Breakfast & Bouncing

their 1st morning treat, having breakfast in front of the TV

(they're hoping to watch one of their favorite shows, but if you

know me, you know I'm not much of a friend to remote controls)

actually, that was one of my most important request before the

parents left town, "be sure to leave me instructions on how to

get to the kids' TV shows." well, they did leave written instructions, but

it still took awhile for me to figure everything out! grayson kept saying,

"nienie, just push the button, just push the button!" UGH! electronics & me--

we're not such a good fit...

morgan looks like he wants to help me, don't you think?

OK, finally--they got to enjoy their doughnuts and grapes with a little bit of OSO.
they were happy!

another treat for grayson was getting nienie to sleep in the same room with him. i have to say every nap and every evening i intended to get up after he fell asleep and get some things done. not once did i do that. i ended up falling asleep every time!!! it takes a lot of energy to keep up with two little ones all day long....another treat was getting to "bounce" on the lower bed and play with uncle caleb. it was so much fun watching the boys interact so much with kk and kelsey, we all stayed very busy!

morgan "getting" kk

i think the only time they were still was when I asked them to smile for the camera!!!

notice grayson's "glasses" we created:) fun times!!!

Swings & Sandboxes

big smiles
bright sunny days

swinging in the breeze

shoveling sand around

the perfect spot to play

getting the sand "just right"

helping big brother

perfecting the shovel technique

and still digging!

I just love hanging out with my 2 precious grandsons.

We had so much fun last week while mommy and daddy

were on a mini-vacation. We stayed really busy, as you can see.

More pics coming soon!

Fun in the Sun....

The kids had a lot of fun in the pool over the holiday. We were lucky we had sunny weather while they were here, because as they loaded up the car to go home--it started raining and rained for days! Morgan isn't quite as fond of the water as Grayson is, but he still got in to play a couple of times.

They both have been taking swim classes so I was anxious to see them in action. We tried to keep hats on them so they wouldn't get too much sun, but wearing hats in the pool is just a nuisance! Morgan kept his on, but Grayson's kept getting in his way and he wanted it off.

It didn't take G very long to get warmed up to the idea of jumping off of the top of the ladder. He would toss a ball as far as he could and then jump into the water to go after it. Sometimes he wanted my help, sometimes not.

G and I stayed in a little too long the first day. We were having so much fun we weren't watching the clock. Luckily G had on enough sunscreen, but Nienie didn't! Grayson absolutely loved the water and was not happy when we had to get out.

Here he goes!

He's being so brave!

And now, someone else wants to join him!
But no, she didn't get to swim--she had to stay on the sidelines and watch!

Park Play

We took the boys to the park while they were here last week. We needed a different activity to entertain them for a bit--we were getting water logged from being in the pool so much! Grayson was so excited to see that he had the merry-go-round all to himself.
He was loving it! He looks pretty proud of himself, doesn't he? And yes, he had to bring along a buddy with him. He found a Dalmatian puppy in the toy box at my house, and quickly added him to his collection.

He found mommy up at the top--he's so excited he doesn't know where to go next!

"How about down these steps?" "No, I think they are too high up. (insert sigh of relief from Nienie!) I better go find Sissy."

"Oh, she's way over there!"

Morgan had a great time, too. He practiced his driving skills.

I kept trying to get pictures, but G. wouldn't be still for very long. As soon as I got ready to take a picture he would turn around looking for the next toy to play on. Guess I need to get a little quicker with the camera.

Brothers meeting on the bridge.

"Where should I go now?"

"Hey, Sissy, you get on and I'll push you."

What a trick, by the time we left he was pushing the merry-go-round and

then hopping on for a ride! We had fun, but it got very, very hot! Off to the

Sonic for some cool drinks!

Colors in my yard.....

Some of the perks of having a summer vacation are

slowing down enough to enjoy my flowers.

I love having perennials in place to look forward to each season.

Most of the hard work has been done,
even though maintenance continues.

And....it's a good thing most of my blooming flowers are in the

front yard--because Marley is learning how to dig!

Hopefully, we can get that under control soon.

Flowers make me happy!

Enjoy your summer!!!

...there's a new boss in town

Here's Roger with our new puppy Marley, she's a West

Highland Terrier, more commonly known as a Westie.

We've had her for a couple of weeks now and are slowing getting into a bit of a routine. We are crate training her and she is doing great! She has been sleeping through the night until she hears us get up in the morning, then she's ready for the day! We finally got the fence put up in the back yard and that really helps. It looks like we have a new baby in the house with all of the toys and extra "stuff".

She's getting used to staying out in the yard or sleeping on the porch by herself for a little bit at a time. In the beginning she wouldn't stay out unless Roger or I went with her or sat on the screened in porch where she could see us.

She loves running circles around anything and still runs into things because she gets going so fast. We've really been entertained by watching her play. She already has quite the personality.

She's been very interested in Melody, she watches her all the time. They are finally getting used to each other and attempting to play. Melody does a lot of paw swatting, but so far the claws haven't come out! Here they are in a stare down....

It was so cute, Marley would inch up closer and closer to Melody-almost nose to nose-but I started laughing so hard the camera was shaking to much to get a good picture!

She really likes Roger to play in the yard with her, here she is chasing and playing with the basketball. We're definitely getting a lot more exercise with her around.