Can you Yoogy?

Good question. Right. Do I have you stumped?

I figured when I purchased the Yoogy balls for the grand kids, it would either be a hit or a miss. I hadn't seen them before, so I was taking a chance. Would it be to hard?



We followed the directions and just set the Yoogy ball down; it sort of assumes the position of a croquette hoop and then kick bringing your foot up under the loop. Sounds easy..... right?



Ava got the hang of it. She could really kick high. Michael on the other hand could really kick far.



It takes a while to learn just when to release it. Wait to long and you could get bonked in the....



HEAD!

Two people can Yoogy at the same time. Please excuse the pictures of me in my puffy jacket, I haven't gained 40 lbs. it just looks like it.




Be prepared to retrieve from low bushes and high trees. We used an extension pole to reach it a few times. Jumping up and throwing it like a javelin doesn't work, I tried it and about... well take my word for it. My mother occasionally reads this blog and I don't want to get yelled at.







Ideas I came up with for Yoogy balls:

Race in teams. Start next to each other in the center of the yard and see who can make it to the opposite edge first.
Play please pass the Yoogy around a circle with your feet.
Who can kick the farthest - in front of them? How about behind them?
Play hand toss back-n-forth with a friend.
Throw it against a hard wall and catch it.


Buy one here or you can get it $1.00 cheaper here and they have a video to watch.

Dew on Corkscrew

What did that title bring to your mind?

Did you picture Cedar Point roller coaster early in the morning before the riders came to experience the thrill of a life time?

Or did you visualize some fresh melon on a fancy kabob?

Perhaps a flashback of a patio where late night drinking party played out?

A carbonated beverage....


This is what I'm talking about, Corkscrew grass; the plant growing in the center of this trough planter.




In and of itself it's really cool looking, but add some morning dew and it really becomes spectacular.



I must have taken a dozen pictures from all different angles and these are my favorites.






Just for the heck of it, leave me a comment on what you thought this post would be about when you read the title.

I'm so predictable it's not funny..... I have to add a couple black & white shots.

Dysarts was a big hit

When visiting my daughter in Bangor Maine, we've gotta go to Dysarts. In fact this time we went twice; once without the kids and then the second time with the kids. It's that good and I'm not a breakfast person. Please don't tell the grandchildren they would never forgive us.



In fact, Michael was bummed that we went to McDonalds with the indoor play-place on Saturday and saved breakfast at Dysarts for Sunday. He literally begged to go to Dysarts.



Ava took this picture of me and Michael. Good job Ava, maybe she'll take up photography. Oh by the way, Dysarts is a huge truck stop with three dining areas, a shopping center, laundry room, shower facilities & haircutting salon etc. Everything a trucker needs in one stop, plus the most amazing food.







Ava & Michael had pancakes. Micheal prefers his with blueberries and Ava wants her plain, both want the side of bacon. Michael says they have the best orange juice, better than the stuff he has at home. He sucked it down in record time.




This is what Corky and I had - an omelet, with potatoes and a homemade blueberry muffin. I didn't eat mine all at once, I took the muffin with me for a mid morning snack with coffee. Yum! The omelet pictured is their world famous kitchen sink omelet. It's great, but my personal favorite is their Mexican omelet - I had it both times....just couldn't resist. I was so torn I really wanted to try their cinnamon raisin French toast. They make all their breads, muffins, etc. in their own bakery and that is what they use for their toast, french toast etc.




The first day I managed to talk myself out of buying any baked good to take home. Although, (besides everything chocolate) there was: molasses cookies, some with jelly centers, and no bake peanut butter cookies, and regular peanut butter cookies (the squished with a fork kind). But alas, the second day when I found out the pumpkin muffin I ordered had chocolate chips in it and I couldn't have it after all; I told myself I deserved a special treat and bought a loaf of banana nut bread to go. It lasted about 24 hours and I think Michael ate almost half of it. Hee Hee!

If you go to their website DYSARTS, you can click on this logo and get some great recipes, maybe you can create some Dysarts yummy stuff for yourself, just to tide you over till you can take a trip to Maine.

They got in! Ugh!

We were gone for 10 days on a trip to Maine and guess what. They got in. Remember this post. I wasn't to upset at first, they were mainly around the windows and such and not hard to catch like flies, so I just used the dust buster and sucked up 20 here, 10 there, a couple in the bedrooms, not such a big deal. I emptied the dust buster and 10 minutes later discovered a new batch had replaced the ones I had disposed of.



This went on until the battery ran down in the dust buster, so I put it on recharge and took a bath - the home fires (wood burner) had been burning long enough to warm up the house. Then I sat on the couch to have a snack and that's when I got really upset, they started crawling on me. Yuc! Shrieking didn't bring me much help from dear hubby, so I had to vacuum up more of the annoying buggers.

Corky had the privilege of debugging the bedroom before I went to bed and then I made him promise to do a recheck when he came to bed later. Thankfully I slept like a log and it was one time I was thankful for the sleep apnea that requires me to wear a sleep apnea mask. At least I didn't have to worry about them crawling up my nose. I slept like a log!!

This morning they are everywhere. It's one morning that I am happy to go to work. Maybe dear hubby can get a handle on the situation while I am gone.

One of my favorite authors

Have you read any of Francine Rivers books? Whether she writes stories set back in Biblical times or in today's world, she can keep my attention like no other author. My very first book I read of hers I believe was Redeeming Love,
I could hardly put it down - I had to know what happened next. It was a book I had to share with others, and it was passed around among friends and coworkers, a guy included, her books aren't just for women.

I've also really enjoyed Leota's Garden,
The Atonement Child
and The Last Sin Eater
At the moment I'm reading the Mark of the Lion Series.
I'm midway in the first book "A Voice in the Wind" and I already have plans to start collecting another series to read - Her books are that good.
Go to francinerivers.com and to see if there's something you might enjoy reading. You won't be disappointed. If you love Francine Rivers too and have favorite of hers, please leave a comment.

Our faithful dog - Over the years

Danan is our soon to be six-year-old soft-coated Wheaton Terrier. I've gathered some pictures of her starting in 2003, I think I have them somewhat in order by year. She constantly changes looks, depending on which hairdresser she sees.



Everyone in the family loves her. She is such a good dog. I can't say that she is absolutely typical of the breed, because she is our first Wheaton Terrier, but: she doesn't shed, doesn't drool, doesn't bark much, doesn't chew, and doesn't dig. She's good with kids, loves to play fetch and catch the frisbee, loves to ride in the car. Her short list of faults is: costly grooming bills, hates to have her nails trimmed and is a picky eater.



This is photo of her that I had made into a watercolor. I had asked Ashley to draw me a charcoal of her for me, but she didn't get around to it before she moved to Mexico.



She was ready to celebrate the 4th of July in this photo.



I heard someone refer to this type of post as "Fluff". I take that to mean there's not much sustenance in it. Sorry I'm to busy to post much besides fluff at the moment. I promise to blog on some more interesting topics soon.

I have the Blahs

Ever have a good case of the blahs? I have them now. I don't think it's catchy, but who knows for sure? So, I've been tying to think about some good sure-fire ways of curing the blahs. Well, what I found out is that when you have the blahs is not a good time to try to figure out how to get rid of them, so I enlisted a little help from a friend. This friend helped me make a list of 10 things to do to try to alleviate this cursed condition ailing me.

10. Dress like a terrorist wielding an oozi and buy a plane ticket to New York.

9. Make love with a leper.

8. Visit Japan without a face mask and ride the subway at rush hour.

7. Go over Niagara Falls in a coke bottle.

6. Call a friend and tell her you know about her husband's affairs.

5. Be the first to receive the H1N1 Vaccine.

4. Sleep naked with a family of scorpions.

3. Try walking on a bed of hot coals.

2. Visit North Korea - interview people and take picture just inside the boundary.

1. Go to a Town hall meeting and be in favor of government mandated health care.

Which do you vote for that I try first? Or do you have any better ideas that you'd like to leave me in the comment section.

**Let's see what they have to say JJ and thanks for your help on this one.

Baby Blanket X Two = These

Griffin's room is blue & brown, so I made his blanket to match the colors in his room. I made baby girl's pink and was going to do a brown edge for hers too, because I love pink & brown; but then I found a cute purple & pink mixture, so I changed my mind and went with that instead. You can't really see the pink in the border. The colors didn't photograph true to what you see with the eye. That's a bummer, because they are much cuter in person. The pattern is called bathed in bubbles.

The Bugs are Getting Bigger

Fortunately the ginormous bug that I saw was not in my own yard this time, but down the street and around the very sharp bend. It was huge and I sure don't want that thing in my house either. This is where I saw it, in these peoples yard.



When I posted about the box elder bugs I knew what they were, so it was easy finding information on them. This time I have no idea what this creature is and haven't been able to identify it by surfing the web. It has a very long mouth protrusion like a mosquito, so perhaps its from that family. Whatever, by the size of it I'm not sure it would matter if it was injecting poison into you or siphoning out blood, either way.... you'd be a goner.

I know that arachnophobia is a fear of spiders, but what's a fear of bugs? I think I have it. Before you think I'm blowing things all out of proportion, check out the picture below....





I cropped the picture, so you could get a good look at it.




What did I tell ya. Huge isn't it.

Every Year

Every year we get these boxelder bugs, because we have boxelder trees that attract them, but this year there seems to be bumper crop. Adult boxelder bugs are around 1/2 inch long and black with orange markings or black with red markings. The red ones you see in the pictures are the nymphs or young bugs that have not reached maturity.



These bugs do not bite, they are primarily a nuisance. In mid July the move to female seed bearing boxelder trees and lay eggs on the trunks, branches and leaves. During late summer to early fall they leave the tree and try to find protected areas for the winter. That's when I have a problem with them. I DON'T want them in my house.



There are two trees like this in my yard. That's a whole lotta bugs lookin for somewhere to winter over. Do you have any ideas on how to keep them outside where they belong?

Look A Likes? What do you think?

I record this show called Birth Day and watch the episodes when I get a chance. It is about Mom's giving birth. Birth is a miracle I never tire of witnessing. During the Birth Day program this baby in the picture comes on between the sequences (when it goes to commercial and comes back to the show); roughly eight or so times during the half hour show.



I feel like deja vu has occurred every time. See the high forehead & chubby cheeks. They belong to a baby I knew way back... when I became a Mama.



Notice the little button nose. See the cute Gerber baby lips.



One of my girls, looked just like this. She was born with white peach fuzz on her head and white eyebrows. She too had those precious, adorable, Gerber baby lips.



Will I experience deja vu when I meet Ashley's little girl? Will she have those sweet little Gerber baby lips or those chubby checks? We will have to wait approximately six more weeks or so to find out.



What do you think? A look-a-like? Or a Mama's imagination?

He's Here!!

Just got the call! My grandson, just arrived at 5:58 am. He weighed in at 7lbs. 5 oz. and looks quite a bit like his big sister, Sydney. He was 22 inches long, so looks like he will not be short like his Mommy.

His name is Griffin Sawyer, which was the plan and it fits him just fine, his mom said. I had three girl names picked out for my first child and when she arrived none of them fit and I went with something totally different.

I heard him cry his little newborn squall when they adjusted his hat. Oh! I so want to be there. I won't be of much use at work today, I can tell you that. Maybe I should just stay home.

Meghan's friend met them at the hospital and took Sydney home with her. Sydney tried to tell Eli that she already went to sleep at her own house, so she thought she could stay up and play when she got to Eli's. LOL Eli was real wise to that one and told her it was a sleepover and she would be going to bed.

Meghan went to the hospital around 11:00, I think she said and had totally natural childbirth. Griffin has already latched on and nursed. Everything is going good.

A new leaf on our family tree. It will be a day or so before Meghan can get pictures to me.

New Baby Alert!

Don't get too excited, my grandson has not arrived. This is a birth announcement that came in the mail last week. The grand baby belongs to my Aunt Sidonie. It's her first one and I imagine she's over the moon in love with this little guy.

My mother is the oldest of eight kids in her family and my Aunt Sidonie is the youngest. My mother had a child of her own before her sister, Sidonie was born. My Aunt is just three years older than me. Strange but true.



Isn't he just precious! It's a shame that our families are so far apart that they rarely get to see one another. He resides in sunny Florida, I'm in the great state of constant clouds & rain (or so it seems so lately).



Congrats to the grand parents & parents of this new baby boy. Another leaf on the family tree.

Fat Cat

I spent the weekend at a coworkers house taking care of his two girls. Two cats were part of the package; one is skinny as can be and the other is FAT as FAT can be.



These pictures are not of their cats, I didn't take my camera... I was traveling light.



These are just random pictures of cats I found on the internet. I've had a multitude of cats in my days and none of them were fat.



This white cat looks a lot like Artie, the skinny one is an orange tabby named Snickers.



This reminds me I need to go on that diet soon.



So far the weight is around my middle, it hasn't reached my face yet.
I decided to quit looking at these pictures before I got really depressed. Maybe I should do some sit-ups before I go to bed.