I picked up Sweet Pea yesterday morning and we took her out to see her other Grandma and Grandpa (Oldest Son’s dad and his wife). Tried 4 times to get a picture of her with Grandpa, but Grandpa was just uncooperative. Here is the least goofy looking shot of the 4.

And, of course, PDD got to spend time with her favorite creatures: Star, Skippa and Stormin’.

This time, the horses thought Second Son had brought them treats (his sunflower seeds)…

…and proceeded to follow him around wherever he went. They were all 3 following him, at one point, but I was too slow with the camera to capture it. Second Son finally had to leave the pasture to get any peace.

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That shot just scares the bejesus out of me. Granted, it’s a bit much in the makeup department (on purpose), but Lord have mercy…when she gets it in her head that she needs to wear makeup, I’m sunk.

However, at 9, she’s quite the cute fairy princess, isn’t she? The dress is courtesy of Baby Sis, seamstress extraordinaire, and the perfect match wings courtesy of Wally World.

I never noticed that my Canna Lilies did this after the blooms disappear, but before the stalks turn brown after the first frost. Interesting…

PDD and Fresh Air 4-wheeling.

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Apparently, friend is the conclusion, as Sweet Pea is yet another creature willing to pet and rub Callie as she likes to be petted and rubbed.

It may be a year or so before Callie, the ultimate lap cat, can really be seen by Sweet Pea as a lap cat. Right now? Probably more appropriately seen as a purring, furry blanket.

After awhile, Callie decided her new friend was too wiggly, so she found a spot next to her and they snuggled like this for about a half hour before Sweet Pea let Grandma know, in no uncertain terms, that it was lunchtime!

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My parents’ first child was a girl (me), their first grandchild was a boy (Oldest Son) and now their first great-grandchild is a girl. I guess we’re giving each gender a shot at making family history, eh?

Dad and I gave this little one the tour of the land, the shop and all the heavy equipment she’ll one day learn to use. No gender bias in this family – trust me.

Given that my dad’s dad lived to see 92, and my mom’s mom lived to see 90, and the fact that they are now 69 and 65 respectively, the possibility does exist for my parents to see this little girl graduate high school, at least. As long as they’re not medically miserable, I hope they stick around that long.

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Ok, so not a real active week for my camera, this week. I did take several pictures at Second Son’s intra-team scrimmage yesterday afternoon, but I’ll spare you all of them (ONLY because you’ll likely be seeing so much of his football team over the coming weeks, I don’t want to wear you out early) except for this one that stood out to me when I was looking through them. See if you have the same thought I did when you look at this picture:

Psssst…guys? Did y’all forget the ball?

It’s just layin’ there in the middle of the field. No one seems to be payin’ any attention to it all. Weird behavior for District Champs the last 7 years running and 2005 State Champs on a mission to take State again this year….

But then, if you look closer, on the right, half in and half out of the shot is #16, one of our QBs in his “I’m about to throw the ball” stance, so maybe I just caught a rare occasion where they forgot to get the ball from the previous snap off the field.

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The little cutie sacked on the couch and in the walker is my BFF’s grandson, Second Daughter’s son, likely to be seen around here frequently.

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Me and mine (from left to right: PDD, Second Son, Oldest Son) taken at my parents’ house yesterday afternoon. (I never pass up an opportunity to get impromptu family pics of my brood. Already, it’s getting difficult to get them all together in one spot.)

My younger sister and her family – in Oklahoma on vacation this week (they live in Maryland.) We all gathered at my parents’ to celebrate Mom’s 65th birthday. They come to Oklahoma about once a year since both sets of grandparents are here. My nephew will be graduating high school next spring, so hopefully we’ll be traveling their direction then. Second Son was an infant the last time we went east, so we are long overdue for a trip to their house!

Last, but not least, a picture of my dad with 6 of his 10 grandchildren. Ironically, this picture is missing the oldest two and the youngest two, all of whom belong to my sister who lives in California who wasn’t able to be here this time. They were busy celebrating birthday week in the Bird family.

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It never ceases to amaze me how silly teenagers can be. Second Son and his friends had been outside running around in the rain. When they came in, they decided to rinse the grass off their feet in the bathtub and since they were all wet already, they just had a seat.

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Silhouette of what once was a huge pecan tree, decimated by ice and wind.

Prima Donna Daughter hugging another broken pecan tree. She said it must have hurt when the branches broke like that. Notice how one of the limbs came down with such force it punctured the earth and is stuck there without any support. Freaky what Mother Nature and the laws of physics can do together.

An afternoon’s work with a chainsaw.

Tall grass prairie in the late afternoon sun.

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Meet our cat, Callie. She is my constant companion. Wither I goest…for real. When I’m not around, she’ll make do with someone else, but if I’m home, she’s always within 3 feet of me at all times. Yes, that means she often follows me to the bathroom. She waits for me while I’m in the shower. She comes galloping to greet me when I come in the door, and every time I leave, she tries to go with.

She gets in trouble – a LOT – for being all over my stuff while I’m here at my desk working. But, she’s smart and has now figured out that a) the desktop tower vibrates just the teeniest bit and b) it’s usually on, which means it’s a heat source, and c) she can be close to me there, but not in trouble so it’s an all-around great place to a hang out and nap.

This is our cat, Afro. (Don’t ask about the name. Prima Donna Daughter named him and who can explain the mind of a six-year-old?) He is predominantly an outside cat, but last week one day, he came in the house and has pretty much been inside all week. Turns out he’s hurt his paw and has figured out that sometimes, there are better places to be than out in the big, wide world exploring, like snoozing on Prima Donna Daughter’s bed, for one.

This picture just pulls at me. It says, “Please don’t make me get up, I’m comfortable.” As soon as I took this picture, he closed his eyes and went right back to sleep.

Maybe I should take a page from the cats’ book, eh? A nap sounds really good right about now.

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