Ronald McDonald & Fayette County Museum

My girls and I signed up for several events at the library this month. The library had so many great adventures to choose from. We signed up for our top three and this week we got to go to two of those events.

The first event was a program with Ronald McDonald. He was trying to do his best to get the little ones excited about reading books, reading with enthusiasm and taking care of the library books. He was quite the clown...magic, humor, he had it all. It was a fun show.

Today we went on a tour of the Fayette County Museum. This was a special treat for me. So much to see in that house and so much history to be gleaned from its walls. It was truly an interesting experience and I was especially surprised at how intrigued my girls were with what they saw.

(In the library of the home)

(Artwork by Bessie Cleveland-Children's Illustrator)

At the end of the tour they handed out little questionnaires that allowed the kids to do a scavenger hunt throughout the museum. It was so much fun! I love asking the questions and getting the responses from Bekah and Aubrey. I was very surprised by some of them.

(Kitchen cupboard)

The last question was: "What do you think is the coolest thing in the museum? Why?"

Bekah's answer: The mastodon teeth, because they are so BIG!

Aubrey went a different route. She walked me over to a 1934 wedding dress. She pointed at the dress and said it was her favorite. When I asked, "why", she answered: "Because I think it is so pretty". Truth be told, I didn't even realize she'd noticed that dress. Funny what kids see when we don't think they are paying attention. That goes for so much in life...

(The dress that captured Aubrey's attention)

Well, nearly nap time so I must go for now.

Keep Your Hands Busy!

SMiLES!

GWeN

20-12 Catch Up

Okay, I'm behind a few days...AGAIN! This cold has me so stuffed up in the head, my sinuses have had so much pressure my eyes won't focus. So, my blogging has suffered for it...LOL! Anyway, here goes the past few days in my little life.

This is when my cold started in. My life has revolved around tissues, thermometers and cold pills for about a week now. YUCK!

Our pretty Cleo Kitty. I saved her from the lonely life of a street cat in 2004. Only to turn her into an outside cat in 2005 due to Todd's allergies mixed with a small house and no where to keep a litter box away from Bekah. She is very loyal and quite the kitty. She follows commands. Not kidding, the only cat I know that you can tell to go home and she does. Tell her to get out of the street and she will. She is silly and so super sweet. Love her tiny little features and her petite size.

So, Todd and I couldn't sleep the other night so we decided to turn up the heat a little bit. We broke out a fresh deck of cards and went head to head in 500 Rummy. He won...he always does. It was nice to do something so simple and be playful (we trash talk each other the entire time we play...so stupid and hilarious).

"Lucy! You got some 'splaining to do!" This is the one I worry about. Aubrey! She thought it would be fun to put her panty hose on her head and walk around in my dress shoes after the meeting on Wednesday night. When I asked her to stop so I could get a picture, she struck this pose. Too funny! I can see this in her high school year book come senior year...Muwhahaha!

The long walk home from the bus stop. Its only at the end of our cul de sac but Bekah is met each day by me and her little sister. Her older cousin, Jasmine walks with her most days too. This was a particularly hard day for her since she'd had an incident with another little one on the bus. Bekah got "kicked" off the seat (literally) and knocked onto the floor. So Jasmine came to her rescue. She was really so glad to have her bigger cousin there to look after her.

Oh, how I love creative learning! The kindergarten students got to dress up as 100 year old elderly ladies and gents today. Why? To celebrate the100th day of school of course. Bekah looked so super cute all donned up in her rollers, hair net, glasses and accessories. She did wear her slippers with her outfit to school. The entire class was a hoot! There were some with gray spray on their hair and drawn on beards and mustaches. One little girl had a baton for a cane. So happy I can help with her classroom and enjoy all the fun and learning. Aubrey went too. She was sporting curlers and a hair net. She also had a sweater and some beads with pink glasses.

I have to say that Mrs. Howard is such an understanding teacher. She allows Aubrey to come with me while I assist the class. Aubrey gets to join in the centers and rotate with her sister. She is learning right along with the other students and loves it! Until it is time to leave. Leaving is not something she loves and I usually have to carry her out crying and kicking. That part...not so much fun.

SMiLES!

GWeN

20-12 Catch up

Alrighty, these are not necessarily photos taken on the day assigned to them. I decided to swipe some pics from my little sis from her facebook albums. My brother turned a year older the other day and he was in my thoughts so I'm adding one of he and his lovely wife, Kimberly. The photo of them was taken at their 10th Anniversary Party this past October. I have one of a gorgeous sunset that I witnessed driving into town a few days ago. I actually pulled over on the side of the road and took a few photos with my cell phone. So, I'm so tired now I'm just going to load them up and let you enjoy them. Sorry for the run on sentences and poor paragraph. Its late and I've had so very little sleep. Whine...whine...whine....LOL!

SMiLES!

GWeN

January 24 20-12

Loved this photo of my silly little ones. I was tucking them in after a long day and was so amused by their slap-happy giggles and their silly faces. I was so tired, aching and a little crabby...after a few minutes alone with these two...not so much. You just can't be in a "bad" mood too long when you are surrounded by such wonderful little people.

Hope you all had as much fun at the end of your day.

SMiLES!

GWeN

Januaray 22 & 23 20-12

January 22

I finally finished ready Little Bee. This is a story that left me frustrated. It was good, but too real. I needed a book with an escape and I got raw hard truth and I just didn't want that. Would I recommend this to somebody else? Yes. Its riddled with a desperate hope and humanity that can touch you.

January 23

(Ah, once again my silly blogger friend doesn't want to orient my photo correctly. Why do I waste all that time doing edits and rotating?)

This is my little sleepy head. She slept through getting Bekah off to school. She looked so cute when she woke up with her sweet little face in the morning light. Love this baby!

SMiLES!

GWeN

20-12 Three More Days...

Took this out the back door. The sunrise reminded me of my Grandpa. When I would stay over night, Grandpa and I used to stand at the east side of the house where there were large sliding glass doors. We'd just stand there, silent, watching the sun come up. He drinking his coffee and me eating my cereal. It was a very good thing.

Grade cards! Bekah's very first...she had good marks and a great evaluation. Above grade level! She starts her excellerated reading program on Monday. So proud of her!

I'm proud of Anna too. She's had a crazy first half of school with lots of appts. and time missed at school. Her course of study was pretty strenuous too. Still, she got Honorable Mention! Way to go, baby girl!

Anna and the girls were playing dress up late this morning. When it came time to eat everybody felt like pancakes. So we had "Princess Pancakes" today for brunch. It was cute. Its these little things I'll miss when they are all grown up.

SMiLES!

GWeN



More 20-12

Well, I'm doing these a few days at a time and its seems to be confusing me. Imagine that...me confused about something...LOL! So, I may revert to everyday again, just to keep myself straight on what's been accomplished and what hasn't.

Monday, January 16th

After dental cleanings I took the girls to Pizza Hut for an early dinner. Anna's eyes looked so pretty. She's been playing around with some new make up techniques and her eyes really popped! I just had to get a photo of my pretty girl.

Tuesday, January 17th

Daisy has an issue with her training cage. She thinks there is something living under it. Or, she's trying to bury her chew toys. Either way, she's the only dog I know that has dug a hole through the plastic liner of her training cage. She is not right.

Wednesday, January 18th

Today was a big day in the developement of my littlest baby girl. She had her first dental cleaning. When Anna and Bekah went on Monday to get their cleanings, Aubrey was super upset that she didn't get to have one too. So, we scheduled an appointment. Today was the day, she did a good job (from what I'm told they don't like parents to stay in the room so I waited in the lobby...boo-hoo). No cavities! However, she didn't like the taste of the flouride varnish...not at all! Hehehe.

Hope to be back tomorrow with a new post and a new photo.

Smiles!

Gwen

Two days of 20-12

January 14th

After an especially cruddy week, Sheryl, (who has been my best buddy since I was seven years old) took me to dinner at Longhorn in Chillicothe. When we went to get a table the wait time was one hour and thirty to forty minutes. We had no kids with us so we opted to sit in the bar area. We got fast service! Our waiter was named, Jason, he took very good care of us, even made sure they cut my steak for me in the kitchen since I only had one arm.

The bar had different lights in it that made the bottle of liquor glow. I thought it was kind of pretty so I took a photo of it. Didn't get to have any drinks, although I would have liked to, the shoulder meds don't mix with alcohol. However, the iced tea and lemon were very good.

January 15th

I wasn't sure what to photograph today since I didn't go anywhere. I didn't see anything of interest. I was at a loss. Then it dawned on me...I have something of interest I look at often. It lives across the field behind my backyard. I see it every time I do the dishes from my window and each time I step out the back door. The same thought fills my mind every single time my eyes rest upon it...

What in the world is holding this thing up?

If you look closely at the barn you can see an awning of sorts. Its a mass of lumber that has been falling apart like a bad game of pick-up-sticks since I've lived in my home (built it in 1998). Every year a little more falls down. Each stormy day and windy night you can hear the wood creaking and swaying.

I suppose when it finally falls down, I'll miss it. I'll miss the wonder of how it still stands, unsupported and toppling over itself. Like so many common sites that errod away with time and decay, this too shall pass.

Then where will all the barn cats go?

Uh-oh!!!!

Smiles!

Gwen



Three days of 20-12 Photos

Okay here are the past three photos for my 20-12 pics. I've been a bit pre-occupied and also have a bum arm...well, shoulder. Boo-hoo right? LOL!

My new sidekick. My arm sling. Have to wear this since I got a sprained A-C joint taking my little sweet Jasper out to pee. Never thought I'd be outdone by a 15 pound dog!

Here is a view of our local courthouse ceiling. Isn't it pretty? The artist who did the paintings also worked on the walls. He was pretty famous and I sincerely do not remember his name. I really think we have a very lovely historical courthouse.

Miss Anna...oh, how I love her. She was rummaging through her belongings trying to figure out what to take to her father's. She found quite a lot and left the rest on the floor. Wow! I know what she'll be doing next weekend. LOL!

Smiles!

Gwen

January 10th 20-12

Guess what? I can't get my January 10th photo to load right now.

The photo is one of Aubrey and Bekah sitting in front of the LaLaLoopsy Glitter Puzzle they just put together. (With very little help from me.) The girls and I have discovered the simple pleasure of putting together puzzles, as a family. Anna helps sometimes too, or she will let the girls come into her room and build one with them.

So far our puzzles are about 60 pieces or less. Someday, I can see us sitting around on a rainy day sipping tea and building a puzzle during an afternoon. Some day.

Smiles!

Gwen

January 9th 20-12

Took the girls to get flu shots today. Enough said...right? Got home and found a package full of happy mail from my online buddy, Dorcas. I won a blog candy give away she was having about a week ago. That was an awesome suprise! Lots of fun stuff for me and my girlies to play with. I can't even describe how many yards and varieties of ribbon were in that bag. WOWZERS!

Oh, because I had to photograph her adorable card that she sent to us, I did put the text across the photo off center to be sure that no one would try to copy the card front. Yes, sad but true, its happened to many of our card making friends out there. Somebody even went as far as placing them on a disc and tried to (she had some success) sell them. Need a card front? Just print one out. Hello! That's called stealing and I don't stand for it. So, I put text over the card front. Get me off of my soap box please. LOL!

Have a great evening!

Smiles!

Gwen

January 8th 20-12

Here is a photo of my sixteen year old daughter. She is a wee bit camera shy today. We were just settling in to watch our DVR'd episode of Once Upon A Time and I snapped this pic. Despite her protests, I'm putting up. I love her and don't feel like my album would be complete without her in it. Or my life for that matter.

Smiles!

Gwen

January 7th 20-12

This one is for my mom. Proof that I do clean my microwave...at least once a year.

Smiles!

Gwen

January 6th 20-12

Todd worked all day and stopped to rent a movie that he could watch with the girls before bedtime. He brought home Mr. Popper's Penguins. It was so cute. They all had fun watching. It was good to hear him laughing along with the girls during the movie, even though he had such a long and tiring day.

Smiles!

Gwen

January 5th 20-12

My photo entry for the day. I took Aubrey here today for lunch. Most of you know this as McDonald's but in our family we call it "Chicken Donald's". It all started with my two year old Bekah and now it seems to have become a family thing. Bekah is six and still calls it Chicken Donald's and so does her little sister. Apparently, we've even got some of our favorite little friends using this special nickname too.

Smiles!

Gwen

January 4 20-12

Okay, this photo wasn't taken today, it was taken on the 2nd. However, I'm using it to showcase something that I finally figured out today...how to make a cute watermark! So, my entry for the day is actually the watermark, not the photo...if that makes any sense. Still, the photo is of my darling, Bekah and I love it.

I may need to go back and tweek a little, like the font color. White usually works best for so many card projects, but I think I'll create a few watermarks with different font colors for every occassion...LOL! Its like a good pair of shoes you know...you have to have them in more than one color.

Smiles!

Gwen

January 3rd 20-12

For my photo today, I chose these gorgeous little oranges. Cuties! A new family favorite. They are a hybrid cultivated to be seedless and easy to peel for little hands. Not to mention they are so sweet and juicy that Todd and I love them too.

Todd brought them home in a box and I thought it was so cute. One of my favorite color combos too, so its just fun for me to look at. Orange and blue...how can you go wrong with that?

Smiles!

Gwen

Jan 2nd 20-12

The wonders of a first snow. The girls had so much fun playing in the snow, the first accumulation we've had in this area. It packed well, even though there was only about an inch of the stuff. There were snow angels and snow castles made. Followed by a snow ball fight. I just loved watching their excited little faces as they rediscovered one of the miracles of winter.

Smiles!

Gwen

January 1st 20-12 Project

This is my first photo for my Twenty-Twelve Photo Project. The object is to take at least one photo a day and post it to our facebook group. At the end of the year we will have a visual chronical of our life and experiences.

Last night my brother, John and his family came for dinner. We don't get to see each other as much as we would like because of different scheduling and a long drive. So, this was a really nice way to start off a new month and a new year...with people we love.

I'm going to add a little place here on my blog to follow the pics of our daily photo. If you are ever interested in what we have just click on 20-12 under the labels.

Smiles!