A Tea Party In Texas

 I went to visit Grace and Olivia

for a few days and we had a

tea party at their house.

 Grace served our tea!

 And Olivia giggled!

 Grace served us cupcakes!

And Olivia adjusted her crown.

Hmmmm..... something seems

a little off here.

Is that crown upside down?

Home Made Ice Cream

 I found this brand new

ice cream freezer at a yard sale,

so I couldn't resist buying it.

 And then one day when I asked Brilyn

what she wanted to do, she said

"Make Ice Cream!:

and I was all set.

I asked what kind of Ice Cream she

wanted to make and she told me,

"Cold, Ice Cream!"

She's not too choosy, is she?

 We mixed up the ice cream and went

out to swim while we waited

for it to freeze.

Then we came in and had a nice

refreshing treat!

I'd share the recipe if I had one.

I just dumped Eagle Brand Condensed

Sweetened Milk, vanilla and milk

into the tub and didn't measure.



A Special Tea Party Guest

With Grace and Olivia living

so far away, Brilyn has

had to resort to this!

 A special tea party guest!

One that does not use her manners

and cannot hold a tea cup

with her pinky sticking out

like a proper lady should!

 But Brilyn is our messy one,

so she really doesn't mind.

She just likes to party!

And she LOVES chocolate!

That's my girl!

What a precious gift.

God sure knew what He

was doing when He blessed

our family with

this unique little princess.

And I'm sure her little

brother will be a perfect

fit, too!

A Darling Little Gift

Just look a this!

It's a teacup bird feeder.

Isn't it the cutest thing?

Heather's family got it for me

for my birthday and it looks

so cute out there in my

garden. I think

I'm going to have to have

more made!

A Surprise Baby Shower

 

 Heather and Alyssa

hosted a surprise baby

shower for Brandy!

 Aren't the decorations cute?

Our cousin Cassy made the cake.

 Heather and Alyssa made

the diaper cake.

It was their first. I think it

turned out pretty cute, don't you?

Grace and Brilyn helped out, too!

They helped open presents.

And when Asher gets here,

I'm sure they'll want to help out

with him, too!

Naptime!

Brilyn rarely takes naps at

my house.

I don't make her. She really

doesn't need them.

But after hours in the pool

sometime she wears herself

out. This was one of those days!

She laid down on Abby's bed

and fell asleep - all

in about 5 minutes!

And poor Abby is not sure

what to think!

Odds are, she doesn't mind

sharing one bit, though.

She loves that little girl!

My Sweet Little Swimming Buddy

 Brilyn LOVES the water!

 She could play in the pool all day

if it were up to her.

 She's so cute! She's all smiles

anytime she's swimming.

See!

 

Other Critters We Discovered

 Caelie didn't get a pet at the pet shop!

Deuce said no pets!

 (however, her Momma took her back for a lizard)

But - we did see a few critters

when we went to the pond to

feed the ducks.

We saw a dragonfly!

And the White Ducks!

And Brilyn's little brown duck!

(which has for some reason segregated itself away from the white ducks)

We saw a red winged black bird!

 And a couple of Tumble Bugs!

We had to research those Tumble Bugs

when we got back to the house.

We learned that Tumble Bugs

lay eggs and roll them up inside cow

manure to make dung balls - and that

the baby bugs hatch and use the

dung as nourishment. They eat their way

out. Then, they find a mate, lay an egg,

and the whole process starts all

over again. One egg per ball!

They were interesting little critters!

But - not very desirable pets!

 

 

Caelie Visits The Pet Shop

 I babysat Caelie one day and we talked

about Deuce being an Insect Zookeeper

at the Oklahoma State Fair as a child and

having a pet Madagascar Hissing Cockroach.

She wanted to see one, so we went

to the pet shop, hoping to find

one in stock.

There were no cockroaches!

But - she stuck her finger in a crack

to give a hairless rat something to

nibble on.

 Then, the pet shop employee came over

to open the cage and one jumped out...

and of course, Caelie grabbed it!

 They really seemed to like her!

 After playing with the rat, she

played with a ferret.

 We looked at fish, and snakes and lizards

and all kinds of pets.

And even saw this critter on the way

home. So - we snapped a picture and

got out our bird book to see what it was.

It's a Yellow Crowned Night Heron.

A night heron? Running around in broad

daylight? I wonder if he might be

a little mixed up?

Razor Repair

 

Well, look at it now!

They've got it taken a part and they've

looked into it!

And - it looks like it might be okay!

But....look at all that dirt that got sucked

up into that thing.

And - it's jacked up on one side to let

the water run out.

But - they'll have it back together

again soon.

Grandpa and his boys

can fix about anything!

The Razor will be okay!

Pushing and Pulling

 Grandpa and Andrew

had a couple of guys stop to

help and they pushed the Razor.

 They pushed it through the creek bed.

 And through the creek.

And finally, they were able to pull it

with Grandpa's Jeep. They pulled it to

the top of the hill and then pushed

it down, off the hill and onto

the trailer.

And the entire time, Brilyn was

asking, "Daddy Okay?"

That girl loves her Daddy!

She did show some concern for

the Razor and for Grandpa,

but it was pretty evident that it's

Daddy who has her heart.

The Razor Can't Swim!

 Grandpa, Andrew, Brilyn and I went

to the river to ride the Razor.

Brilyn loves it!

 Her Daddy gave her a nice long turn!

 Up and Down!

They had lots of fun!

 Then it was Grandpa and Daddy's

turn to ride by themselves.

Brilyn stayed at the Jeep with me.

We waited and waited and waited.

Brilyn kept asking,

"My turn ride Razor, yet?"

She grew tired of waiting.

So, we went to look at the wildflowers

and waited some more.

Then Brilyn got concerned.

"Daddy, Okay?" She would ask.

Finally, we walked to the bridge and looked

down. And that's when we saw this!

Yes, it looks like Daddy (Andrew) is okay!

And Grandpa is okay!

But, the Razor can't swim.

It may have drowned!

Poor Razor!

Looking Back......



Spending so much time in the

pool with Brilyn has had me

looking back to

where it all started.

Here she is at just four or

five months old.

This is one of my favorite

pictures of her.

She's always loved the water

and she makes a great

little swimming buddy.

I look forward to lots and lots

of fun in the sun!

Well..... It's Pool Season!

It is pool season!

A season for relaxing and enjoying life!

I love pool season, and so does

this little girl!

Brilyn



So.... if a day goes by and you don't

hear from me, chances are

I'm in the pool!

I kept Brilyn yesterday and she literally

swam for 2 hours. I made her come in

because, although I had used sunscreen,

2 hours is a long time for

sensitive little skin.

But, we went out again last night

for a second session.

She had soooooooo much fun!



Grace and Brilyn in the Hamster Wheel

Oh, what fun this is!

It would even be more fun if we had

a huge yard or if we took it to

a golf course or somewhere.



Or.... if we had two!

Just imagine what fun

hamster wheel races could be!

(and this toy is not called a hamster wheel. It's a little tykes bumper wheel or something like that. It just looks like a hamster wheel to me, so that's what WE call it)