Help Wanted

I need some advice. I am working on new paint in my bathroom. I think I have a good idea on what colors I want. The issue I am having is the towel rack placement. You can't really tell from this picture, but the toilet is in the lower right corner. The towel rack hangs right. over. the. toilet. Yuck. I've never been fond of this arrangement and now I have the perfect opportunity to fix it. But where to put the towels?

I can move them to the back wall above the tub. But that puts us leaning over the large soaking tub to hang them up. Out of direct fire of the toilet...but pretty inconvenient.

I could slide them over so they hang above the end of the tub. A little easier to reach....a little. But doable.

I could buy one of those over-the-door towel racks and hope there is enough air flow to help them dry and not get stinky with mildew. And what if the door won't close? Mama ain't got time for that. HELP!! I'm not opposed to using hooks instead of a towel bar. I need some ideas. I know you know what to do.....

Weirdest Dog EVER

This is the weirdest dog ever!! If you have ever been to my house, Nellie has no doubt showed you one of her many babies. She packs them around the house and loves to show them to anyone who will tell her how great they are. She doesn't want you to take them. Or pull them, or squeak them. Just tell her how nice they are and she'll go lay down. Well, last night Jo and I had finished loving on Nellie before going to bed. We hadn't been out of the room for five minutes before Jo found Nellie packing this "baby" around. She dug it out of the trash....a waffle from dinner. By the look on her face you know that she knows she isn't supposed to have it. She wouldn't give it up...and she wouldn't eat it. I told Jo to just leave her and see what she did. 

She followed Jo with it downstairs and just laid there. Darla, of course, wanted it more than she could stand and tried picking a fight with Nellie to see if she would drop it. No dice. Nellie just ran back upstairs. I came out of my room and tried to get her to give it to me. I even tried to get her to trade it for a puppy cookie. Nope. But she did swallow it (practically whole) and then eat the cookie too. Weirdest dog ever. Who ever heard of a waffle baby??

My Grandma

Today the world lost a great lady. My grandma (my mama's mudder) passed away this morning. She lived a good long life. I'm not sad for her. She is reunited with her sweetheart and her parents and my Mom. Grandma grieved hard for the loss of her daughter. I know she is celebrating and at rest. I am sad for me though. More than I thought I would be. We've known this was coming for a while. I just wanted to post a few pictures of her doing what she loved best....being with her family. Of course most of these photos are from the digital age so my kids are the babies in the photos, but she was a huge presence in my life. I appreciate the time she invested in me (and all of my cousins). She taught me so much. She will be missed.

(above) Jo and Lacey swinging on the porch just visiting.
(below) Brook and Bridger during one of the hardest trips to Meeker we made. We had whiny babies, humidity and sickness. Oh the memories!!

Pretty sure this was Lacey's blessing day. 

Baby Kevin and Mom, Grandma and me. We were so young!!

Baby Bridger!

Sweet Jo and the girls...priceless.

I think I am about 11 years old in this picture. This is my grandma's family as of 1983??

Lots of Meeker pictures. When Grandma moved to Meeker, CO we started taking yearly trips to visit. They became some of our favorite memories. I am so thankful for the blessings of family. Families ARE forever!!

Jo and Her Boy

 I only have two words to describe these two....TRUE LOVE!!

More Christmas Fun

He thought about crawling while he was here.

He came close a few times.

But in the end decided the belly crawl worked just fine.

He was also working on his third tooth. But you wouldn't have known it. He loved to be held and smiled all the time.

 This whole grandma gig has got to be the best thing ever. I didn't know there was this kind of love. It is different than the love I have for my own kids...it's almost bigger...but it is amazing.

 Michael LOVES to play with his Daddy. They are best buds.

 We tried an indoor family photo...we'll try again for an outdoor shoot next time. The lighting was so off. But there we all are.

 Miss Jo is more in love with this boy than she ever thought possible. He has wrapped her tight around his little finger!

The Best Christmas Ever

We had the opportunity to have Kevin and Abby and Michael come to our house for Christmas. We had the best time. EVER.

This baby is amazing. He is smart and happy and sweet. We all fell more and more in love with him every second.

He figured out if he waved at us he would get anything and everything his little heart desired. 

And wave he did.

He would play and be happy until he wasn't. So we'd either give him a nap or some food or a clean bum and then he was happy again.

He really is the sweetest little guy.

We ALL loved playing with him. Our day became filled with baby talk and rattling toys. And we LOVED it.

Even Darla eventually warmed up to him.

The kids still wanted to do our Christmas Eve tradition of Christmas jammies. I love that they have such good memories of our family traditions. I loved having all my babies at home.

Arizona

At the beginning of December Jim and I went to Arizona to visit his parents. It was lovely. The weather was a balmy 68* and the sun was shining.

We did some target practice and soaked in the sun.

We went on a jeep trip through the desert. 

Big jeeps and little jeeps, old(er) folks and young(er) all traveling in a line to see where the road went.

The mountains were beautiful and the sun never stopped.

I think this will have to be a yearly event. It was so nice to escape the cold for a few days!!