Gee! It's the Gee Family!

Marshall, the Handy Man

2012-01-10T19:48:00.001-06:00

I am so lucky to have this little boy in my life---to be my ONLY grandson! He just loves fixing things and has really taken to putting together all kinds of Lego kits, including some really complicated ones recently. This past weekend, Julie and Sean took the kiddos and went to Austin to the IKEA store, looking for some sort of a storage unit for Macy to keep doll clothes in! They were beginning to take over her bedroom! They found the perfect set of drawers, but they needed to be assembled! While Sean was working Sunday afternoon, Julie sat with Marshall to tackle the job. It ended up, all she did was show him the directions (there were 25 steps!) and he took it from there. He knows where all the tools are because he and his dad have made lots and lots of projects. They also go to Lowe's frequently on Saturdays for classes on how to make games, birdhouses, and other things. Well, it really paid off this past weekend, because he put together this entire unit ALL BY HIMSELF!! We were all very proud of him, of course, but I think HE was the most proud of all!

Grandkids and Santa, Christmas 2011

2012-01-06T16:31:00.001-06:00

Ainsley

Marshall and Macy

Hayden and Sam

Macy and Her Christmas Doll

2012-01-06T16:15:00.001-06:00

This is one of my favorite Christmas pictures from this year. Several months ago, Macy and I were at the Monarch Collectible Doll Store---she calls it "The Big Blue Doll House," because that's exactly what this store looks like. She fell in love with this baby doll (it has her exact same coloring),and I told her I'd think about getting it for her for Christmas. I loved my dolls so much as a little girl and Macy and I love going to this store and oohing and ahhing at all the beautiful dolls and doll houses. This doll is a Middleton Newborn Collectible and it looks and feels almost like a real baby. At the store, they have a large display of these dolls, all lined up in "isolettes" and if Macy could, she would buy every single one of them. It wears size three-month clothes, so I had gone to a consignment store and purchased a few little outfits for her. In hopes that she would receive this doll for Christmas, she had a little pacifier in an organza bag to give her when she opened her! I had seen her carry this into the house and wondered what it was, and then after she opened her package, she gave it to her new doll, so SHE would also have a Christmas present.

(Thoughtfulness is one of Macy's best qualities!)

She has named the doll Amber Gabrielle, which she didn't decide on until she got home and could look for the perfect name in her American Girl doll booklet on baby names. She liked this name, because the name "Amber" means "jewel." I love watching Macy play with her dolls and can imagine the kind of mother she is going to be some day. I hope she will always love them, like I did.

The Pumpkin Girl

2012-01-02T17:51:00.001-06:00

Ainsley's visit in November while Daddy was at a conference in San Antonio.

We had a special three days with her.

Because her birthday was the following week, I let her go on a shopping trip to pick our her birthday present! Target was the place she chose and it didn't take her long to find the perfect birthday present!

This is a "Fur-Real" pet dog that walks on a leash with a remote control handle and even barks and whimpers. Luckily there is a switch to turn off the noises. As soon as we got home, she said, "Let's go walk him outside on the sidewalk!"

"Barky" and Ainsley enjoyed a nice walk on this beautiful autumn day. I think it's the closest thing to a real pet she'll have for now.

A Pre-Thanksgiving Visit from Ainsley

2012-01-02T17:37:00.002-06:00

John came to San Antonio for a conference and brought Ainsley to stay with us.

She couldn't understand why Macy and Marshall had to go to school, so we took Happy Meals and had lunch with them and Aunt Julie in the school cafeteria. They lent us one of their wagons to make the delivery easier!

Then it was off to my friend, Betsy's house, who had planned a special birthday tea party for Ainsley. (Her birthday was the following week.)

First we visited with Blaine, her grandson, and their dog named Annie.

With Annie close behind, Ainsley started on her Scavenger Hunt. Betsy placed little signs all around the house directing her to various other clues which would eventually lead to her birthday present.

After about six clues, Ainsley ended up in the gazebo in Betsy's backyard, where we had lemonade and cookies with icing and sprinkles to decorate! (Betsy knows how to make little girls happy!) Ainsley looked up at Betsy at one point and said, "Where are all the people?" We had to laugh because she thought a tea party meant lots of people!

A scrumptious lollipop and fun treats!

Poor Annie thought the tea party was for HER, so she was banned to the house...but she kept a watchful eye on the lollipop!

The breezy weather took us inside to finish up the fun as Annie again looked on from the other side of the glass.

Ainsley loved her tea party at Betsy's house and still talks about the fun she had.

THANK YOU, BETSY! YOU ARE A VERY SPECIAL FRIEND!

A Talented Granddaughter, Macy

2012-01-02T17:08:00.000-06:00

Macy loves to sing in the choir at her church and she was excited about getting to hold one of the microphones in one song. Then she had to zip off-stage and change into her ballet outfit.

She and a few other girls did a beautiful ballet at the end of the show. This was a special treat for her and she did a wonderful job! We are proud of your creative abilities, Macy!

Let It Rain!

2011-09-30T15:40:00.000-05:00

It had been such a long time since Houston had had rain, so Ainsley seemed excited and wanted to go outside after it stopped. She loved holding my umbrella and pretending it was still raining.

Thank Heavens For Little Girls...like Ainsley!

2011-07-20T11:08:00.004-05:00

My July visit to Houston was a wonderful one. It's always so much fun to see how much Ainsley has changed and grown since the last time I saw her, which in this case, had just been one month. On Saturday, we went to lunch at a favorite Houston restaurant, Backstreet Cafe. It was a little on the "swanky" side, so Carolyn, Colleen, and I talked about how Ainsley would have to behave like a "big girl," in order to go with us. She decided she wanted to wear her hair in a French braid down the back of her head! If you have ever tried to put her hair into any kind of style, you will know how difficult this was for her mommy. Her hair is very long now, but still very fine and her many interesting cowlicks make it super challenging to try to fix! After a couple of tries, the mission was accomplished! Check out Ainsley's sitting position!

Voila!! The finished product! A French-braided ponytail!!! Colleen has hidden talents which emerge from time to time! Carolyn said she used to French-braid her own hair when she was younger! So, off we went to The Backstreet Cafe...

Now, remember, Ainsley, only big girls get to come to places like this. Are you going to behave like a big girl? Yes, m'am!!

The menu was a little over-whelming!

Ainsley ordered blueberry pancakes with apples and she loved dipping the bacon in the pancake syrup, just to make it extra-yummy. She did a great job of eating like a big girl and using her best manners!

Like most girls, she loves flowers.

Later, in the evening, her mom and dad went out to dinner with friends, and she wanted to go to her favorite restaurant, Chick-Fil-A. She ate well and headed for the indoor playground! Forget acting like a "big girl!" The little three-year-old girl romped and played with complete abandon!

I wish I lived across the street so I could see her every day. She's changing by the week. She loves reading and she talks like a ten-year-old instead of a three-year-old. When we were driving to the restaurant, she was sitting in the back seat of the car looking out the window, and she said, "There is a car similar to my daddy's car." She can count to twenty in Spanish and ten in French! She knows all her colors in Spanish too! Recently, she asked her mother what day of the week it was and Colleen said, "Wednesday." Ainsley thought a minute and said, "Oh NO! It's MAID-PREPARATION NIGHT!!! I HAVE TO CLEAN UP MY ROOM!" The maid comes on Thursdays. She's a delightful little granddaughter, and I am so lucky! Thank heaven for little girls!

Thank Heavens For Little Girls...Like Macy

2011-07-14T22:07:00.001-05:00

Having my grandchildren one at a time is always a special treat. One day this summer, I was lucky enough to have Macy, all alone---all alone WITH Hannah Grace, her favorite doll since she was about two years old. We had planned to go see a movie, but we had a couple of hours before it started and I asked her what she wanted to do. She said, "Go to the blue doll house!!" This is a store in San Antonio which only sells dolls, doll clothes, doll furniture, and doll houses. It is a little girl's (and a grandmother's) DREAM-COME-TRUE! We went last year, and she loved it, so off we went, a year later!

Recently, I got down my box of Madame Alexander dolls from when I was a little girl, and let Macy begin playing with them. She was gravitated to these dolls as soon as we walked into the store. I only have two of these little dolls, so seeing so many was pretty exciting! You can see by the look on her face how happy she was. Hannah Grace, too!

Pointing to some favorite ones.

Macy has always loved baby dolls. She says when she grows up, she wants to work in the nursery at church, as her full-time job! When we walked upstairs, this is what she saw!!! This was a very happy little girl, for sure!!!

We looked at these dolls for a long time, and she finally zeroed in on this one, with coloring just like hers!

Of course, she loved this round baby bed, and said she'd LOVE to have one for her bedroom. Her bedroom is so full of dolls and stuffed animals now, there is almost NO room for her own bed! But a girl sure can dream!

Macy said Hannah Grace wants more brothers and sisters!

Macy could have spent many hours in this store. There was so much to see, it was almost over-whelming!

She said for Christmas, she only wants gift cards to this store!

I think she was dreaming about taking all of these dolls home with her!

Our time, however, eventually had to come to an end, and we headed over to E-Z's for lunch and then to our movie! The "blue doll house" is a wonderful place for little girls as well as BIG girls, too! Macy and I will continue the tradition of visiting this special store and dreaming about the beautiful dolls. I imagine Santa will bring her some gift cards and next year when we visit, there will be one less doll in the store. I can't wait to see which one she'll pick out!

Mt. Rainier, Washington

2011-06-22T14:58:00.001-05:00

Mt. Rainier can be seen from all around the Seattle area (when it's clear) and stands over 14,000 feet high. The day before we left Gig Harbor (see post below), we took a day trip to visit it. It was a beautiful, two-and a half hour drive from where we were staying.

I love the way the trees made a V as we drove closer to the mountain through the Mt. Rainier National Park.

This forest was as pretty as any I have ever seen in Colorado and Canada.

The park newspaper asks that people not walk in the natural areas of the forest, but stay on the trails only. There is much vegetation and a short growing season here.

Some of the trees here were huge---this picture as we were moving, doesn't do them justice, but the literature we got says they rival some of the giant sequoias in California.

This picture gives you a good idea of just how large these trees are.

A great picture that illustrates "from death to re-birth." Forests are amazing!

There is even life on rocks up here!

Beautiful little trillium growing on the forest floor. It obviously doesn't need much sun!

We were no where near the top of the mountain, but this was as far as we could go by car. This was at the Visitors Center at Paradise. They had had over two-hundred inches of snow last winter, and in June, it was still this deep on the side of the road!

You can see the people hiking into the trails from the visitor center. Most of them had on snow-shoes, but we saw one lady in a long dress wearing flip-flops! The temperature was in the high 40's.

A few years ago, Larry really wanted to try to climb this mountain, and Sally sent him a lot of information about it. Now, it's easy to see that this is not a mountain for amateurs. Even in the summer months, hikers have to wear special clothing and have all the right equipment and extensive training. Maybe snowball fighting is the better sport for Larry now!

Trip to Gig Harbor (Seattle) Washington

2011-06-21T18:14:00.004-05:00

Land in Seattle, head over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge...wow!

And you end up in Gig Harbor, Washington, a beautiful little harbor town just southwest of Seattle, between Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean! It was founded in the late 1800's by some men in a "gig" who sought refuge during a bad storm in this little harbor. Hence, the name, Gig Harbor."

During dinner at a beautiful little restaurant on the harbor, the sailboats came out! Temps were in the high 60's!

Looking across the harbor from our restaurant, were some beautiful homes.

Several men also paddled on boards with the sailboats.

My delicious scampi caesar salad at The Green Turtle Restaurant.

Some of the beautiful lupines growing in Larry's daughter's yard in Fox Island, just off Gig Harbor.

A safe "harbor" for the birds.

Larry, with two of his sons-in-law, John Goforth on the left, from San Antonio, and Bob England, Sally's husband.

There's just something about a front door with a pretty floral wreath on it. This is Sally's door.

Some of the gorgeous fushia growing in the area.

Lillies

Beautiful rhododendron in every color, in full bloom!

Rhododendron up close.

Impatiens

We had a wonderful lunch at The Tides Tavern on the harbor. Fish and chips for Larry, clam chowder for me!

A large painting in the restaurant, looking at it from the harbor.

The whirly-gig at The Tides, which was whirling around like crazy, proving the wind to be a little too much to eat outdoors on the deck, like some people did.

The view from the table at lunch.

Some people travel to the restaurant by boat.

This is a view of The Peoples' Dock at Gig Harbor, where all the action was when it was first founded.

The little Gig Harbor Lighthouse, which was built in the 1980's to help boats find the harbor from Puget Sound. We can't wait for another trip to Gig Harbor and Fox Island! What a beautiful spot in our country!

The Baby Bird, by Macy, age 8

2011-06-20T16:49:00.002-05:00

I have loved all the stages my grandchildren have gone through, from the time they were born and I could hold them and give them bottles until they went to sleep, the toddler years, the kindergarten years, and now, Macy is eight-years old and she loves to read and write! What a fun age this is! The other day, I showed her how to make a little 8-page, foldable book and before I knew it, a story was created! It was the week that Ainsley, her three-year old cousin from Houston,was here while her mom was volunteering a week at muscular dystrophy camp. Macy had heard us talk about Colleen's involvement with this camp and two summers ago, she and Marshall even got to visit this camp since they had collected many water toys for these special kids at their birthday party (instead of gifts for themselves.) All of a sudden, "The Baby Bird" began to form in her head. I sat with her at the kitchen table and as quickly as she could think, the story went onto paper. It really is sort of a "rough draft" with quite a few spelling mistakes, but I couldn't help snap pictures of each page before I left their house that day. Here is what it says:

The Baby Bird

by Macy

It was a sunny day. A bird named Joey had hatched. He had no wings and not able to fly. Joey was very, very sad.

(Look at the picture of him in his wheelchair.)

He had five friends. Sally, Johnny, Junior, Belle, and Jack. They tried to teach him how to fly, but he always failed. (The picture shows his score card and his sad face.)

One day, his friend Sally, told him about "Camp Dissy-Bird." (Note, she said it was called this because it was for DISABLED birds!) She would be a volunteer (like Aunt Leenie). She set them up. She would be his assistant. (I had told her that each of the children at muscular dystrophy camp had a volunteer who was with them every day for all 24-hours.)

He toe-painted (we had just painted her toes that day!), went swimming, and played a fun game of Dissy-Bird. He went every summer.

He always looked forward to it. (Picture of him in his wheelchair with his thought bubble that says, "Camp.")

The End.

As a retired English teacher, I would love to have her re-do the book with all the corrections and colored pictures, but I know how important it is at this age, to just relax about that and let children find JOY in writing! I loved sitting there with her and listening to her thoughts as she wrote. This book was written really fast, in probably about ten minutes, pictures and all! I am amazed at her love of the written word, but I am more amazed at her beautiful, caring heart. I love you, Macy, and I love you, Aunt Leenie (Colleen), for being a giving, caring role model for your niece and nephew!

New Picture of Ainsley

2011-06-20T16:15:00.000-05:00

This is a new picture of Ainsley that was in Larry's Father's Day card. We are now fighting over it!

Camp Mimi, 2011

2011-06-19T17:37:00.002-05:00

For the past couple of summers, the first week of June coincides with the week my daughter-in-law volunteers at a camp for children with muscular dystrophy and the three extra days Julie must work after the kiddos get out of school---so lucky me! I get all three of my grandchildren for a few days of fun! It's a chance for some "cousin-bonding time," and has proven to be lots of fun. This year was no exception!

Sunday was a day for church. Ainsley was a super-good girl and enjoyed listening to the "CREATURE" (her term for "preacher") and even going to the altar for a little communion/tea party. I would have loved to have a picture of this for the blog, but it wasn't really something I could do. Later, in the evening, she watered the plants on the deck with her spray bottle (easier for her than a watering can!), and then we ate popsicles while we watched the hummingbirds swarm to the feeder.

She enjoyed entertaining Papa and me with her talents...

Then it was time for bath, teeth-brushing, a bedtime story, prayers, and "night-night." We had a lot of things planned for the next few days.

It began with a trip to Macy's and Marshall's house (because they have all the neat stuff!) and watching Marshall play with his "magic ball."

Such talented grandkids!

Macy and Marshall have become excellent swimmers, but since Ainsley is still learning how to swim, I was reluctant to take them to the "big pool," so they had to be content with splashing and playing with water guns in a little pool in the backyard! This occupied them for about an hour each of the three days.

It was a bit crowded when they all decided to lie down in the water!

Next, they put on costumes--Ainsley chose Tinkerbell wings and wand...

Marshall put on his SWAT team outfit and handcuffed himself! Macy never got into the costume activity, but was pre-occupied with getting out her Littlest Pet Shop toys for Ainsley.

Ainsley was quickly intrigued and I think may be asking for LPS for birthday and Christmas! Get ready, John and Colleen for a thousand little pieces!

Next, we had a Camp Mimi Spa with manicure and pedicure for the girls. This was a first for Ainsley. She chose blue for her toes and pink for her nails.

I told her to hold her fingers out so they wouldn't smear, and she spent a couple of hours in this pose!

The next two days, we also played with bubbles...

...and played with Play-Doh, making all kinds of sea creatures and food items...

like Marshall's fudge-colored jelly-fish. It took a lot of work to get this perfect shade of brown!

For some reason, holding the mouth a certain way always helps when you're creating art!

Ainsley's special creation.

We had lots of fun each day with other art activites, coloring, cooking, eating, playing with dolls, hula-hoops, jumping rope, playing musical instruments, and writing books. This book above is Macy's little book, called "The Baby Bird," which will have a blog post all of its own. It's about a baby bird who was born with no wings and had some special friends who took him to a camp called "Camp Dissy-Bird" for disabled birds. She had obviously been influenced by her Aunt Colleen's volunteer work at the camp for children with muscular dystrophy.

Before long, Camp Mimi, 2011 was over and we were off to meet John in Schulenburg so Ainsley could go back home to Houston, with a trip to her mom's camp the next day. It was a fun-filled week for Mimi and Papa, who returned home to pack for a trip to Seattle the next day to see one of the older granddaughters get married. We are blessed to have fourteen grandchildren!!

Easter, 2011

2011-04-25T11:17:00.006-05:00

We had a wonderful Easter this year but one of the highlights was when Macy created a picture of the Resurrection after dinner. She added a lot of detail to the picture and could explain every aspect of the Resurrection, which proved she had been a very, very good listener. I love the little picture of Jesus in the upper right-hand corner with his sunglasses on. I said, "What is this, Macy?" and she said, "Oh, that is Jesus in Paradise. Remember, he said, to the other criminals who were crucified with him, 'This day, I will see you in Paradise' and what better place for paradise than the beach! That is Jesus with his sunglasses on, sitting in the sun at the beach!"

I looked at the rest of the picture and she had a dice and I when I asked what that was, she told me it was when they "cast lots" to see who would receive Jesus' purple cloak. She has a piece of purple fabric to show it in the bottom right-hand corner, the crown of thorns, the flogging stick, and in the middle of the picture is a large cross with an Easter egg on top! I love her creativity at this age! It is so perfectly innocent and pure.
We had tons of fun on Saturday also when Julie and I took Macy, Marshall, and Sam to see Toy Story Disney on Ice at the Alamodome. The pictures were difficult because our seats were on the floor level and the spotlights on the other side of the ice rink were shining in my camera which distorted the lighting...but here are a few.

Another cute picture Macy drew last week, and other Easter decorations this year.

NIOSA 2011

2011-04-19T16:27:00.002-05:00

Make your own slideshow

The Many Faces of Ainsley at Age Three

2011-04-17T15:50:00.000-05:00

(I told her to "act sassy" here!)

Gathering her friends for naptime!

Ainsley is showing her mothering instincts lately--sometimes it's with a doll, sometimes with her monkey, George, and sometimes with her Easter Bunny! Her politeness is atounding, "Thank you, Mimi." "Yes, m'am." "Please may I have a----" There are always a few quotes that make me double over in laughter. This trip, there were two in particular. After her swimming lesson, we went out to dinner. Our meal was taking a little long and she was getting restless. I took the sugar envelopes and spread them out in front of her and said, "Let's count the sugar." She quickly counted them up to fourteen, perfectly. Then she said, "Now, let's count in Spanish!" She also did that perfectly! Then she said, "Now, let's count in French!" Her mom and dad looked at each other very puzzled---we waited and sure enough, she counted up to about ten!!! No body even knew she could do that! There is a little girl in her day school that speaks French, and we assume that she has been teaching her classmates. The next night, her mom and dad went to Austin and she and I went to Chick-Fil-A to get some chicken nuggets. Before we left the house, she had thrown a pretty lengthy temper tantrum. She calmed down a little when we got in the car. As we were going through the drive-thru window, she said, "Mimi, I really want to stay here and eat." I knew I'd be pushing my luck if I attempted that, so I very firmly said, "No, Ainsley, we are taking the food home to eat." She was very quiet for a few seconds, then softly, she said, "I am NOT pleased!" Luckily, the fun and happy moments with her far out-number the bad ones, and she is at an age we would all like to freeze!

The Nature Boys

2011-04-15T21:34:00.000-05:00

Hayden and Sam, Larry's youngest grandsons, on a "nature hike" with Papa. They kept a log of all the animals and insects they found: yellow butterflies, squirrels, bees, a dead snake! This picture amazes me, because Sam is not six yet, and all of a sudden, he has begun to really get tall, as you can see from his long legs. He's going to be just like his big brother!

Fun at the School Playground

2011-03-07T21:45:00.010-06:00

Ainsley, her dad, and I spent a fun afternoon at a nearby school playground. She loved checking out all the playground equipment and talking about how someday when she goes to this school, she will play here at recess!

John had been telling me how great Ainsley was at kicking a soccer ball. Seeing is believing! Unfortunately, my video/blogging skills need to be improved because this little video is only about half-way uploaded! She was pretty amazing!

This was NOT a happy ending to our afternoon! John was kicking the ball to Ainsley, and he kicked it so hard that it bounced on the sidewalk and onto the roof of the school....where it will remain until the next hurricane hits Houston! When I was taking the video, we thought it ALMOST landed on the roof, but in actuality, it DID!! If only I had continued with the recording to see Ainsley's reaction! She was a very unhappy little girl and cried for a long time! Dad promised he'd buy her a new one, however, so the tears dried up!

Monkeying Around at the Houston Zoo

2011-03-06T20:49:00.001-06:00

It was the perfect day for a trip to the Houston Zoo with Ainsley. She is the perfect age (3) to be very curious and interested in the different animals. One of our favorite things to do was ride the carousel and we managed to do it twice! She loved waving to all the people on the side.

She called this one a "reindeer." I guess since it was February, Christmas was still on her mind!

We saw ELEPHANTS! Even a baby, although he was hard to get a picture of!

This one was a little tamer!

What is she looking at?

I don't remember the name of this animal, but they are kin to giraffes (look at their head) and they have legs like a zebra!

Acting like a monkey, for the monkeys!

Look at me, Mr. Lion!!! But Mr. Lion had other ideas! Zzzzz.......

An early lunch stop to beat the crowds. No straws or lids on the drinks "for animal safety."

We loved the giraffes! Look, there's a baby!

A beautiful yellow parrot

Gorgeous fish!

After about three hours, both Ainsley and I were wearing down. The Houston Zoo is very large! We didn't begin to see it all, but we had lots of fun and there's always a "next time." As we were walking to the car, she began holding up her arms to me and saying, "Up-a, up-a," which has been her signal for "Pick me up, please," since she was very little. It used to be so much fun to pick her up, but now at almost 40 pounds, she is just too heavy for me to lift, so I kept encouraging her by saying, "We're almost at the car, just keep walking." Oh, what I would have given for VALET PARKING at the zoo about this time!!! We made it, however, and before I got out of the parking lot, the little monkey was sound asleep in her car seat!

Hayden, Sam and Santa 2010

2011-01-04T20:22:00.000-06:00

An M&M Christmas, 2010

2011-01-03T22:00:00.002-06:00

Here are two of my favorite Christmas photos of Macy and Marshall.

More Christmas in Houston

2010-12-27T21:56:00.000-06:00

Ainsley finds humor in everything!

A trip to Toys R Us

She lined up all the animals, the kings, and even Mary and Joseph and said, "Now, everyone, you must be quiet and get in a straight line if you want to see the Baby Jesus!"

She played and played with the nativity. Thanks, Fisher-Price, for making such a nice, kid-friendly one!

She gets tickled at herself sometimes, like when she put the Rudolph nose on her head!

Christmas With a Three-Year Old

2010-12-23T22:17:00.001-06:00

What could be more fun than having a three-year old grandchild at Christmas? Three-year old Anisley seemed to totally buy in to "The Elf on the Shelf" story when I visited her recently in Houston. Elfie was named and soon found a place to sit until the next morning.

She had to be reminded a few times that he was watching her every move! She was just about to throw a little temper tantrum, got in her position on the floor, raised her legs to start kicking, and her dad reminded her that Elfie was watching. She froze and looked up at him, then stopped!

The next morning, after his trip to the North Pole, Elfie had re-located to a branch on the Christmas tree!

The mariachis loved singing "Feliz Navidad" to Ainsley at Papacita's.

Ainsley wanted to make a gingerbread house and I thought it would be easy with a kit that had all the supplies. The only thing it was missing was a dose of "three-year old patience!" The royal icing didn't get sticky fast enough, so we ended up making a two-dimensional gingerbread house.

What she really wanted to do was put candy on it and eat some!

The masterpiece! When we finished, Ainsley said, "Where's the rest of it, Mimi?" I said, "Oh, we'll make it next year!" She seemed satisfied. What I learned the next day is that Target now sells "pre-assembled gingerbread houses" which this grandmother will purchase next year!!

Ainsley loved walking around with her Rudolf nose.

And sometimes her "Rudolf belly!"

She loved decorating her Christmas tree and it didn't matter that she hung about five ornaments on the same branch! Convenience is what matters!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2010-12-23T21:48:00.002-06:00

With the help of my little elves, Macy and Marshall, the tree is up! My tree has no particular theme. I've just collected ornaments every year, from travels, from friends, and other places. Here are some of my favorite ones:

My mother used to do needlepoint and this is one she made probably about 40 years ago!

This is one that was made by a student named Michael who I taught at Jackson-Keller back in the late 70's. He had a lot of problems and I was touched by all the work that went into this pretty ornament.

These stars were also made by a student at Jackson-Keller. There are five of them and Macy has always loved them and asks me to hide them around the tree and then she likes to hunt for them.

This ornament is the oldest one I have and was on my tree when I was a child. If you hang it above a light, the heat from the light makes the little foil pinwheel spin around. I love looking at it.

Redbirds have special meaning for me at Christmas. I've always loved them, and my book club has read a book that had "Red Bird" in the title the past two Decembers. I have lots and lots of birds on my tree, and I think maybe next year, I will have a second tree with just birds on it!

This ornament is exactly 40 years old. It was in a flower arrangement that was sent to me in the hospital from friends when John was born.

These two little sleeping babies are 35 years old. They were given to me when Julie was born by my Aunt Allene. She said the blue one was John and the pink one was Julie. I always hang them together.

These are antique penny postcards from the year 1902 that have been in the Gee family for over a century! We found them this past year in boxes that belonged to Larry's mother. We have them for all the holidays and I love to set them out. They were sent to Larry's Uncle Pfaeffle when he was a baby by friends. He never married, so they were passed on to his sister, Larry's mother.

This is one of many nativities I have. The true meaning of Christmas.

My snowman collection

A Santa I bought when Larry and I were honeymooning in Colorado sixteen years ago. He plays "We

Wish You a Merry Christmas" when you wind him up!

A Hummel Christmas plate that was my mother's.

Another nativity set...

and another one. This one is at least 40 years old and was bought by my mother in Mexico.

And another teeny-tiny one from France, given to me by a friend.

I've been collecting Christmas books since the birth of my first grandchild.

My Santa collection, which started out with only tall, skinny Santas, but they have gotten plumper over the years! One of my favorites is fourth from the left and is a newer one given to me by my daughter-in-law's mother, Carolyn!

Christmas is definitely my favorite time of the year. I love sitting in the living room with a fire in the fireplace, listening to Christmas music and just gazing at the Christmas tree thinking about the many blessings I have in my life and the birth of the baby who started it all in Bethlehem.

CanadaTrip2010

2010-10-21T22:11:00.001-05:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Bye-bye Tonsils!

2010-10-07T20:16:00.001-05:00

Because Marshall has had so many strep throat infections the past few years, the pediatrician suggested he have his tonsils taken out. The worst part was he had to have blood "tooken" out of his arm a few days before which was traumatic for him! He wasn't happy the morning of surgery, but once he had his "cocktail," he relaxed and they took him back. Everything went smoothly and afterward, he slept a few hours before going home at noon.

I had never seen an oxygen monitor on a toe before, but evidently, that's how they do it on children!

His "Toy Story" crocs that completed his ensemble of Toy Story underwear and Toy Story pajamas!

He was a brave boy and enjoyed being with his mom for the next three days and his dad for one day before heading back to school the next Monday. He was disappointed that the doctor wouldn't put his tonsils in a jar so he could take them to school!

Cousins and Pumpkins

2010-10-07T20:01:00.001-05:00

Since Marshall had his tonsils taken out on Tuesday, I decided to take Macy with me to Houston to visit her cousin Ainsley and her mom and dad last weekend. On Saturday, we went to a charity golf tournament luncheon. As I was going through Macy's clothes that morning to get her dressed, Colleen saw one of the outfits Julie had put in and she said, "Oh my gosh! Ainsley has that exact same outfit!" So both girls dressed in their Gymboree twin outfits. Colleen and I tried and tried to get some pictures of the two of them, but they just couldn't get together on their smiles. In this picture, you can see Ainsley is trying to stand exactly like her big cousin, Macy!

Ainsley refused to give up her sippy cup!

Ainsley takes saying "cheese" very seriously!

This picture should be titled "Imagination." While we were waiting for the buffet to be set up, Macy and Ainsley went outside and began making "nests" out of pine needles for their pine cones. It was like they were on an Easter egg hunt!

Afterward, we went to the grocery store and bought each girl a pumpkin. This is Ainsley's.

And this one is Macy's---she wanted a small one, and she didn't want to put plastic facial features on it like Ainsley did, but chose to decorate it with marker. She named her "Sally." Sally even slept with us that night, along with numerous dolls!

Two little cousins, as different as their pumpkins! Say "cheese" Ainsley!

The Little Diva

2010-08-21T18:32:00.001-05:00

Ainsley is two and a half. The pictures say it all!

Little Boys, Big Boys and Trains!

2010-07-31T20:03:00.000-05:00

Something about little boys and trains! The Live Oak Civic Center had a model train show this weekend. I don't know who was more excited, Papa or the grandsons. We took Hayden and Sam and ran into Marshall, his dad, his aunt, and his grandpa!

The best set-up of all, hands down, was the Lego train set. This was much larger than this picture shows, with at least three tables of tracks. The fun thing was looking for people and objects hidden in funny places, like Toy Story characters up on top on some of the trains, a Santa Claus near a chimney, Spam, the Toy Story pig in a truck, Darth Vador riding a bicycle, etc.

Even the ALAMO!!

Larry noticed there were lots of white-haired men operating the trains...

Spam, from Toy Story.

Hayden liked this purple, triple-decker bus!

Even the big boys like Sean enjoyed it too!

If you look closely here, you can see Woody and Jessie on the train!

After eating lunch at Red Robin, we headed over to the "Golf and Ice Center" to see what it was all about. They had an ice-skating rink which was fun to observe, but Hayden and Sam thought it looked very difficult (rightfully so!) We were way under-dressed in our summer attire and froze during the short period of time we were in there! Then we found the game area and Hayden enjoyed playing this ice hockey game with both Papa and me! It really was fun, and he decided this is what he wants for Christmas! We decided it would be fun to come back and watch a real ice hockey game here sometime. We saw some kids in hockey gear about his age leaving as we were going in, so they must have leagues that play here.

We never found a golf area, but we did find this indoor soccer field with some lessons taking place! Who knew we had this in San Antonio?

When we got back to our house, we decided to continue with the train theme and the boys watched "Polar Express." When they got ready to go home, Hayden announced this had been his "Ninth favorite day of his entire life!" At the top of the list was his last birthday party! We had fun too! Anytime we are with our grandchildren, it is right up there at the top of our most favorite things to do in our lives!

Ainsley B'dainsley O'dainsley

2010-07-28T10:46:00.004-05:00

A trip to Houston this past weekend provided lots and lots of laughs with Ainsley. For quite a long time, her mom teases her sometimes and calls her "Ainsley B'dainsley." Then she started adding "Ainsley B'dainsley O'dainsley." So now, when you ask Ainsley what her name is, she says, "Ainsley B'dainsley O'dainsley ----" and then the rest of her full name. Then she starts laughing like she is doing in this picture. When I tried to video record her, she got up and walked away, like she did during several "Kodak moments" this trip!

Here she is making Play-Doh worms, a new interest.

What is so interesting out the window, Ainsley???

It's "Squirrelly," the "pet squirrel" who comes to devour dried corn that John places on the top of the fence. He provided hours of entertainment all weekend.

He even had a friend join him, as well as several birds.

Ainsley was not easy to photograph this weekend. As soon as she saw me starting to focus on her, she'd get up and walk away! This picture shows the main weekend attire. She had on her "princess skirt", tiara, and usually had on her Snow White high heels! She said, "I am Princess Ainsley."

She loved rolling on a large plastic ball. Here she is coming....

...and here she is, going!

She asked me to take a picture of her "two Minnies" who she said are COUSINS.

Once again, Mimi did her best to put her hair up in two pony tails! I promise I will do better when you get a little older, Ainsley, and when you get a little more hair that isn't so baby fine.

Amid all the frilly, girly, pink things in her house, is this chair---a touch from Dad.

I'm not sure where John and Colleen got the energy to put together this wonderful, gourmet meal after working as hard as they did all week and then running errands Saturday morning, but it was a really special treat! Thank you for another great weekend in Houston and allowing me to make more memories with my sweet granddaughter! What a blessing!

"LEMON AID"

2010-07-28T10:18:00.001-05:00

Macy, Marshall, and Macy's friend, Hannah set up a special "Lemon Aid" stand on a hot Sunday afternoon. They were raising money for the "Water:Blood" program to raise money for clean water in Africa. Their sign tells the story. One dollar provides water for ONE WHOLE YEAR for one African. They also had lemon bars to go with their lemonade. Most people gave far more than a dollar and when one person gave $25.00, Marshall got excited and said, "That will provide water for one person for TWENTY-FIVE YEARS!!!"

They raised over $150 in just an hour and a half! I am proud of you, Macy and Marshall for giving up some play time to help others. It was such a hot, humid afternoon which made us all appreciate the value of a cool glass of water!

Hula-Hooping Kids!

2010-07-28T10:07:00.000-05:00

I love this picture! Marshall was just learning how to hula-hoop and he was going so fast that he is a blurrrrrrrr!

Macy caught on quickly and could keep the hoop at her waist for a very long time, plus she added some dance steps to her moves! She was very entertaining!

More Funny Marshall

2010-07-28T09:59:00.001-05:00

I was in the kitchen, and I heard a loud noise. It was Marshall, sitting in the back of his Tonka dump truck, pedaling himself down the hall and into the kitchen with his feet!

This was Marshall's time to come to Mimi's and Papa's all alone, and the next morning, we were going to church. He brought special new clothes that he had gotten for his birthday from Aunt Carol and Uncle Herb. He was so excited to have all new clothes to wear, and he looked so grown up. You can't see it, but he even had on a new brown leather belt with silver trim and brown loafers...and he got dressed, all by himself. When I tried to help him tuck in his shirt, he said, "No, Daddy taught me how to tuck in my own shirt."

He went to a Sunday school class all by himself, (for the first time at our church), and then sat in "big church" with us. I took a coloring book and crayons and a few little snacks, and he was a very good boy! Afterward, we went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch and he was interested in the fountain that had coins in it. He found a few coins, that had missed the water and threw them back in! It was great fun having him all by himself, for a change. Marshall, you are growing up just too, too fast!

Beautiful Texas Summer

2010-07-16T21:20:00.000-05:00

Last summer, we had hot, hot temperatures and no rain. Lawns and flowers burned up and it wasn't pretty! This year, we've had a beautiful, cool, wet spring and everyone's yards are green with lots of blooming flowers. Here is a bouganvilla on our deck that we almost threw away in the spring, because we thought the extremely cold winter we had with temps into the teens killed it! Seriously, it was just a few dead sticks. Well, then I bought some "Bouganvilla Food" and began fertilizing it. This is the result!

When it rains here, like it did last week, an interesting thing occurs. The normally grey, dull Texas sage bursts into blooms of purple!! This is a picture of one I took the other day at La Cantera Shopping Center. They looked like this all over town. The blooms are already falling off, but when we have another summer rain, they will bloom again! Another of God's little gifts...but you have to take time to really see them!

Lady Bug Carnival

2010-06-29T09:09:00.000-05:00

After Macy heard Marshall was getting an "earthworm farm," (see post below), she asked if she could get a ladybug farm. When I googled it, this is what I found. It even came with about fifty live ladybugs!! Larry and I are still finding a few "escapees" in the house from when we transferred them into their carnival! They are feeding on raisins! Soon, they will be released onto my roses!

Marshall/Mimi Day, or A Day With Worms!

2010-06-27T18:24:00.002-05:00

This past week, Julie had a workshop to attend, and Sean had a few days off. He wanted to have each child alone for a day, so that meant that I also had one of my grandchildren all alone for a day. This was a special day. Marshall and I started our day off with a trip to the Bass Pro Shop. He said he wanted to go there because he wanted some fudge! (I sometimes call him "The Fudge Boy" because he really loves it or anything chocolate!) He also found a few other distractions before we got to the fudge!

He even found something his big sister would like!

I think the Bass Pro Shop was better than any interactive museum we've ever been to!

After his lunch of mini-corndogs at the restaurant there, he dug out his fudge. We each had a few little bites, then boxed it up to take home!

When we got back to my house, he had one thing on his mind: digging for worms! For one of his birthday presents, I bought him a Worm Farm. He found a great stash of earthworms at his swim practice one morning and while Macy was practicing, he and another friend enjoyed playing with them. I had suggested that we go to Wal-Mart and buy some, but he was pretty intent on digging for them himself in

our backyard. We had gone to his house and got his own shovel. Then, he enlisted Papa's help with his big shovel too!

However, digging in our backyard was like digging in a hot, dry desert! There were no earthworms in these flower beds...plus the heat in the middle of the day in June, quickly made it "no fun!"

A hot, little boy came in with pink cheeks and rested for about five-minutes before he announced he was ready to go buy some worms at Wal-Mart! For $2.86, we bought a few more hours of fun!

He and Papa named this one "Jasper." He and about 29 other earthworm friends had a great afternoon playing in a big bowl before going home and being placed in their Worm Farm.

He and his mom read a book about earthworms later in the day, and now he is an "Earth Worm Expert." Marshall, I loved having you all to myself for one whole day. I'll never forget our day at Bass Pro Shop and playing with the earthworms!

Mimi/Macy Day

2010-06-27T17:50:00.000-05:00

It was June 22, Marshall's sixth birthday. Julie was at a week-long workshop, and Sean had a few days off. He really wanted Marshall all by himself that day, so I got to have Macy all to myself!

Macy, like me at her age, is a doll lover! I decided to make it a special day by taking her to the Doll Collectible Store. I warned her before we went that we weren't buying anything, but she could make a wish list for Christmas! She was quickly absorbed in all the beautiful dolls in the store.

She found dolls like she had never seen before. In her hand, is a little baby doll she brought along. Here is she is, showing her all the other dolls.

Macy has a special fondness for baby dolls. Some of these looked like real babies!

She loved the round cradle that housed a bunch of baby dolls! No, Macy, there is not enough room for this in your bedroom!

She was almost as intrigued with the special doll house room...

It was a little girl's fantasy world!

Next, we were off to Neiman Marcus to have lunch at the Mariposa.

I knew she'd love all the butterflies hanging from the ceiling over the escalator!

As soon as we sat down, we were served consomme. Macy looked at it kind of funny and said she didn't think she liked it. I encouraged her to try it and she smiled and said, "I love consomme!" She also loved the puffed rolls and ate all of her pasta and fruit. When I told her she could order dessert, she said I was "the best grandmother in the world!" Macy, it was such a special day for me, and I will always remember taking my real, live "granddaughter doll" for a special day of fun! I love you more than you'll ever know.

Hayden, Macy, and Marshall at the Swim Meet

2010-06-27T17:24:00.000-05:00

Macy and Marshall joined a swim team this year and made a lot of progress with their swimming strokes. Here is Marshall ~~diving~~ jumping in for his race. I only wish I had captured his face when he realized he came in first and got a blue ribbon! I had just told me a few days earilier, "I am worned out from swim team! I am not going to do swim team again next year!"

Here he is with his ribbon stuck to his wet chest and his teacher from last year, who gets "Teacher of the Year" in my book for coming out on what seemed to be the hottest afternoon of the year to watch him!!

Here is Macy with her second place ribbon (there were only two little girls swimming in her heat!) Macy loves, loves, loves to swim, but she also enjoys the scenery a little bit as she swims!

Hayden is an amazing swimmer and has been on a swim team for three or four years. He swims like a dolphin! He always wins lots of ribbons and was so much fun to watch! Here he is diving into the water!

Those are his feet in the third lane!

We are so proud of you great, swimming grandchildren!!

Macy and Marshall Swimming, Summer '10

2010-06-19T21:06:00.001-05:00

Macy and Marshall have been getting better and better with their swimming the past couple of summers. They've had lots of lessons in groups and also private. This summer, however, they joined a swim team and they have REALLY become good! Macy's group learned four strokes and Marshall's learned two. They love getting ribbons at the meets! A real thrill for Macy last week was getting to attend a two-hour swimming clinic with Josh Davis!

The Many Faces of Ainsley at Age Two

2010-06-16T16:51:00.001-05:00

Putting her hair in "two pony tails" was no easy feat for this grandmother for a couple of reasons. Ainsley does not sit still, and she has very fine hair. This was the best I could do. If you tilt your head, it looks pretty good!

Camp Mimi, Summer, 2010

2010-06-16T16:36:00.002-05:00

For the past couple of summers, I have "Camp Mimi" with either one, two, or all three of my grandchildren. This summer, it was with all three of them. Julie always has to work a few days extra after the kids are out for summer vacation. Ainsley's mom always volunteers a week at Camp For All, a camp for children with muscular distrophy. This year, they coincided. John asked me to come to Houston. Julie asked me to keep M&M in San Antonio. I tried to figure out a way to be in two places at once, and just couldn't do it!!! So, Ainsley came to San Antonio for three days and three nights, and all three cousins got to spend those days together. Because Ainsley has just recently become potty-trained, I decided to play it safe, and stay pretty close to home those three days. We spent most of the days at Macy's and Marshall's house, because they have some pretty cool toys! One of the first things we did was make a cake! Not just any ordinary cake, but one with our special "secret ingredient." It never fails, whenever Macy and Marshall make a cake or brownies with me, they always ask, "Are we going to put in the secret ingredient?" Now Ainsley knows what it is too! I hope they will always remember what it is, because it truly does make anything sweet soooo much better. Ainsley quickly learned that she needed her own spoon, and very quickly, all three of them were licking their fingers. When we put the cake in the oven, Ainsley looked at Marshall with his chef's hat on, and said, "You're a good COOKER-BOY!"

We just went on three outings. One of them was to Target to get a few items, and as we checked out, Macy and Marshall begged for an Icee. Ainsley decided she liked them too!

It was kind of a rainy, cloudy day, so we decided to have a "picnic" indoors. The kids all got a beach towel and we spread them around on the floor, stuck in a DVD, and we had an "instant indoor picnic!"

Hot dogs with catsup, chips and lemonade!

I made the mistake of saying, "When you finish, you may have some cake!" Here is what Ainsley did:

Oh, Ainsley, I have so many pictures that are going to make people laugh at your rehearsal dinner some day!

It was a delicious cake! I put three M&M's on each piece, and they all thought it was the best cake they had ever eaten!

At two and a half, Ainsley still needs an afternoon nap. I knew this was going to be a challenging accomplishment since Macy and Marshall gave up naps a long time ago. I told her to lie down on the sofa, got her beloved buddy, George, the monkey, covered her up, put a DVD in the tv for M&M, and after just a few minutes, voila! She was out for over an hour!

When we first got out the Play-Doh, Marshall began making snakes and worms, which scared Ainsley. After she realized they were not real, she began to enjoy it. She made flat pancakes, then stamped them with a Dora stamp and never seemed to tire of it.

Macy began making pizzas with her Play-Doh and enlisted my help making the pepperoni!

On Tuesday night, Julie and I took them all to Chick-Fil-A because that's one of Ainsley's special treats every Tuesday night. At "her" Chick-Fil-A in Houston, they call it Family Night, and they even have a clown who will paint on your face! Well, ours doesn't do that, but we enjoyed our dinner and the kids all got an ice cream cone, which Ainsley needed absolutely no help with! Then, they enjoyed scrambling up in the jungle gym/play area! Again, Ainsley needed no help from her two older cousins!

Our "Monkey Boy!"

The next morning, we were off on our second outing, a trip to Krispy-Kreme Doughnuts! Ainsley in her car seat in the middle with M&M in their booster seats on either side. Thank goodness, M&M can fasten their own seat belts now, but it wasn't easy with the car seat in the middle.

Three excited kids watching the doughnuts going through the assembly line! We got a free hot doughnut, then they also ordered an iced one. The girls got pink with sprinkles, and Marshall got white with red, white, and blue sprinkles! M&M got apple juice and Ainsley got pink milk!

The children found some coloring sheets to occupy themselves while I ordered the food. Minutes after this picture was taken, Ainsley had to "go potty." There was only one other customer, a young lady with a little girl, so I left M&M sitting there while I took her to the restroom. When we came out of the restroom, Marshall was not sitting next to Macy. I said, "Macy, where is Marshall?" She looked at me bewildered, and said, "I don't know." I looked at the lady who was sitting next to them with her child, and she even said, "I didn't even see him get up!" My heart was pounding and my blood pressure was shooting up, as I ran to the boys' restroom door and yelled, "Marshall, are you in here?" And I heard a sweet little voice, "Yes!" I was so relieved! He did get a little lecture about how scared he made me---he has done this before---just disappeared innocently without telling me. So, that is all I can think about when I look at this picture. About 20 minutes later, Ainsley had to go to the bathroom again, and Macy said, "I'll take her." Since they were private restrooms with only one stall, I walked with them to the door, told Macy to lock it, which she did. They stayed and stayed. I went to the door and knocked, and said, "Macy, is everything ok?" She said, "Yes, I'm teaching Ainsley a dance!" They came out right away. Wow! How does Kate do it with EIGHT??

Enjoying her pink cupcake and pink milk...until we got ready to leave...

While I was cleaning up our table and gathering the left-over doughnuts, Ainsley picked up her bottle of milk to take home, and of course, it was hard for her to manage, it slipped, and this is the result! Needless to say, I was happy to get out of there and get everyone safely back in my car, headed back to Aunt Julie's house!

One of the things Macy and Marshall love playing with are some foam blocks. They spent a long time making beautiful creations---here is Macy and her "museum."

And Marshall just beginning to build a tower, which I didn't get a picture of, because they soon found out that it is no fun building towers and museums when there is a two-year old around. Ainsley loved sneaking up and knocking down their creations. We tried explaining the rule that you can only knock down what you build, but two-year olds haven't exactly learned the rules of fairness yet, so the blocks had to be put up!

I am truly one of the luckiest grandmothers in the world, and Macy, Marshall, and Ainsley made Camp Mimi of 2010 a most memorable one. We had lots of laughs. On the third afternoon, Papa and I had to load up Ainsley and George and head to Schulenburg where we met her dad for a quick meal at Frank's and then said "Good-bye." She slept the entire way. She was one pooped little girl, and I was one pooped "Mimi."

Macy and Marshall Turn 7 and 6!!

2010-06-06T17:22:00.001-05:00

Once again, Macy and Marshall wanted to have a "joint" birthday party! (I was very surprised!) "Pump It Up" was the party place and they had 37 friends in attandance!! (That's a lot of cupcakes and favors!)

Instead of gifts, they collected Crayola Color Wonder products to donate to the Children's Bereavement Center, which is a non-profit organization that counsels children who have lost a loved one. Their friends donated a huge bucket filled with these products which Macy and Marshall will deliver sometime soon.

I find it hard to believe my first-born grandchild has turned seven! She has become quite a grown-up young lady. She loves dancing and she is very much a "girlie girl" as you can see from the frilly skirt she has on at her party. She still loves dolls, especially baby dolls. She wants every one that she sees in the stores, even the ones with smudges on their faces---she wants to take them home and clean them up! She also loves American Girl Dolls and has several of them. At the same time, she loves playing outdoors and riding her bicycle. She is on a swim team this year for the first time, and has become a pretty good swimmer in just the past few months. Macy also loves singing and has been in her church's Kids' Choir for several years. Her group even sang on a beautiful CD this past year! She loves school and did extremely well in first grade. She also loves reading books now, and has decided that some day, she may become a teacher of special needs' children, or even have her own school.

Marshall is my second-born grandchild and is just thirteen months younger than his sister. He has the sweetest spirit of any child I've ever been around. He loves playing soccer, running, jumping, riding his scooter and his bicycle. He's become quite a daredevil on his bicycle and loves going really fast and jumping off the curb. He also is on a swim team this summer and has learned two strokes. The back stroke was very hard for him, but he has worked very hard and now has it mastered. He also loves working with wood and nails! He and his dad have made several projects this year. He's a boy who loves being a helper and one of his quotes is, "I can do it all by myself." He did so well in kindergarten, and loves reading books. He also loves to sing and has been in his church's Kids Choir for several years.

I managed to get Macy to sit still for just a few seconds to get a picture with her!

Marshall was EXTREMELY hyper the day of their party. About an hour into the party, he ran over to me and sat on the floor and leaned up against my legs. He was already tired!

This picture makes me laugh. It says a lot about this brother and sister!

Since Macy and Marshall are often called "M&M," their party theme was M&M's! Julie made adorable invitations and the cupcakes had an "m" on them that she cut from her "Cricut" machine.

What could be better for favors than water bottles filled with "M&M's!"

Macy summed it up well at the end of the party as everyone was leaving. She said, "This has been the BEST day of my life!"

The Three Piggy Opera

2010-05-19T19:52:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, Marshall's class had a music program called, "The Three Piggy Opera." At the beginning of the show, the music teacher said, "OK, everybody, get in your opera positions." This is how everyone stood! (Picture above)

Marshall was the little piggy with the house made of sticks. He even had a solo!

Here he is waiting for the wolf to come.

The wolf just blew down his house and here he is huddled with the little piggy from the house made of straw! There were several songs to memorize and I was so proud of Marshall for working hard on his part. I am thankful that he and Macy both enjoy music and they've had wonderful teachers to teach them and to make music fun! Good job, kindergarteners!!

The Ainsley Concert in San Antonio

2010-05-02T13:23:00.000-05:00

John, Colleen, and their babysitter/nanny, Mary came to San Antonio to see the George Strait Concert this past weekend. I got to stay home and have an "Ainsley Concert," which was great fun. We always go feed the fish in the park. Ainsley had to wear her sunglasses, because even though it was a beautiful, cool spring day, it was very sunny.

We fed crackers to the fish, walked around the little park, and went through one of the model homes. We saw a big squirrel, a purple dragonfly, and lots of tadpoles sunning on rocks. We are going to have a bunch of frogs in the neighborhood soon!

Ainsley loved playing with the doll house this trip, and then she played with Molly and the baby doll. Here she is, in the doll cradle! I suddenly realize how fast she is growing and how big she is now! How did that happen???

A Trip to Houston for Spring Fling

2010-05-02T13:15:00.000-05:00

Every spring, John's neighborhood has a Spring Fling, with all kinds of fun things for kids to do plus lots of food and music. The last couple of years, Julie and Sean, Macy, Marshall, and I go. This year was especially fun, because Ainsley is getting bigger and she really seemed to enjoy it. The picture above is the kids playing in the grass the night before.

Here is Sean holding the barbeque pit as he and John left to go set up our area. John grilled hot dogs, chicken fajita meat and sausage. We also feasted on fruit, cheese, chips, cookies and plenty of sodas and beer! His friend Jaime set up a huge awning for us and we enjoyed a beautiful, cool, breezy spring day!

Ainsley loved playing with all the bubble wands her mom brought!

Macy enjoyed the big, inflatable water slide the best!

Marshall enjoyed the face-painting! He sat patiently for about 20-minutes to get this masterpiece on his face. We can't wait for next year's Spring Fling!

Fiesta Parade

2010-05-02T12:58:00.001-05:00

Here comes King Marshall in the Kinder Fiesta Parade at his school. All the kindergartners participated in the Fiesta Parade which was held in the halls of the school. Marshall's "float" was decorated with a "Toy Story" theme. Buzz Lightyear and Woodie were both sitting on donkey pinatas.

I stood with Macy in the hallway and I loved listening to her as each float came by. She had been told by her mom, that some floats were prettier than others and that it would be very rude to say something negative to anyone who had a float that wasn't very pretty. So, as EACH float came by, she'd yell, "Oh, that is the BEST float so far. I love your float! Great job!" Honestly, she must have said something like that to every single float, and there were about 100 of them.

This was one of our favorite floats. It was a replica of Kyle Field! Gig 'em, Aggies!

Surprise from Seattle!

2010-04-18T16:36:00.000-05:00

We knew granddaughter Megan and her fiance Ryan were coming to San Antonio from Seattle for a weekend visit. It was wonderful to see them and to congratulate them in person! But, what we didn't know was that Megan's brother, Sam and their mother, Larry's daughter, Sally, were also coming. What a great surprise!

Sam is a junior in high school this year (in the first picture on the left) and here is Sally with Larry's other daughter, Carol.

The two Sam's. Sam Gee and Sam Sweeney.

Four of Larry's five kids!

Nan, Carol, Sally, and Larry

Two more grandchildren, Barbara Jane a student at UT Galveston Nursing School, and Wesley, a freshman at Reagan High School, with their mom, Nan.

Four Gee grandsons (two missing)

Roses

2010-04-18T16:24:00.000-05:00

Although recent rains have damaged my rose bushes, these two were begging to be picked!

The New Marriott Hill Country

2010-04-07T16:08:00.001-05:00

The new Marriott Hotel in San Antonio is really beautiful. My favorite part is the Jeni Garcia hand-blown Texas wildflowers hanging from the ceiling!

Pinkalicious Weekend!

2010-03-28T19:35:00.001-05:00

It has been a long time since I've blogged. More time than I would like has been spent in doctor's offices with Larry, and there's just not a lot of bloggable material there! This past weekend, Colleen had a Girls' Weekend planned in Kerrville, so she and some friends came through San Antonio from Houston, and dropped off sweet Ainsley, now almost two and a half years old. "Pinkalicious" was playing at the Magik Theatre and Julie, Macy, Ainsley and I had tickets. Julie took some great pictures of the two of them before we left.

Ainsley sat like a big girl throughout the play and seemed mesmerized by the fun on stage.

Once she saw everyone sitting and watching the stage, she got super-excited! She didn't even get scared when the lights went out! Our favorite actress, Becky King, was the star of the show, and she lived up to all our expectations. She was absolutely adorable!

Here she is when she had turned pink from eating too many pink cupcakes!

It was such a fun, fun day! Thank you Julie, Macy, and Ainsley for another great memory!

Before she left today, I captured a few of Ainsley's various moods. Here, she looks angelic...

Here she is, being a little mischevious, trying to reach something I had put up out of her reach (the "parade bunnies" as she called them.) Luckily, the stool wasn't quite high enough.

Here she is, being funny, unintentionally, when she put her sunglasses on upside-down before we went on a walk outside.

Sweetest little girl walking "George" in the stroller. She took this job very seriously.

Don't ask me why this photo flipped sideways when I downloaded it, but this is an example of her unpredictable, "typical two-year old" mood! She was moving the little stool, and she accidentally set it down on her foot. She cried a little and I went and got a bandaid for it and then put her sock back on. Within about 5 minutes, the sock was off as well as the bandaid. She started crying again and wanted the bandaid back on! I put it back on and put the sock back on. Again, five minutes later, the sock and bandaid were off and she was crying. I told her there were no more bandaids. She walked around the house for about an hour with one sock on, one sock off.

Once again, she amazed me with her verbal abilities. Everything is complete sentences. When Aunt Julie asked her if she was excited about going to see "Pinkalicious," she answered, "I sure am!" When she decided she needed to move the little yellow rocking chair from the play room into the living room, she said, "I want to move this chair into the living room," and she did so! When we were driving in the car to get something for dinner, I must not have heard something she said and was quiet, and she promptly shouted, "Mimi, I'm talking to you!" But the most amazing thing she does, is when you tell her it is time to go "Night-night," she gets her blanket and George, and goes to bed. There is not even a whimper!! She slept both nights almost twelve hours, and woke up once each night about 5:00 AM saying, "My Mimi, my Mimi..." and I went in and covered her up and said, "Night-night," and she went right back to sleep until about 7:30 AM!!

Larry Sells His Truck to a New Zealander--An Amazing Story!

2010-02-19T19:10:00.000-06:00

Larry decided he didn't need his 2002 Dodge Ram truck anymore, so he put it up for sale in October, when he bought a new Malibu. Finally, in December, when John was in town, he helped us set up an ad on Craig's List. We got a few calls---but just a few. Then last week, when Larry was still in the hospital, I had come home and the phone rang about 8:00 PM. With a very strange accent, the caller said, "Hello, I'm calling about your ad on Craig's List for the Dodge Ram truck! I'm calling from New Zealand! Do you know where that is? It's south of Australia!"

I answered, "Yes, I know where that is." He went on, "I'm planning to be in Texas for about three months. I should arrive next Tuesday, and I need a truck to drive during that time. When I leave, I may sell it or I may ship it back to New Zealand! I'm going to be staying in Pleees-on-tone." I said, "Pleasanton?" He said, "Yes. Is your truck in good condition?" I told him it had never had any fast food eaten in it, and that whenever it rained, my husband came home and wiped it down. It had only one tiny little ding on one side of the door. Yes, it was in excellent condition. He said he'd give us a call when he got to town and that he had cash to pay for it and would like to see it. Tuesday morning, about 8:00, the phone rang, and I said, "Hello?" The person said, "Hello, this is Michael, from New Zealand! I'm in LA and I'm going to be in San Antonio about noon. I want to see your truck and I'll call you when I arrive at the airport. Can you pick me up at the airport?" I explained that my husband had just had open heart surgery, and no, I wouldn't be able to pick him up and he said, "That's no problem, I'll catch a cab to your house." When he arrived, he called and I gave him our address. Within about 30 minutes, he arrived! He paid the cab driver, took his shoes off (New Zealand custom), and left them at the door. In he walked with a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates from New Zealand! He drove the truck around the neighborhood with Larry, and loved it! We visited with him for about two hours (!) and he was interesting and likable. We finally hinted, again, that Larry had recently had major heart surgery, and needed to take a nap, and he gave us his business card and said good-bye. He gave Larry a large stack of $100 bills, and drove off into the sunset with the truck!!

The Mutton Bustin' Cowboy, Marshall!

2010-02-19T16:08:00.001-06:00

I just love this picture of Marshall, his shirt tucked in crooked, his belt buckle askance! The smile on his face says it all! He was a cowboy waiting to get on a sheep. All he had to do was hold on for six seconds!

Thanks to Betsy and Tom Stolhandske for the wonderful box seats! The rodeo was spectacular!

Here's a picture of Marshall standing with his dad listening to the rules of the event! He's #6!

It's too late to back out now!

It's finally his turn! He was the last one!

Here he is, holding on for dear life!

Here they are getting their trophies!

It's almost as big as he is!!! That's his teacher next to him. They gave her tickets to the rodeo too!

What a great job, Marshall. He came in second place! We are proud of you, Cowboy!

Larry Gets a New, Improved, Super-Duper Heart, Just in Time for Valentine's Day!

2010-02-15T12:57:00.009-06:00

When Larry had a heart catherization on Jan. 27, we both thought he might need a stent or two. We were shocked when the doctor came out and told us he had some serious blockages and was a candidate for a quadruple bypass operation! The 90% blockage was in the LAD artery, AKA, the "Widow Maker." He spent one night in the hospital and then came home for five days before checking in to North East Baptist Hospital for surgery on Feb. 3.

This is not a very good picture, but it was taken just before he was wheeled into surgery when Dr. David Cohen was asking, "Do you have any questions?" Then they talked Super Bowl for a couple of minutes, and he was off to the OR.

Here are just a few of the monitors he was hooked up to for several days. There were more on the other side of the bed.

This screen showed his heart rate (top), blood pressure and oxygen levels which were both turned off at the time. A couple of times, his heart went into atrial fibrilation and sky-rocketed to 184 beats per minute. Medication seems to have that under control now.

When he asked for the newspaper crossword puzzle a few days after he got into a private room, I knew he was on his way to recovery!

Highlights of his nine-day stay were visits from grandchildren. This is a poster made by Macy and Marshall.

And this is a precious card Hayden made at school and had all his classmates sign. There are more on the back!

Here is the sweetest nurse's aide in the entire world, Estela. She is the happiest person I ever met. She helped Larry with his first shower and pampered him every day.

He also had wonderful nurses in the ICU, Gloria and Victor. In the CVU room, he had Nancy, Sue, Lillian, and David. There were also some precious student nurses from Galen College of Nursing.

One afternoon, these student nurses came in to take vitals and Larry said, "Do you want to see my scar?" They said, "Yes!" They had lots of questions. Later this day, they helped administer a unit of blood to him. He had wonderful doctors and nurses. After nine nights in the hospital, he finally was cleared to go home.

Here he is waiting to go home. The doctor usually made his rounds about 11:00 AM....

So, we waited, and waited...and finally about 2:00, he strolled in!!! By the time the nurse filled out all the paper work, it was 4:45 before we headed for home on this cold, rainy day! Yea, finally, we'll get some good sleep with no interruptions!

Here is the beautiful prayer quilt that was made for Larry by the UUMC Prayer Quilt Ministry, and was waiting for him when he got home. Each knot represents a prayer for him by my bible study class.

This is sewn into the corner on the back of the quilt.

Never ever underestimate the power of a card. Larry and I have both read and re-read all of the cards many, many times. Knowing he was thought of and prayed for made Larry feel better each day!

The cross on the wall in Larry's room--a constant reminder of just who was really in charge.

Macy Gets a Pink Cast!

2010-02-15T11:40:00.000-06:00

Macy got a little too rambunctious on a trampolene at a birthday party a few days ago, and this is the result! A little fracture or sprain in one of the tiny bones on top of the foot. The doctor said she'd need to keep her foot elevated for a couple of weeks or get a cast. That was an easy decision! She has to wear it for just a couple of weeks.

Macy Wants To Be a Teacher

2010-01-24T15:24:00.000-06:00

Macy has a little boy in her first grade class this year who is a special needs student. He has a teacher aide with him all day to help him. Julie, a counselor at her school, has explained his situation to Macy.

Last week, they were talking about careers in her classroom, and Macy told her teacher that when she grows up, she wants to open a school for children with special needs. She went to the teacher's aide and asked her if she would be one of the teachers in her school. She, of course, said, "Yes." Last night, she gathered a bunch of her dolls and stuffed animals and put them in a wagon and told Marshall she needed him to help her bus these "students" to their special needs' school. Then she turned to me and said, "Mimi, would you be a parent reader in my school?"

Macy Changes Uncle John's Life

2010-01-19T12:04:00.000-06:00

Last night when Macy and Marshall were over here, I got out some old pictures of them to look at. Macy really enjoyed this, and when she came to the picture above, she said, "Mimi, it looks like Uncle John really loves me in this picture." I told her, "Yes, it does...in fact, it was about this time that Uncle John and Aunt Leenie decided to get married and have a little baby of their own!" She smiled a big smile, and said, "SO I CHANGED UNCLE JOHN'S LIFE!!??"

San Fernando Cathedral

2010-01-07T20:38:00.002-06:00

I was born in San Antonio, and haved lived here all my life, yet I've never stepped foot in the San Fernando Cathedral. I've heard of it all my life, and I'm embarrassed to say, I really didn't even know where it was. You see, I don't spend a lot of time around the courthouse downtown! It is right there, a stone's throw away from the courthouse, on Main Plaza. My sweet Emmaus Reunion Group planned an outing there yesterday, and little did I know, it would be a day I'd never forget.

We started the day with lunch at Mi Tierra's Restaurant at El Mercado. This is the foyer when you first walk in!

This is the ceiling in the room where we ate. It was covered with icicle lights and silver foil paper doilies. There is a Spanish word for this which I don't know. It was very beautiful.

This cathedral was founded in 1793 when 15 families of 55 people came to San Antonio from the

Canary Islands.

The remains of Crockett, Bowie, and Travis, our Alamo heroes, are buried here.

Here are the "milagros" that people bring to represent prayer requests.

And here are just some of the candles which were in many areas of the cathedral which people light when they pray.

The majesty of this altar just can't be appreciated from this photo. It is a beautiful statue of Jesus surrounded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And yes, that is real gold.

When we finished our tour of the cathedral, the twelve of us received permission to sit in a circle on the side of the sanctuary and visit and pray. We were led by Denise Barker who talked to us about "blessings," how we rarely take the time to realize what a blessing we are to God, and to realize all the blessings in our lives every day. Her words, as always, were beautiful. When Molly Bailey went to Isreal a few months ago, she brought each of us a little box with three bottles: one of holy water, one of holy oil, and one of holy soil. Denise asked us to bring our holy oil that day, so we could all be anointed. Then we went around the circle and each of us put oil on the forehead of the person to our right, and we took turns telling them what a blessing they were to us. It was a very meaningful experience. When we finished, we very softly sang, "Surely the Presence of the Lord is in This Place."

It was a day I won't ever forget. For a link to this song, click here

Surely the Presence of the Lord is in This Place

Marshall and the Chipmunks

2010-01-07T19:39:00.000-06:00

One night during the Christmas holidays, it was Marshall's turn to spend the night with us alone. This is always a treat for them and us! I told him after his bath, we'd take him driving around in the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights, which he was very excited about. He put on his Nemo house slippers and yelled, "I'm ready!" and this is what was waiting for us in the hallway! Marshall and his chipmunks! (He had just seen the movie a few days before!)

Macy's Growing Up!

2010-01-07T19:27:00.001-06:00

This picture taken of Macy at Christmas shows how fast she's growing up. You can't really see her cute frou-frou skirt that I bought her at the Junior League Ole Marketplace because her hands are sort of holding it down here. I got the black bling-bling t-shirt and sequined scarf in Dallas at Justice For Girls. That's what makes me sad. It's a store for pre-teen girls in sizes 7-14. She's in a 7-8 now (at age 6)! I just wish I could freeze her right at this age!

Ainsley's Funny Surprise!

2010-01-02T21:48:00.006-06:00

This video was taken on New Year's Eve when Papa and I were babysitting with Ainsley so her mom and dad could go to a party. She was giggling like crazy at something Larry kept saying and I grabbed my camera and put it on "video." This is the result!

If you didn't see this video before Jan. 7, you missed it. I removed it for the sake of my sweet granddaughter's dignity. :-)

Ainsley's Christmas

2009-12-28T14:50:00.001-06:00

John, Colleen, Carolyn, (Colleen's mom), and Ainsley arrived Christmas evening. After watching other grandchildren wait for endless minutes to get their toys out of the packaging, I had Ainsley's gifts assembled and out of the packaging, ready to be played with! She walked in and began talking to her twin baby dolls in their new high chair and cradle. Here she is feeding the baby "yogurt."

Ainsley loves to laugh and once she starts, it doesn't take much to keep her going. Here, she is playing a little game with her mom, which had her pretty tickled.

This was another fun gift from Macy and Marshall...

And even more fun was putting the blue bow on her head and laughing!

Here she is with the baby Jesus from one of my nativity scenes. She liked the story and really wanted to play with all the figures, but after I told her it was "Mimi's toy," she left it all alone. Next year, we will get her the Fisher-Price Nativity Set for children.

We had fun at the park in our neighborhood, and she even inspired me to go down the double slide with her! Look at her face in this photo. She gets really excited on a playground.

Looking at Mommy through a hole.

Going up the stairs to the slide...

Everytime she came down the slide, she stand up, and say, "Again," and she'd go again and again!

This is one of my favorite Christmas pictures of her, wearing her Minnie Mouse scarf, hat and mittens from her great aunt Sandy in California.

When we took her outside, she really didn't want to smile. It was pretty cold, and she didn't have on a coat or shoes...but I thought the lighting would be better.

This is why God made grandmothers. At dinner, she was not happy and didn't want to eat much of anything. Her mom and dad had reached their limits and Mimi was saying something like, "I should have fixed her some macaroni and cheese..." She knew I was sympathetic to her cause and in the middle of a huge temper tantrum, through tears, she looked across the table at me, and said, "I want my Mimi!" Well, that was it. I broke all the rules, and went around to her and took her out of her chair and sat her on my lap. She calmed down and ate a few bits of chicken, had a roll, and some water and milk. I didn't win a popularity contest with Mom and Dad, but it was one of my favorite Christmas memories this year! Ainsley, I promise, next year, I will fix a big bowl of macaroni and cheese for you, so neither you nor I will get into trouble!

Fun under the tree with Daddy.

While her mom and dad were loading up the car on Sunday morning, Papa and I took her down to the pond to feed crackers to the fish. I love this picture of her. The lighting was just right, and you can almost see the gold halo over her head!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Santa was very good to all of us, but the best gifts of all were the grandchildren, who made this a blessing of a holiday!

Christmas with the Gee's

2009-12-28T14:16:00.000-06:00

Larry and Ashley had us over Christmas morning for brunch and present un-wrapping. Their tree is always beautiful! Brunch was wonderful with a yummy egg casserole, sausage rolls, fresh fruit, other things, mimosas and coffee.

Sam got some new sunglasses...

A head light...

A Buzz-Lightyear from "Toy Story," and lots and lots of other things.

Hayden was very excited about his Lego City----I think they may need to add a room on the house once it is built! It was so much fun watching the boys unwrap all their gifts.

Sam summed it up when in the middle of unwrapping presents, he looked at everyone and shouted, "THIS IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!"

The Metcalf Christmas

2009-12-22T21:41:00.001-06:00

Julie's family is leaving town on the 23rd to go to Midland to be with the Metcalf family. Our Christmas with them was on Monday, the 20th. We had wanted to go to Bigz Burger's, only to find out they were closed, so we went to Longhorn. Marshall wasn't feeling well, and ate nothing, then fell asleep in Julie's arms. He had been coughing for a few days and lost his voice, so Julie already had a doctor's appointment scheduled for the next morning. Here we are before we ate, with Mia in her new Christmas dress and the ever-present, Bear!

Macy had already guessed that the American Girl Doll Bitty Twins were in her big box under our tree. The girl has her coloring and the boy has Marshall's. Only one problem: Marshall really thought the boy doll was for HIM! But, he got lots of other toys and soon was happy about his Toy Story dolls that talk and his Trio blocks.

Papa is always ready with his glasses and screwdriver! Finding the place for Woody's batteries was a special challenge this year, but soon, he was working like a charm! The packaging on these toys was amazing. It took a good 20 minutes to get Woody and Buzz Lightyear out of their boxes!

Earlier in the afternoon, Macy and Marshall had to demonstrate their new bicycles, gifts from their other grandparents. Macy's is a Hannah Montana bicycle and is a lot bigger than the one she had been riding, but she adapted quickly and loves it!

Marshall bicycle is called "The Wasp." Here's why....

What's funny is that last summer, Marshall would run into the house if he ever saw a wasp. He was really afraid of them! Then, this is the bicycle he picked out! Such a brave little boy! Oh, and the doctor said he had a very red throat and some slightly swollen lymph glands, but the strep test turned out negative. Since they were going out of town, she gave them a prescription for an antibiotic, which they started today.

Macy's Weekend at Mimi's

2009-12-14T13:45:00.000-06:00

Macy spent the night with us Saturday night. For dinner, she wanted to make a menu, so I wrote down everything we were having. She then wrote, "Mimi's Restrot" on the left. She's really getting pretty good with sounding out words and spelling. I love the way she comes up with words like "restaurant" which is clearly a very hard word to spell! She circled what Papa (Popoy) had for dinner, then made him pay for it. She charged him a dollar per bowl of soup. He had to make some play money and pay me.

Macy pointing to a package under the tree that has her name on it. She said, "It's too big for one American Girl doll, so I think it's the "Bitty Twins!" Darn!

When we got home from church, she wanted to go feed the fish in the park. We had heard the song, "Mary, Did You Know" at church and she kept singing it over and over again. She didn't know all of the words, so she kind of made up some of them. Then I downloaded the song by Kenny Rodgers and Wynona Judd on my cell phone and we sat in the park, on this beautiful afternoon, and sang this song several times. For the link to this song go to http://www.andiesisle.com/didsheknow.html. Macy has a beautiful voice, and I will always remember her sitting in the park singing this song with me.

Here is a picture of Macy sneaking up on a butterfly. When we got to the park, there were several butterflies flying around near us. She was upset about this and said, "Oh, no, the butterflies are supposed to be in Mexico where it's warm. We have to save them, Mimi! We need to find them some flowers." (This could have easily been a "Dora the Explorer" episode!) There were no flowers in the park, since we had had a hard freeze last week, but I assured her they would find the pansies in our yard and survive. We saw one butterfly that landed on the sidewalk, and here she is trying to sneak up on it and catch it. Of course, it flew away about the time I took this picture. We spent the rest of the afternoon taking her babies for a walk in the stroller and collecting special rocks which she wants to write blessings on to give as gifts. By the time we got home, we had a stroller with three dolls in it and a load of rocks!

The Little Blue-Eyed Boy, AKA, The Stud

2009-12-14T13:22:00.000-06:00

Doesn't he just steal your heart?

Marshall Metcalf, age 5 1/2

More Thanksgiving Fun with Family!

2009-11-29T13:36:00.000-06:00

Larry's boys, Hayden and Sam on the left, and Nan's kiddos, Barbara and Wesley on the right!

Hayden is in second grade, Sam is four, Barbara has two years of college behind her and getting ready to go to UTMB in Galveston to pursue a career in nursing, and Wesley is a freshman at Reagan High School!

More of Funny Ainsley

2009-11-27T22:32:00.000-06:00

Watching a little "Word World" on tv.

Picking up acorns in the park and...

...feeding them to the fish! The fish didn't like them, but Ainsley thought it was the right thing to do.

She just stepped out of the bath!

Thanksgiving morning:

"Ainsley, look at Mimi, smile!!!" This is what I got instead! It's just too funny not to post!

Again, "Ainsley, look at Mimi, smile!"

And here, she's pulling the skirt off!

She really looked so cute Thanksgiving morning, but she wanted to play with her skirt and she refused to keep her bow in her hair, which is lost somewhere in our house. So, you'll have to use your imagination, and pretend you know what she'd look like with the skirt around her waist, a bow in her hair, and a smile on her face! It was a great Thanksgiving. We are thankful for beautiful children, their spouses, and grandchildren. See more pictures below!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, THANKSGIVING!!

2009-11-27T13:06:00.001-06:00

No matter how hard we tried, Ainsley insisted on putting her own spin on her Thanksgiving greeting. She recently had her birthday, so she just combined the two and would say, "Happy Birthday Thanksgiving!" It was a great Thanksgiving lunch with her cousins, Macy and Marshall, and the rest of the family.

The Kids' Table

My Broken Heart♥

2009-11-20T13:39:00.001-06:00

This is what happened last Monday when Marshall, 5, broke my heart! I had picked him and Macy up from school and we went to their house. Marshall said, "Mimi, I have a girlfriend." That's when my heart began to crack a little. (See, I thought it was I who was his girlfriend, right after his mommy.) I calmly said, "Oh, really, who?" He said, "Sadie.....she calls me 'Marshmallow!'" I have often heard a little girl yell, "Bye, Marshmallow," when they get in my car after school. Then he went on to say, "I call her 'Princess!'" At this point, my heart was completely broken in two! To make matters worse, he said, "And I love her very, very, very much! I even love her more than God!" I said, "Oh, no, Marshall, you don't love anyone more than God. You love God above everyone else, then your mommy, daddy, Macy, and the rest of your family (me?)" And then Macy piped in...."and THEN your GIRLfriend!"

My Hero, Julie!

2009-11-20T12:47:00.001-06:00

Julie and some her friends at her school decided last September that it would be "fun" to walk a half marathon in the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon last weekend. She walked a lot in her neighborhood, then on Sunday afternoons, all of them would meet at a nearby park and they would walk up to THREE HOURS at a stretch! It was often very hot during these walks, and if that wasn't bad enough, they frequently saw coral snakes on this trail! But did that stop them? No! They had the "faith of a mustard seed," (see my post about Marshall saying that a few months ago, below). Something really cool was that she wore some kind of a "chip" on her body and as she passed through certain milestones, I would get a text message which said, "Julie Metcalf just crossed the 5K line," etc. I had gone to Houston for Ainsley's second birthday, and was driving home when I got the message that said, "Julie Metcalf has crossed the finish line for the Half Marathon!" It was a great feeling! I knew from the beginning that she would succeed because when Julie sets her mind to something, she always succeeds! She is an awesome daughter! I am a mother filled with pride.