Pictures as promised

Here are the pictures from our Zoo Day!  (I hope!)

A DAY AT THE ZOO!!!

Yesterday was an awesome day!!!  I woke up, heard it was supposed to be a beeeauuutiful day and decided that it would be a great day to go to the zoo....with my honey and my grandbabies!  Unfortunately my honey wasn't as enthusiastic (he'd been out of town, so don't blame him).  So I met Rob and picked up the kiddos!!!  They were not told where we were going, just that it was an surprise...an adventure!!  EmJ was positive we were going to the mountains!   "It's definitely the mountains!!"  "What makes you think that, Emme?" I asked.  " Because we can SEE them!!" they BOTH replied in unison!!  "Well.... maybe!  We'll have to wait and see!"  I said!  So OFF we went!  They guessed "to see the horses" and the "waterpark", "mountains" again, and "I have NO idea"!   It took us awhile to get to our destination because of a traffic problem on I-25, which I cleverly thought I'd avoid by going down Colorado Blvd! (It helps to know which county road IS Colorado Blvd before you head in that direction!)  :( But this was an adventure so there was no stress!  We all just went with the flow!

You learn a lot from your grandbabies when you just LISTEN!  And listen, I did!  I learned that at "At 5:00 mommy and Aunt Kelsey and I are having a girl time! And you're invited!  But you have to have curly hair. So you just get it wet and crunch it!"  Gavin piped up and said the "Yeah and daddy and me and Uncle Aaron are having a guy time!  Grampa's invited too!  We're going to have a burping contest to see who can do the longest one and the smelliest one!!"  :).

We had a little breakfast at McDonalds with one of the BIGGEST play areas I've ever seen!  But since this wasn't out final destination we didn't stay real long!  As we got closer, they were more and more curious!  But once we turned onto Colorado Blvd south of I-25 and got closer to Steele street Gavin cried out, "It's the ZOO!!  I KNOW it IS!!  I recognize this area!!"  Smart boy!  But I still didn't say yet!  Not until I put the blinker on to turn in to the parking lot, when at that time they both squealed "THE ZOO!!  I KNEW IT!! I KNEW IT!  YAY!!  IT'S THE ZOO!!!!"  :)

We has a wonderful time!  The weather was perfect!  Partly cloudy, but comfortable!  At first the animals were pretty sleepy but once they woke up they put on pretty good shows!!  The tigers in particular, we're really animated!!  The kids and I LOVED it!!

We only had two times when one of the kids, who will remain nameless, decided to get a bit testy!  I had two dollars in quarters in my pocket in case they still had food for the ducks (which by the way, they do not).  I'm pretty sure that God inspired this thought--I told both Gavin and Emery that I was going to give each of them 4 quarters.  Every time they got testy or nasty or mean they would owe me one of their quarters!  This worked like a CHARM!!!!  And they were SO proud that they had ALL their quarters when we loaded back into the car to go home!!!

On the way home Gavin invoked the "Quiet Game."  Which they are NOW pretty good at!!!  I'd forgotten we were playing it until Emme said something after QUITE awhile and Gavin said "Oh, YOU LOSE!!"   They played it quite a bit!  (I think they were pretty worn out so it made it much easier!!)

We ate a late supper at Taco Bell--Gavin ate 7 tacos!!!  Whoa!!  (He asked for 8 but took one home!)  I took them to their Aunt Shell's new home to meet up with Rob and Janaque and I headed back to Loveland!

I am so thankful for the day!  It was my definite HIGH!!!  No low!!!   :-D

I will post pictures later....having trouble with the computer keeping my accounts straight at this time!!!

I LOVE MY GRANDKIDDOS!!!

A bit of new news....

Now it's been 6 months!  The biggest news would be the anticipation of our next grandbaby!  Yep!! Aaron and Kelsey are expecting around April 1, 2013!  They are going to find out if baby Watkins is a boy or a girl in about 4 weeks!!  I don't have strong feeling either way--boy or girl--as long as he/she just comes!!!   Gavin and Emery are both in school now!  I love when I sub at their school and get to take them home.  We often go on "Kukax" dates ;oh, that's a new change too--the spelling of my nickname!!  But that's another story for another day!).  We do Hi/Low check-ins!!   Have to say they generally pretty happy and often say "No low!!"  And of course, I love when their "high" is "right now"!!!!  

It is another election year--more critical even than the last one!  The USA literally hangs in the balance as if the current administration continues for 4 more years I doubt that we will even have the right to blog like this and that our rights as we know them will begin to disappear!  Very scary!! And a lot of us are praying very hard for God to intervene!!  I AM working the early election again this year ... More to come after November 6th!!

Also new in our home us "Belle" (pronounced Bella) a 5 month old blond cocker spaniel!  We got her July 1st and it is amazing how FAST she grew!!  She is now almost taller than Lexi!!  She is spunky, onrey, possessive, sweet and goofy.  She sits on Lexi's head like king of the hill!!!  I'm pretty sure Lexi doesn't appreciate it but she sure is amazing to allow the little butt head to do that!!

I am going to try to post pictures later, but need to get ready to go to school.

....continued

Posting a few more pictures before actually signing off! Pictures Baldy and his girl, Jordan; Jana and Rob; Aaron and Kelsey; and one of Aaron from his band Random Hero!

Yikes...it's now 4 years even later!!!

WoW!!!! When I post so randomly it makes time zip faster than you can say it!!! Gavin and Emery are now approaching 7 and 5!!! They are amazing little ones!!! AND since I last wrote, Aaron has gotten married and is approaching their 1 year anniversary in a month! Her name is Kelsey and she is wonderful! They are living with Jana and Rob...hopefully they can get their own place SOON as it is not the most ideal situation for any of them. Don't know if or when a little one may eventually come from them, but Kelsey has a little one from a previous marriage. His name is Sam! I haven't had much contact with him...pray for him lots though!

I've been substitute teaching now for 4 years! And am still loving it, although I am ready for summer SOON! Mostly because of the weather!

Wes still has his Futurastone business and it's hanging in there despite the messed up economy...no thanks to our present president and his cohorts! Oops...shouldn't go political here, but I probably will...

America as we know it and the one we want our kids to continue to have, is standing on a cliff...there are a lot of people who would like to see it fall so as to "equalize" the economies of the world. This will be a travesty and not one I look forward to! I have had to remind myself that I need to read the end of the book...The Word of God!!!! It will be by His strength and by His hand of mercy and grace that we'll come thru all that is to come! I wonder just what life will look like as oposition gets its way, but I am not looking forward to it! In the meantime, living "one day at a time" and enjoying each day as it comes it a good thing to pursue!

I am going to post some pictures to catch things up here! Will be interesting to see just how long it will take me to post again!

Hold on to the one who made you! Read the end of the story and remember Jeremiah 29:11!!! HE KNOWS!!!!!

I've only written here 3 times this year????

Wow, I am sure I've said this before, but TIME IS FLYING BY, NOT JUST AT LIGHT SPEED, BUT AT MACH SPEED X 3!!!! It will be Thanksgiving in two days, and Christmas in a month! Our grandbabies are 3 and 18 months! Most of our kids are on the down side of 25...and that makes us really old!!! Ugh! Oh well! I am so glad that there IS something to look forward to when, well, when this time has finally gone so fast that I am no longer here! (Ok, now I am not trying to be morbid or anything...just realistic!) That's what I am...realistic. Hmmm. Maybe that's what my kids are not liking...I always seem to have to be the one who is the realist! Which is sometimes, okay...often, a bummer because I think I tend to see the glass as half empty but don't think that that is bad! It just means that you have to fill it up now. That you have to stay on guard, on top of it, alert! But I think to my kids it means mom always has to preach or lecture or pull us down with doom and gloom! I don't mean to do that. I think that sometimes, especially as I am getting older SO fast, I feel a huge urgency to make sure they are safe and headed in the right direction and that their eyes are open so that they aren't easily deceived. But given the direction some of them are taking, I'm not doing such a great job. That is a heavy burden and one that I continually have to give to God along with my kids and grandbabies! Whew! I think I should quit and go off to bed. But first....
maybe I need to do some blessing counting since it IS Thanksgiving, 2008!-----
I am thankful for:
my husband, my daughter, my son, my step-sons, my son-in-law, my grandbabies, my mom, my mom-in-love and dad-in-love, my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews, my extended family, my puppy and fish, our home, our country, our church, for books, and pianos, for mountains and lakes, for spring and summer, for birds and ladybugs, for friends, for a job I love, for kids, for blankets, and sandals, for food and clothing, for being raised with the knowledge of what Jesus did for us--for what God did by sending his son to earth for us, for long walks with my husband, for zoos, for trips to other places, for chocolate, and mochas, for hotdogs, for laughter, for tears that wash pain away, for the safely we've been able to enjoy in our country, for God being in ultimate control--not man, for horses, for glasses and toothpaste :) , for sunshine and for clear starlit nights, for fireplaces in a snowstorm, for books, for eskimo kisses and kookah kisses, for hugs--they're good you know!, for cuddling, for long talks with my mom, my sister and my daughter, for Jewish naps, for 'Bear' hugs, for a soft bed....
....which I am going to right now! 'Night!!! And....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

It has been half a year since I last wrote. Life has gotten crazy but the very best thing is that I get the privilege of watching my grandbabies during the week while their daddy and mommy work. I LOVE it! I also work for my wonderful hubby too, and that is good. I'm also getting my certification to be a substitute teacher which is what I did when my own babies were little and loved it. So this whole thing is a dream fulfilled for me! I am so blessed and thankful for the way the Lord brought everything together!

The first picture is my granddaughter! She is growing and learning so much and is so much fun to watch. I love it when she "winks" at and "air kisses" me!

The next picture is my grandson! He is so full of life and says the funniest things! He keeps us all on our toes!!!

I started out me blog in the very beginning with "memories". But since then I've started to fill out a book that will have a lot of my memories in it so I probably won't continue in that manner here. This will probably be more my life WITH my grandbabies...the ones who make me a "kookah"!! They are the pride of my life--along with my kids and husband! They all are what make my life sweet! They are my blessings and my privilege to be part of!! And I thank God for each one of them!!