Since I Last Wrote…

Since I last wrote, another weekend has come and gone. Ed and I kicked off the weekend by boiling the last of Ed’s peanuts, and grilling a few hot dogs. Our daughter’s family, who lives next door, decided to throw a few hot dogs and sausages on the grill, too. Then we all decided to eat them outside, on our daughter’s deck. Just as we were about to eat our meal, Brad and family came driving up (with pizza in hand), and they joined us, too. We had a fun, impromptu cookout.  Our oldest son, and family, joined us a while later, after supper. I need to get better organized and plan more Friday night get-togethers, like we used to do!

I’ve already forgotten what we did on Saturday, so it must not  have been too noteworthy!  Oh, now I remember!  Ed cleaned out our old birdhouses, and put one of them on a new post.  He also added a shelf onto the side of the post (and painted the post and shelf), so I’d have a place to put a little ceramic robin. Last, he placed a hanging bird feeder below the shelf.  We spent part of the afternoon sitting on the back terrace, and admiring his handiwork, too…

On Sunday, Ed and I hit the road, again, for another trip to Brunswick.  We packed a picnic lunch, and headed for St. Simon’s Island (even though we’d just been there, on Wednesday). Unfortunately, the sun played peek-a-boo with us all morning, and by lunchtime sprinkles of rain had begun to trickle out of the sky.  Our favorite tree protected us from the rain, for a while, but we had to eventually give it up, but I can’t complain.  We’ve taken lots of trips to St. Simon’s Island, but this was only the second time we’ve ever gotten rained out. We spent the rest of the day browsing through several stores.

It’s back-to-school time, and Monday was the first day of home-school for our two oldest grands.

 

grandson, Caden (note his missing tooth!)

 

granddaughter, Madison (can’t believe she’s in 3rd grade already!)

Ed and I tried to help things get up and running smooth for the home-schooling mama’s.  Chase, the younger brother of Caden, spent the morning at our house, where he played and watched cartoons with Ed. (This freed up his mama to concentrate on over-seeing big brother, Caden’s first day of first grade.)  Madison and her mama entered the scary new world of third grade at their house.  Meanwhile, I took on the roll of the “lunch lady” and cooked lunch for everyone.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the spaghetti, salad, bread, and s’mores cupcakes for lunch.  After everyone went home, Ed and I both enjoyed a long nap!  Assisting with home-school is hard work 🙂

On a serious note, I’d like to say how proud I am of all of our grandchildren, and, especially, how proud I am of their parents for doing such a great job of raising them! Whether or not they realize it, all of our grandchildren are blessed with some great parents!  It’s not an easy task to raise children properly, especially in this day and time.

Home-schooling requires sacrifice.  First of all, it means giving up the second income, so many people have come to depend upon, these days.   It means being with your children 24/7, and rarely ever getting a break.  It means having to go “the extra mile” to make sure they have a good and pleasurable school year.  In addition to being “mom”, you have to be “teacher”, too.  This means planning each day in advance, giving tests, and grading papers–in addition to your regular mom duties.  Some days can be tiring!

If Ed and I can help make the task a little easier, for our home-schooling mamas, it’s our pleasure to do so!  This “lunch lady” has to go now–it’s time to get cooking 🙂

 

 

 

Fragging On Friday…

Today, I woke up to another wet, gray, cloudy day.  Rain has returned to our neck of the woods, yet again!  Thankfully, the rain held off until Monday night so we could have our concrete poured, but it’s rained every day (or night) since then.  Needless to say, we are thoroughly WET again!  At least I don’t have to water the newly planted grass–and hopefully it won’t drown.  My main concern is the newly poured concrete, and how well it’s able to dry out in all of this rain.  My other concern is mud–and we have lots of that, believe me!

This week, it turned out that Ed and I have other concerns besides the rain.  Poor Ed has come down with a case of the shingles!  His back was itching on Sunday, then on Tuesday night, the rash appeared.  Fortunately, early on Wednesday morning, he was able to see a doctor and get a prescription for some  anti-viral medication that seems to be helping.  He hasn’t gotten into the really painful stage yet, and I’m hoping he’ll avoid some of it since he was able to start the anti-viral meds so quickly.  We’re not sure how this will affect next Thursday’s cataract surgery plans, for Ed, since the ophthalmologist is currently on vacation.  Ed’s hoping to be able to go ahead and get the surgery over with.

I spent yesterday morning with our two grandsons, our granddaughter, our daughter, and Alex, the little boy she babysits.  It was a grand old time in my house with four little ones (ranging in age from 19 mos. to almost seven) running around!  Madison was the only girl, but she is able to hold her own with all of those little boys!  Little Alex was right in the middle of the action, too.  Alex has become quite an active little boy since he got his cochlear implants–and, this summer, he’s learned how to use the potty!  Chase, the youngest of the crew, is more than able to hold his own, too.  On several occasions, I witnessed him tackling his older brother, Cade!

Madison reading to Cade and Alex, while Chase listens from the floor

I had planned to plant a small fall garden this weekend.  Now the ground is too wet again, and more rain is in the forecast.  I guess I’m going to have to settle for doing my fall gardening in containers, this year.  This year’s weather really makes me a lot more appreciative of all of the good growing seasons that we’ve had in the past!

This week, our daughter officially began home-schooling with her daughter.  It’s a new adventure for both of them, and I’m hoping and praying they have a good year!  The two of them attended their first home school co-op classes on Tuesday, for PE, History, and Bible, and today they are officially having their first day of regular lessons at home.  Home schooling is something our daughter and granddaughter have been wanting to try, so I’m excited for them.   I hope both have a smooth first day of First Grade.

Their classroom is ready and waiting…

Ed and I have no real plans for the weekend.  It sounds like it’s going to be a good time to read or nap, since more rain is in our forecast! The temperatures are predicted to be somewhat cooler than they were earlier in the week, so I’m thankful for that!  Did I mention I’m about ready to see fall arrive?  I’ve really been missing my shade trees!

Today I’ll be linking up with other ‘Friday Fraggers’ over at Half-past Kissin’ Time.  Feel free to add your own Friday Fragments, or just hop over and read the fragments of others 🙂

Have a great weekend, everyone!