Yes

Tom was a bit fussy and I tried to cuddle and rock with him. He did enjoy it.

Having fun at the beach

Old Family Photo

The first little boy in the picture is Robert who died of brain fever not long after this photo was taken, He past July 21, 1901.
Next is The woman in the picture is my great grand grandmother Emma Cousino.
The other side of Emma is her daughter Lucy, then Mercedes is next in the picture. Of all in this picture she is the only one I really knew and loved.
The last little boy is my grandfather Austin who past away when my father was 14.

Yesterday

We had our own version of rock climbing


Georgia loves her Grandma's flowers. Austin just wanted to pick them all.


Playing in the dirt was another favorite thing to do.


Planting plastic eggs was an important job to do. Hoping to remember this for I am sure I will not find all the eggs that the kids buried. For years from now I'll be out pulling weeds and will find one in the dirt.

special guests

We have special guests for a few days this week.


Today we stopped in at Aunt Jane's work for a quick visit.... well I had hot potatoes to drop off at a funeral and couldn't do it without Jane's help. Thanks Jane!


We were to just stick our feet into the water and after a nap we then can go swimming. It's funny how fast they can go from just sitting by the pool and dabbling their toes in, to getting total soaked. It took seconds.


Playing in the water was so much fun, who needs a bathing suit?


Nothing better than a nice nap at Grandma's.

Grandma and Ava

Ava is just shy of 6 pounds.

Peanut the Frog

Peanut the frog will eat out worms and bugs out of my hand. Thought I would set out a dinner plate and just set the little critters on it instead of my hand for him to eat. Now Peanut just sets on the plate when he wants something to eat.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad!!

If only I could hug you one more time and tell you how much I love you, miss you, and how much you mean to me. Thank you for the wonderful positive impact you have had on my life. The distance we have now only seams to matter to my mind for I can feel your presence in my heart.

Forgot to latchy the Kaboosey

Wasting time

Today starts the summer school bus run for Tom. I was told the bus would be here at 7:45 and it showed up at 8:15. I was told he'd return home by 4 and he showed up at 4:30. It's hard to see or hear the school bus from the other end of the house. So while I waited I played with pictures.

Help!!

Soon it will be my grandson second birthday. I'm hoping to find the most perfect birthday gift for him. A toy or something that is very unique like him. If I could just find that perfect gift that he'll just love, love so much that he'd need to try to take it to bed with him at night. got any ideas????

So Sad

Tom lost another classmate today.

Crystal went to heaven to be with her dad in heaven.

She was such a sweetheart.

Nevaeh = Heaven

As you probably know that found Nevaeh's body about 7 miles up stream from where she was last seen. A man fishing had his feet on the concrete and it started cracking up. He also believed there were dead fish up stream because of the smell. the more he fished the more the concrete broke up from him stepping on it. Then he noticed a patch of 8 by 8 inch human skin and that's when he called 911. I do believe they know who did this. It's only gathering all the evidences together.

How to Torture Austin

Mark

Yesterday Mark made up some T-shirts and went to see Nine Inch Nails.

How to feed a Frog

First you need a skid steer with meal worms in the bucket.
Then you lower it down to the frog and let him feed right out of it.














Sometimes its fun to make skid steer noises as you push the worms in the bucket over to the frog.













Glad frogs can eat a lot of worms for this is something that was done over and over again.

the zoo

Happy to bring out of town guess to the zoo.














Best form of transportation.















JJ and A have fish stories to tell













Highlight of our trip to the zoo,
looking over the fence and seeing
a skid steer.












Our shadows down in the penguin's water.
A wonderful day at the zoo

Amber Alert??

I know we shouldn't give up hope but.......

Sunday night in Monroe, about 20 miles north of here, Nevaeh a 5 year old, 3 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs 45 pounds came up missing after playing outside unsupervised.

A male friend of the girl's mother, whom Nevaeh called Daddy George, been convicted of forcibly having sex with a teenager in the past.

The mother of the missing 5-year-old girl, who does NOT have custody and was recently released from jail. She said she failed one question during a polygraph exam but it was due to stress and lack of sleep.

Two of her playmates said they saw a man take her in the woods and stab her, investigators said.

The search Tuesday of "Daddy Georgia’s" motel room listed an inventory of items found: blood stains on the wall above the sink and the bathroom; shorts and a towel with blood stains; hairs on the toilet and bathroom floor. Investigators also removed sheets, pillow cases and a mattress pad and comforter from the bed.

Random

There was this house that added a pool close to the house. Soon after the pool was built they connected it to the house. Driving past this house in the winter you could often see kids swimming through the windows. I don't believe the pool or the building over it is more than 20 years old......maybe a do it yourself kind of thing?


Today or tomorrow the little family up on the bathroom window will be flying away. I'd like to thank their mother for allowing us to open the window often to look and take pictures.

3 Babies

Some time ago I wrote about 3 relatives that were pregnant and all due with babies in June. Ava arrived super early and is doing better than expected. Today Shiloh Nevaeh Buehler was born 5lbs, 15oz and 18 inches long. Shiloh's mom was getting close to the end of her first pregnancy when the baby died. Today we are celebrating!! The only one of the three left to make it to full term is Jenelle, who at the age of 35 is a bit nervous too.

All of the prayers have a definite impact!

Just an Ava update. She is doing very well. She is now up to 3 lbs. 1 oz. and is now drinking 2 of her feeds from a bottle each day!
Thanks for the prayers and good wishes, let's pray that it continues to go smooth.

Laura and the Prom

Here is a picture from our local high school’s prom that took place this weekend.




Thought I better add Laura's other cousin, Lisa and one of her prom pictures too. Lisa dyed some of her hair to match her dress.






Hillary and Rachel

Rachel, or as Laura called her, Little Beth. Not only are Laura and Rachel first cousins but once lived next door to each other. Rachel was as close to Laura’s little sister as one could get.
Hillary for years Laura babysat her and her siblings. Hillary was the junior bridesmaid in Laura’s wedding.
They both love Laura and both have the same taste in prom dresses.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Once upon a time there was this mom named Kathy and on Mother's Day her husband and son made her a wonderful and tasty breakfast. For lunch and dinner time they plan to prepared her even more scrumptious meals. She doesn't have to set or clear the table and is not allowed to wash a dish. She never has to lift a finger except to eat. During this very special day she will enjoy the whole day doing her favorite thing. Being outdoors. She plays outside in the many gardens. Planting flowers, pulling weeds and enjoying the sunshine. Do you really want to know what makes this day so extra special to me??? Most mothers get treated like this once a year. This is my every Sunday!!

Yes!!

Only 1.7 miles from our house and less than 4 minutes away if you hit both lights red, they are starting to build a Taco Bell. Mark said "it's a dream come true."

The Baby Bear

My niece Gabrielle is in the second grade and last evening she preformed as a baby bear in her school play. She believes she was the star of the show. The whole play had to do with not being able to find her, baby bear. So for most of the play you did not see Gabrielle until the last minutes of the play she pops up said one line and the play ended. Sat through a play for her minute and a half of stardom. Then we all went out for ice cream.


Can you see the baby bear on stage?
Oh, I forgot! There was a power outage during the play.



















Bella and G with my mother.

Where do I begin?

My niece, Michelle, Ava’s mother, called me yesterday. She wanted to ask me a few questions about Tom and his handicaps but this turned into a very long conversation. Ava is doing very well at 2lbs 13 oz. She doesn’t need any help in breathing, does very well at maintaining her body temperature and is beginning to learn to nipple feed. BUT Michelle said that just about every doctor and nurse that comes into Ava’s room will tell Michelle and Marcus how sorry they are about the all the bleeding in Ava’s brain. (scare of 1 to 4, 1 being the mildest, Ava is a strong 4) Michelle said the doctors and nurse are telling her they going to have to wait to see how Ava does, but Michelle is getting the feeling from the doctors and nurses that Ava is going to be handicapped. It was so hard for me to hear the shock, depression, guilt, anger, sadness, and anxiety in Michelle’s voice.
Michelle wanted to know when and how I knew how handicapped Tom was. That was the hardest part of the conversation. Tom now so obviously severely handicapped. But as a baby, I questioned doctors over and over as to why he was so far behind or never met any of the monthly milestones that babies are to meet. From the time Tom was about 5 months old until is was almost a year, I made one doctor’s appointment after another with any doctor that would see us. I got so sick of hearing “you new mothers worry to much.“ One doctor even told me to join a support group. I yelled back “a support group for what??? You won’t tell me what’s wrong with my child!!” This doctor left the room in tears. It was difficult trying to answer Michelle. I just reassured her that doctors don’t know everything. For me, life works out best if you take it one day at a time, and put one foot in front of the other. Just keep trying to move forward in life and don’t rush into any conclusions.
I'm praying for our Ava, for I don't want my niece to have to experience the stress of having a handicapped child. Trust me, it is one of the most stressful experiences a family can endure.

They Got Me

While visiting the hog farm I woke up one morning with a new look. I think it's the swine flu.

So Sweet

They are just so sweet even after waking up from a nap. How can you not resist not wanting to hug and squeeze them?








Austin loves to pretend he's a puppy. He loves it when I scratch his belly.

Georgia names the cats and her dolls "Little Fella". One name goes a long ways.





It was so much fun being with the kids and being out doors.
I hope we can get together again soon.

Asking for Prays

Got a phone call last night saying that Ava had some bleeding in her brain.

It's Spring

Here is the stick from the apple tree marking the yard that is starting to grow.







Need to remember to cut the asparagus every other day.






Eastern Blue birds have 5 eggs in their nesting box. Should be hatching this weekend.




Robin with 4 eggs in nest up on our bathroom window.




Female Garter Snake started eating this frog about 2 in the afternoon. At midnight she still was working on getting it all in her mouth.

Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me

While outside in early March pruning our apple trees. I stuck one of the branches I cut from the tree into the ground to mark where I wanted the ground to be worked up this spring for flowers. Today I discovered this branch is now standing tall and has leaves on it and is taking root.

On Eagles Wings

My cousin held a fundraiser for her "Wings, Paws and Prayers"
an animal rehabilitation that she runs out of her home.







We stopping in for little bit.

My cousin, Emil's band "Dime-O-Dozen" played music.
It was very enjoyable.
Yes, I sang along.





Before my cousin's band began to play, his daughter, Paytra started the evening off by singing the National Anthem.
She has a very beautiful voice.






The star of the fundraiser was the American Bald Eagle.
This is a young bird that already weights over 9 lbs.
The wing span was HUGE!!!









I won the second door prize of the night it was gardening supplies.
Hmmm.....