! Stop it!"
Once again Umma had to be the Spoil Sport.

But I ask you, is it me or what?

Bella Sinclair Award

My friend Bernie has awarded me the Bella Sinclair Award. Bernie's blog On My Own is one of the blogs I make sure to visit everyday as she is a true inspiration to me. She has a beautiful attitude and her positive outlook is contagious!



The Bella Sinclair was created by Ces in honor of her dear friend Bella to celebrate art, inspiration, friendship, sisterhood, sharing and caring. Thank you, Bernie for bestowing this award on me, I too see it as a wonderful celebration of the friendships we have been Gifted with through blogging. I am so happy that you've come into my life as I am happy for these others who I now forward the Bella Sinclair Award on to:

Diana @ Welcome To My World

Sandy @ beachgirl 77

Jerelene @ Jerelene's Journal

Linda @ Been There Done That

I thank you for letting me have a little glimpse into your lives and allowing a friendship to grow. You created in me an almost instant kindred spirit as I read your words, your lives, and your hearts. Thank you.

Friday Favorites

A lot of my favorites today are things (old things, of course!) that I have outside on the back deck by our pool:
Three of my favorite things in this picture are from my sister-in-law Susie and her husband Doug. The old red cooler chest and the old railroad lantern belonged to Doug's uncle, when he passed away Doug gave them to us. Now the scary looking figure I think Doug found in the garbage a few years ago and took it home to Sue, and then they both very kindly gifted it to me! They surprised me by hanging it up on one of the plant hooks out back. I was thrilled when I spotted it! There is something about it that is so oddly appealing to me! It seriously touched my heart that they did that for me, I treasure it, and it is one of the nicest gifts I've ever received.
The tin watering can belonged to my grandmother, and Ray very kindly turned that and the cooler into planters for me.


The other favorites today are two pictures of our house. The one on the left is an old tax photo (I think it was taken in 1940), and the other is extra special to me, it is a pencil sketch of how our house looks now (but before we had the awning put up), it was drawn by my brother-in-law Steve.
The picture I took is not great, it really doesn't do Steve's sketch justice. Sorry Steve.



And one other favorite may seem like just a little thing, but it's a very big, very special thing to me, and it is typical of my husband. I have been saying that I want more pink in my kitchen and while grocery shopping he spotted these paper plates with pink flowers on them and bought them for me:


Ray is always doing little things like that, and those little things mean more to me than any piece of jewelry or any other expensive gift he may have bought me over the years. Those gifts are all nice too, but it's the 'heart gifts' that mean the most to me.

Weekend Forecast:
Very happily for us this is a long weekend, Ray is off today (Yipee!) and he took a vacation day on Monday too (Hip! Hip! Hurray for Ray!).
Depending on the weather I think today will just be a day of fun in the pool for Ray and Jayden, and I will be relaxing under the canopy with a good book!
Saturday we are going to a barbecue at Sue & Doug's with the family.
Sunday if it's nice I'd like to have the kids over for pool fun and dinner.
Monday no real plans, I was thinking we should paint, but if it's nice I don't want to waste the sunshine! So we'll see.
Have a great weekend everybody!
Happy Fourth of July! Happy Independence Day, America! God Bless America!

An Eerie Event

**A few years back I was a teacher’s aide in a Kindergarten class. The teacher Debbie and I would open up the classroom in late summer to set up for the year. Debbie had been hard at work all morning and I came later in the afternoon. Debbie had just about everything set up but there were a few things she had left to do, and also some of the desks she had in the classroom were bigger than others. There was a classroom not in use on the floor below that had a few of the smaller desks. I told her to go on home and I would take care of sorting things out and switching the desks. She told me to get one of the maintenance men to help me move the desks if I wanted, and she said if she saw one of them on her way out she’d ask them to do it.
After she left I was busy doing other things, I was organizing the toys and separating what Debbie wanted to put in the playroom from those she wanted to keep in the classroom. I was about to walk out of the classroom with some things when the radio in the classroom came on and started playing by itself. I turned it off and then as I was walking down the hall to the playroom I heard the radio in the classroom come back on, I went back and turned it off. I started back to the playroom and the same thing happened, this time I unplugged it. I said to myself if this thing starts playing again now, I’m out of here. But all was quiet. For a while.
I then started on swapping out the desks, I collected the bigger desks from our classroom and set them at the top of the staircase and took them down one by one, I’d swap a big one for a small one and then make the trip back up. I was getting tired of going up and down the stairs, so I decided to go back and finish straightening out the playroom and then I would go back to trekking desks up the stairs again. I was rearranging the closet when I heard a noise behind me, I turned to see what it was, nothing was there. I turned back to my task, again I heard a noise and turned, and a ball came bouncing across the room towards me. I figured it must have rolled off one of the tables, I placed it in a toy bin, and I went back to my organizing. Then I heard noise coming from the floor below. It sounded like furniture being moved around. I figured it must be one of the maintenance men, I thought maybe they were getting the desks for me, I called down to make sure they knew to bring up only the small desks, but there was no answer. I then looked out the playroom window and saw that all the maintenance men were out doing lawn work. It could not be a maintenance man downstairs in the classroom below. I was thinking (hoping!) maybe the noise was one of the other teachers in another classroom below, so I called down again, but I got no answer. I got more than a little nervous, and I started to feel very uncomfortable about being in a big building all alone. I decided I would just finish with the desks and then lock up our room and the playroom and go home. I went back to the classroom downstairs, made sure no one else was in there, retrieved another small desk and was on my way out when I noticed that written on the blackboard was the word REDRUM, with the M trailing off the board (if you haven’t seen the movie The Shining [or read the book by Stephen King] you will not understand my terror, if you have seen the movie and/or read the book you will readily agree that my fear was not at all irrational. For those of you who haven’t yet read the book or seen the movie, I don’t want to spoil the ending for you but maybe you’ve already figured it out). Well, I dropped that desk, I shot back upstairs, grabbed my things, I did not even bother to lock up doors, or draw the shades, or close the windows! I flew down four staircases and out the front door, with my heart pounding out of my chest! I refused to stay alone in that school for a long, long time after that. Now I can look back and laugh, and I have convinced myself that I let my imagination run away with me, but when it was happening to me I was completely panic-stricken!

I've had a few other experiences that left me just as frightened, some of them felt downright evil, but I'll leave those stories for another day.
Have any of you ever experienced anything like 'noises that go bump in the night'?

Did any of you ever have any eerie events?

Wordful Wednesday ~ Bubble Gun Bubble Fun

Bubble gun equals bubble fun
But apparently not for everyone

It's all fun and games for this little boy
But for Grandma not so much a joy

I laugh at the first few bubbles that pop in my face
But after awhile my smile is erased!

I yell for him to stop it now
As I am frantically wiping my brow

But his crestfallen face
Leaves me feeling disgraced

He doesn't mean to be a pest
This poor kid really tries his best

He really is a good little boy
And he's only trying to enjoy his new toy

I remind myself that he's still only four
And I'm trying hard not to be such a boor

Besides it's hard to keep a frown
With the antics of this little clown!

Jayden has lots of toys, and he especially has a lot of 'fight/war' toys and I don't like that very much! He has his many, many Star Wars light sabers that he 'fights' with. He has tons of guns that he's constantly shooting off at me! And he has lots of swords, and he's always playing pirate or knight (and slaying someone) or challenging someone to a duel.

I do not like these toys and I'm trying to find a way to rid my home of them!

But recently my friend Barbara gave Jayden a Bubble Gun in honor of his graduation from Nursery School. And at first I thought, well, this is harmless. Jayden loves it and while I do like it much better than light sabers, and machine guns, and swords, it still leaves something to be desired as far as I'm concerned!

Lots of 'Bubble Fun'!

Well, now, this is harmless fun...

...uh-oh, wait a minute now...

...here comes the offense!

Don't let this innocent face fool you...


...you're about to go down...


...in a hail of bubbles!




"Jayden! That's enough now!"


"Okay, Umma." (I could almost hear "Spoil Sport!" It was written all over his face.)