The Day Grandpa Gets Older

OK, so his birthday isn't really until Wednesday, but today was Papa's Birthday Celebration.

My entire family are water babies. We were all raised with one foot in the sand and the other foot in a pasture. If I had to describe where I grew up, it would be at the Beach Farm.. or the Farm Beach.. or the Ranch by the Sea...   Yes I think I like that one the best.  

My family owned two houses. One.. a Ranch.. and Two.. A Beach house. They were only 30 minutes apart from each other, but represented the difference between Fall and Summer.

To me.. it was a dream. A fairytale childhood.

I wish Joshua would of had this, but alas the Beach House was sold... and even with the possibility of some day owning it again, it was permanently taken away from us during Hurricane Ike.

But the sea .. it runs in my veins... I inherited it from my father.. and I believe I have passed it on to my son.

So of course, on my father's special day, he choose to bring the family close to the water. Back to Kemah we went. Back to the Aquarium. One of our favorite places to be... one of our favorite places to make memories and spend time as a family. Happy Birthday Dad.. and maybe one day.. I can afford you that beach house.. that boat..  and anything else you ever want. Thanks for choosing to spend your special day with us..... by the Sea.



He watches the boats and chooses which ones he will own one day.



His favorite were the wooden boats that looked like pirate ships. He called them the 'Captains'.



Joshua's Special Present for Papa. An original Joshua Smith piece of art.



Joshua was so proud of his art. He literally spent a hour on it and kept saying.. "Papa is going to like this."  And when it was time to open presents... it was the first thing Joshua handed to him.

As a mother, I had the biggest smile on my face because its so great to see your children be so proud of themselves.

 

 

Papa gets new clothes.







 









Joshua helps Papa blow out the candle.





Loves his ice cream.



Kisses for Granna.



After dinner, we changed and headed to the splash pad. This is Joshua's favorite place of course...

Laughing at the water splashing everywhere.



Dancing with the water.



 

   



The splash pad was fun, but we were ready to move on to the rides. On the way there, Joshua noticed a Carnival game where Scooby Doo was the prize.... and of course he had to have it.

He played against Uncle Ryan, and as you can see Joshua was firing at the wrong target.

So .. he needs a little help......

And guess what?? He did win!!! Even with a slow start.. even with hitting the wrong target... He won!!

On to the rides... the train is his favorite!

 

Choo Choo!!



 

 



And this is our paradise....





By the sea...



It's almost impossible to watch a sunset..... and not dream.

So dream on little man. May all your dreams come true.

And dream on Papa. May your birthday wishes come true.

 

Toasting Tuesdays

Honey Cucumber Salad

1/4 Cup White Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Honey
1/2 Medium Green Pepper diced
2 Cups Cucumbers (peeled, thinkly sliced)

Mix together and chill for several hours before serving.


We made this the other day and instead of the green pepper.. I had a bag of frozen cut onions, red pepper and green bell peppers. I unfroze  half a cup of these and used them instead. It came out just as great!!

Seven On Sundays

1. We got a new Wii.
2. Joshua Playing the Wii.
3. Mario cart - his second favorite game next to Cars
4. Addicted to the Wii.
5. Pretending to sleep.
6. Nope Im not sleeping.
7. My stash of laundry detergent that I scored for only $5 today.. go coupons!!!

The Sprinkler Boys

This was a sad day for us. The end of a era you could say... a 4 year era... small.. but big to us.

Today was one of the last days that our favorite neighbors would be home to play. 

I know.. I am mourning the loss like they are gone forever.. but they are not!!! We will still make plans with them and the boys. They will be our friends forever.  However, its just sad for us because we have gotten so attached to them. It's been so easy to run over to their house just to say hi, or have a shoulder to cry on.. or to laugh with. I will miss our talks. I will miss the boys playing. I will just miss them.

But today.. we are trying to not think about it.. we are laughing.. having fun.. letting the boys play.

He was trying to stand on the hose, but just ended up falling on his hiney.

Sweet Baby Cole.



I know this one is fuzzy, but it melts my heart. I love seeing the boys standing there together.



It was a wonderful afternoon.

A great one in fact.

We were outside until the blue skys turned gray.. and the boys were all pruned up and ready for bath.

One of the best afternoons.....

Seven On Sundays

I am way behind on everything because Blogger has been acting really weird. These are from last Sunday though.

1. Melt down.
2. Still melting.
3. Daddy taking care of the yard.
4. Granna stops by.
5. Sweeping the Street.
6. Flowers aren't looking so great.
7. Taco night!

The Garage Sale

Some of our really good friends and neighbors sold their house. So with all the packing, came a lot of stuff that they also wanted to get rid of.

So what better way to do that, than to have a garage sale.

We joined in with them and another family... and it was a blast.

Joshua slept till pretty late, but when he woke up.. he was all into it... he even priced himself.

Make Offer?   PRICELESS.

He priced Daddy too.. and me. We were all for sale. Luckily, no one bought us.

It was a great time though. Normally I dread Garage Sales.. but with good friends and some laughs, I really didn't mind having to get up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday. The only sad part was to see them getting rid of some of the things that made their house a home. I know soon they will have a new home.. with new things...  but you know...  it's the end of a chapter.. and a beginning of a new one.

Joshua is going to be so upset when he realizes they are gone. It's going to be hard on all of us, but I know they will be happy, and I know they will have what they truly want.   Someday.. hopefully.. John and I will be able to do the same thing.... and move.

Archer Wedding

It was a beautiful wedding. The bride and groom were so easy to work with. I really enjoyed myself and didn't want to leave... but had to... for I had a sick little boy at home.

Here is a sneak peak of their beautiful wedding.

The Sick Little Boy

My little boy is sick.. very sick.

It started with Pink Eye.

Fever.

Ear infection.

Summer cold.

We brought home medicine and started treating the Pink eye and the Ear infection. But then Joshua was requesting we put medicine on his feet.

Weird? Yea.. but I knew he wasn't feeling well, so I obliged and rubbed lotion on his feet.

Only.. a few minutes later he was bugging me again to put medicine on his feet again.

This time.. Daddy went to get the lotion.

The sound I hear next was John, obviously upset.. "Oh My God! Oh My God Jayme, have you seen his feet?"

I run to look...

His feet are red.. splotchy looking.

He is screaming that they are itching.

I run and get the cortizone to rub on his feet, but it doesn't help.

I thought he might be having a reaction to the eye drops because he had never taken it before, so I called the on call doctor. She said that eye drops would not cause his feet to splotch and swell.... well duh!! But.. what was it? She didn't have a answer, but to monitor him overnight and if the rash spreads we were told to take him to the ER.

I rubbed Joshua's feet until he fell asleep. Poor baby. All night long he screamed out and told us .. "his feet hurt."

The next day, the rash was raised, and we continued the cortizone treatment.

Until, it spread to his hands. My mom, who was watching him called the doctor. His appointment was at 4pm. I came home as soon as I could.

When I got home, he was sleeping. I let him sleep until about 15 minutes before his doctor appointment.

When he woke up.. the rash was now around his mouth. Ugh.

We loaded up and went to the doctor. She looked him over, told us he weighed 36lbs.. and then announced.. "He has Hand, Foot and Mouth disease."

What?

She explained:

HFMD usually affects infants and children, and is quite common. It is moderately contagious and is spread through direct contact with the mucus, saliva, or feces of an infected person. It typically occurs in small epidemics in nursery schools or kindergartens, usually during the summer and autumn months. The usual incubation period is 3–7 days.

There is no specific treatment for hand, foot and mouth disease. Individual symptoms, such as fever and pain from the sores, may be eased with the use of medication. HFMD is a viral disease that has to run its course; many doctors do not issue medicine for this illness, unless the infection is severe.

(ok so I got that from Wiki, but you get the idea)

So now.. no medicine.. nothing to ease the pain but Tylenol, benadryl and creams to ease the rash...

We are just waiting around for it to go away, and my poor poor baby.. looks like this...

Ok.. that Orange stuff on his mouth is Skittles.... to him.. Skittles makes everything better.

Toasting Tuesdays

Mac And Cheese
by Nestle Carnation

1 2/3 cups dry, small elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (12 fluid ounce) can Evaporated Milk
1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided



1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2-quart casserole dish.
2.Combine cornstarch, salt, mustard and pepper in medium saucepan. Stir in evaporated milk, water, and butter. Cook over medium-heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted. Add macaroni; mix well. Pour into prepared casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
3.Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and light brown.