Hidden gifts from Grandma 13 years later

A couple of weeks ago Lonnie was going through boxes we had stored in our shop, and he came across a box full of new blank canvases. They had been my grandma's. She had loved painting and took it up as a hobby in the mid 80's.

 These are two of her paintings that hang in our home now.The seashell one my grandma painted especially for me for my 13th (i think) birthday, It hangs in Jaelyns room now. The Swan painting( that is a pic of my PA inside the painting) hangs in our extra room. I have tons more put away in storage!
 Anyhow when my Grandparent's passed away, the canvases were left in the house and I decided to take them home with me. I am sad to say they ended up in a box, and now seven years later I have found the perfect use for them. I decided we could use them for art projects for Jaelyn. On Tuesday I took Jaelyn outside along with some finger paint and a paint brush. My little girl will not use her fingers to paint. She can't stand the paint to get on her hands. So this is what she did...

She had a blast painting and had to pose with her daddy with her finished project! Even though Jae and her Great Grandma never met; I still like to think the canvases were a hidden gift for Jae! I think Grandma would be so PROUD.


Sunny Wishes,

 

A fulfilled Sunday

Around our area, we have hardly seen rain in about a month. So, on Sunday when the sky filled with clouds I couldn't help but feel Joy. Rain you are welcome to my home any day! 

Jaelyn and I  decided to make some Humming bird Juice (her words) for the two Humming birds that come to our porch. She loved pouring and mixing the powder and water. You would have thought I bought her some great toy or something.

After making the "bird Juice" we played a game of Hide and Seek. This is pretty funny to watch. A 2year old that will count  a little out loud and then says "ready or not here I come", but never closes her eyes. She also would run from me every time. Lets just say it was pretty much a game of chase. She  really enjoyed it!

                                

The rest of the afternoon consisted of her eating yogurt on the porch, driving her truck, looking at plants in the yard and then playing in the rain. Then it was off to take a bath while it rained pretty hard; and just as I was about to finish prepping dinner and put it into the oven the Electric went out. So me and Jae sat around talking and goofing off until it came back on two hours later. Then it was time to eat dinner and get Jae off to bed.

Today I came across a blog that told a tearful story of a family's loss. They lost their only child at the time due to an accidental drowning. This was one of the most heart wrenching stories I have ever read. This Mother and Father are truly an inspiration. To go on and be so strong after losing a child has got to be the hardest thing to do. I felt so much sympathy and love for their family, and I realized how blessed I am to have my little girl. After reading this blog I decided to spend as much time doing  fun things with my own child. I want to look back and see how much I enjoyed these days of her being little.

If you want to check out this Lovely and Inspiring blog I found; you can look at it at
http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com/

Did I mention How much I LOVE this little girl? She's Mine and Lonnie's World!


Sunny Wishes,

Fishing : Our 2 day Memorial weekend

On the Thursday before Memorial Day my dad called and talked to Lonnie. He asked if we wanted to meet him at the lake. He owns a very small piece of property on a private lake where there are only about 6 properties on the lake. I had just been telling Lonnie I wanted to do something fun and me and Jae had been outside "playing" when he had called. We talked it over and decided we would head down there in the next couple of hours. Since my Husband works three 11 hour days those three days are weekend days. So, that means he is always working on the Holidays that fall on  the weekend or on a Monday. This was gonna be our lil Memorial weekend. (even if it was on a Thursday and Friday) My brother's days off are also during the middle of the week and My Dad has Friday's off too. Amazingly I was going to get to see my brother and my Dad with my family all on the same day! (a very rare thing) Anyhow, We packed up and headed down there. The three hour drive felt a little long this time and we finally  arrived around 9:30 that night.  Dad, Lonnie and Justin went out  to set trot lines while I stayed in with Jae and my 8 year old step sister Morgan. Jae just loves her auntie "M".

The next morning we all got up and headed out in the boats. Justin and Lonnie headed out first to go do a little Bass fishing. Dad took all us girls out in his boat.  lets just say my dad was a lot more patient than the last time I fished with him. ( that was probably back in 1995) So, I hadn't been fishing in out of a boat since then, and I have to say it took me a while to get the hang of  casting out of the boat. At first dad was casting for Jae, Morgan, and Me. Then I  took the jig pole and started fishing on my own. ( hey i caught a Crappie or two) Then I started baiting my regular pole and Casting. I actually felt like i was accomplishing something.( sad I know) Over all our boat filled mainly with three girls and a Dad/poppy caught about 30 fish. Justin and Lonnie caught 5 Bass.

We left the Lake and headed to Dad's house which is an hour away. Lonnie cleaned the fish with some very dull electric knives and Jae checked out Dad's ducks and chickens.As we started our three hour journey home we all three talked about what a good time we had fishing. It was a great day to make some good memories!

                                    Jae Reeling in her Lil Fishy!

                                      Poppy taking her fishy off the hook

                                            She was saying BIG Fish!

                                        Auntie "M" catching her fish

                      My brother or as Jae calls him Uncle Boots

                             My Hubby Trying to catch some fish

                  My Dad doing what he did almost the entire fishing trip!

                          Jae was absolutely loving the wind in her hair.

                                        Jae and her Poppy.

Sunny wishes!!