Deer and baby fawns

I know it's been a few days since I posted - we are still hanging around.

Monday we had the normal rainy day -

In fact, we had a pretty good rain storm with thunder and lightening.  The only good thing about it was it didn't last that long.

However, the weather did get better yesterday - the first day in a very long time that it did NOT rain!

So, we have been out riding on the golf cart two or three times a day - since now it it way too hot to be out for very long.  At least when we are moving in the golf cart we have a breeze.

Yesterday, while we were out for our morning ride we were fortunate enough to see a momma deer and twin fawns.  They stopped and looked at us for a while before running into the woods.  Lorelai watched them too and when they ran she clapped her hands (her way of saying "Yeah!)

Speaking of Lorelai, I know that I was really worried about her eating - she just didn't seem to want to eat anything.  Well, I didn't have to worry - she is becoming a very good eater.  Today she ate a quarter of a chicken breast, some mac and cheese, and some grapes that I peeled and quartered.  I think she just had to discover the many different tastes - and she has discovered that she likes things with some spice to it.  She also LOVES fruit - if you fix her plate and put all her food on it - she will eat all the fruit first!  Apples, pears, bananas, cantaloupe, grapes - I really have not found any fruit that she doesn't like.  Also, if you have anything with cheese on it - she will dig right in - grilled cheese sandwiches - cheese omelets - mac and cheese.  The thing is, she just doesn't eat that much at one time.  For example, the list of today's lunch was not completed - almost, but she left a little chicken and some mac and cheese (no grapes though - they were eaten first).  However, I give her two snacks during the day - one mid morning before her nap and then another one in the afternoon after her afternoon nap.  This seems to work out for us and for her.

Now, the last couple of days she has had a special treat in the mornings.

DOUGHNUTS!!!

As you can tell, she loves having doughnuts with her Grampe!

Yesterday, while I was cleaning up the kitchen, I realized Little Miss was no where to be seen.  I went into the laundry room (where the dog food is) but she wasn't in there - in fact, she has really stopped getting into the dog food.  So, I called her and she came out of our bedroom with a little surprise for me.

One of my t-shirts, which she put on herself, and one of my bathing suit tops around her neck like a cape.

Surprise Nana!

Now, Dan and I are continuing to work on things around the house - lately trying to get the garage straight.  We have put a lot of stuff on a local on-line site that is sorta like a garage sale without having to have a garage sale.  We have sold quite a bit of stuff (including Dan's big table saw) but what didn't sale we donated to our local shelter.  Our goal is to be able to get the car back into the garage AND get the second storage room emptied.  

As you can tell, by the first pictures, the screen room has not been done yet.  We are "on the books" for the week of August 12th thru the 16th.  We are really looking forward to having it completed - Dan says everyday that he can't wait for it to get done.  (To tell the truth, neither can I.)

Well, not too much else is going on - so, I'll close for now.

Have a good week and I'll talk to you soon!

Carol

More of the same

Could you tell, from the title, that is it raining - again?  Well, it is - but more about that later.

Friday was a fairly typical day.  Right after breakfast we took Little Miss for her golf cart ride before the rain started.  We even went to a garage sale just to look around - didn't buy anything (not that we need anything anyway!).  After coming home and having a morning snack we settled down for a morning nap.  We were hoping for a nap like Thursday morning - which was about two hours long and Little Miss climbed off the bed and came and found us in the family room.  However, she didn't have that good of a nap and woke up crying.  I went in and rocked her for a few minutes and then she was her normal smiling self.  She ate a good lunch of Mac and Cheese and fruit, and played with her toys - some by herself, and some with me playing with her.

After Melissa picked her up - Dan and I headed into town, as the power converter on the lap top went out again.  So, we decided to go to Walmart and buy a new converter ($60.00 thank you) and have dinner out - Chili's.  You know that the "2 for 20" deal that Chili's has is not a bad thing - Dan always has the steak and I have the ribs.  Pretty good eating for a pretty good price.  After we finished eating we could see the rain moving in.  By the time we got to Walmart it was POURING and, to make matters worse, there was lightening.  I parked as close to the entrance as I could, even parked down by the garden shop.  That was a really good thing when we left - if I thought it was pouring when we went in I had no idea of what was to be.  Since I was driving I took the umbrella and ran for the car - then drove around and picked Dan up at the door.  It rained on us all the way home and a good part of the night.

Saturday Dan and I went to Main Street Diner for breakfast before taking a morning ride.  We drove back up to Sebring as I had read that there was a "garage" sale on the circle.  However, it was just the businesses on the circle that had "sale" merchandise outside on the sidewalk.  We didn't stop, but Dan decided he wanted to go the Flea Market held at the football field.  We walked around - where we did buy a hanger for our keys, Dan's hat, and sweater/jackets this winter.  We also saw the man who is going to do the screen room/roof over and talked to him to make sure we are still on the books for the middle of August.  We also talked to a gentleman about wooden blinds for the house.  This is something that is on the "to do list", but it is a long way down the list - but it is nice to know that we do have some other options other than the big box stores (Lowes and Home Depot).  We will keep his card and when we are ready we'll give him a call for an estimate.

It didn't start raining until later in the afternoon - we actually thought that we might not have get any rain - but that was not to be.  It rained for most of the night and we were awoken this morning at 5 AM by the thunder, however we were able to doze back off.  We were up in time to get ready for church.  After church we went to the local Mexican restaurant where we ate with some other people from church.  We are starting to get to know people from church which is nice. 

This afternoon we have just "chilled" out - haven't done much of anything - Dan did take a nap and I played some Solitaire on the computer.  The rain started about an hour ago and once again, have had a lot of thunder and lightening.  Dinner tonight will be left overs.

Well, that pretty much catches you up on the goings on around here.  Hope that you had a great week - and I'll talk to you later!

Carol

Little Miss making a mess and the rain.

Well, we had another day of rain - started right around lunch and continued until dinner time.  We also had some very gusty winds with the storms yesterday but no really bad weather.  So far this morning - it has been clear.

In fact, Little Miss was able to go out and play on her slide and get in her little pool (which has very cold water in it due to all the rain water) for about 1/2 hour this morning before she was ready for her morning nap.  This was after a 45 minute golf cart ride with Grampea Dan and I before Grampea went out in his boat.  (I would say he went fishing, but he took his Kindle with him, so I think he was just out on the water).

Little Miss had a pretty good day eating yesterday - she really liked her Mac and Cheese last night at dinner.  Melissa and Justin stayed for dinner last night - Ham steak, Lima beans, and mac & cheese (one of Melissa's favorite meals).  Lorelai wasn't really sure about the Lima beans - but she did try them - eating one but not touching the others on her tray.  

Well, I guess I should let you in on why I have  the title on the blog that I do.

This is not as bad as the usual mess that she makes.  But she plays by herself and "reads" her books and doesn't tear them up at all.

(If you look on the windows you can see the rain on the windows and door.)

So, here is my sweet little one - you can't very well mind a mess when this face looks at you. (Plus, it doesn't take 15 minutes to clean it up.)

Well, I don't have much else to report - hope you have a wonderful day!

Talk to you later - gator!

Carol

Rain, rain, and more rain

Well, we had another day of rain.  It started about noon and lasted until about 4 this afternoon.  We also had some pretty strong winds along with the heavy downpours.  I really don't think there has been a day in over a month that we haven't had some rain - everything from all day downpours, to all day drizzles, to a couple of hours of heavy rain, to just a nice thunderstorm.  We certainly don't have to worry about water in the lake or in the canals.

Since we really couldn't do much outside today (although we did get a short golf cart ride in this morning) it turned into laundry day.  Did all the towels and throw rugs in the house as well as the normal clothes.  This also allowed me the opportunity to mop all the floors for the second time this week.

I put a pork roast in the crock pot around 1 this afternoon and then fixed some new potatoes and steamed carrots.  Tomorrow I'll take the left over pork roast and make some bar-b-que for lunch.

Speaking of food - Little miss had another good day eating - breakfast was a whole wheat waffle with banana and lunch was half a grilled cheese sandwich.  She also had a couple of snacks - this morning a fruit smoothie and this afternoon some baby gold fish.  She is getting much better at eating - she hasn't choked at all this week (this was a problem that we had a couple of weeks ago - she had to learn how to hold the food in her mouth and chew it). Anyway, she is getting much better at chewing.  The other thing is, I have quit stressing on the amount of food she is eating. (I know this sounds strange, since I raised two kids of my own - but I don't remember how much they ate or even what I fed them during the transition).  I've read and done some research and realize that she is eating exactly the amount she should be eating.  Her little tummy can't hold that much at one time - that's one of the reason I've added the morning snack as well as the afternoon snack.

Not really sure what tomorrow will hold - but I'm sure we will stay busy!

I'm going to sign off for tonight!

Hope you had a good day and -

Talk to you later - gator!

Carol

Nice Dinner

This is going to be short and sweet, but I wanted to do a post before I went to bed.

Today was a good day around here.

I got the bathrooms cleaned (a big deal) and Dan and I actually got the pedestals under the washer and dryer today.

So, that is one little project done that has been hanging over our heads for a while.

The kids stayed for dinner tonight - spaghetti, salad and garlic bread.  I fixed Little Miss some ground turkey meat balls that she had with her spaghetti.  She actually ate pretty good today - cheerios and banana for breakfast, chicken and carrots for lunch, and then the spaghetti with turkey meatballs for dinner.  She also had a couple of snacks - a banana cookie and a strawberry/banana smoothie.  A good day.

That's really about all that happened here today.  Think I'll head off to bed!

Hope that you had a good day too!

Take care and I'll talk to you soon!

Carol

Catching things up - Again!

I don't understand how things and time can get away from me like they do.  I really do plan on keeping up with the blog and then the next thing you know it's been two weeks and I haven't written anything.

Let me just give a brief run down -

and we will start on the 4th of July.

At the last minute we decided to have a family get together

here at the house for the 4th.

I call the kids and my mom and three hours later

we had dinner.

I had to cook the ribs on the indoor grill because it was raining,

as usual.  I fixed the ribs, some potato salad, corn on the cob, and Cole slaw.

Cut up a couple of fresh tomatoes and called it a meal. 

Little Miss

After we ate, and it stopped raining, we all went out in the back yard for some "family" photos.

Little Miss and her daddy

My mom with Little Miss

Melissa, Justin, and Lorelai

Dan, Lorelai and I

I'm going to have to start holding the little one in pictures - Dan is WAY too tall!

Then Dan and I started singing to Lorelai and we got 

these pictures!

 I told Dan the other day that I needed to take advantage of singing to her now, because she sure won't like it when she gets bigger.  She is the first one to actually like my off key voice (I admit, I can't carry a tune in a bucket - but she doesn't care)!

Then later on that evening, Dan and I took the boat out on the lake for the town fireworks show.  They always shoot the fireworks off "over" the lake and there are hundreds of boats that anchor in the cove to watch.  We went last year in the pontoon boat and took the pups with us, but they weren't real happy with all the noise.  So, this year, since we only have the Bass Tracker, we decided to leave the pups at home.

It was a lovely fireworks show and lasted for about 1/2 an hour.

Right after we got home it started raining again.

And it has continued to rain ever since - not continuously - but I don't think that we have had a single day this month that it has not rained.

We did have a three day week as the kids were both off on the 4th and Justin  also had the 5th off - so it was a nice long weekend for us.

Monday we were back keeping the little one.  She is getting so big - walking is her main mode of transportation now - she will still crawl occasionally - but she is walking more and more every day.  We are trying to transition her to "people" food and this is a very trying time.  She does NOT want to be fed - she wants to do it on her own, but she is a very picky eater right now.  We keep introducing her to things - but most of the time all she will eat is - 

eggs (sometimes), waffles (sometimes), cheerios (all the time), puffs (all the time), chicken (sometimes), steamed carrots (almost all the time), bananas (almost all the time), and apples (almost all the time).  She also likes grits (she is a southern girl after all), and Friday I was able to get her to drink a smoothie.  The only thing that she will let you feed her is yogurt.  We have bought several different types of toddler meals - she won't eat them.  I talked to a friend, who has a baby a couple of weeks younger than our little one, and she said that her little one lived on mashed potatoes and bread for a while before finally starting to eat well.  So, I'll just keep trying to get her to eat.

Yesterday, I spent the day cleaning house - you just can't imagine how much sand and dirt the pups can track in from the back yard.  We (meaning Dan) have cleaned out about three foot away from the patio where we will plant a hedge - but we want to wait until the screen porch is constructed - so that little project will just have to wait a little while.  In the meantime, the dogs track in the mud (remember all the rain?) and then when we are able to play in the "beach", we track in sand.  I have a feeling that until the screen porch is complete this will be an ongoing problem.

This morning we went to church and had a lunch at church.  Then we came home for a while (and the rain started again), before heading into town to the grocery store - didn't need a lot, but always seem to buy more than we need.

Well, that pretty much catching everyone up on happenings around here.  I will try and start doing nightly posts - just to try and stay on top of things - but I don't promise anything.  Sometimes I am just tired at night and want to hit the hay.  Speaking of "hitting the hay", think I'll sign off and go do that myself.

Hope you check back and see if I'm posting again tomorrow!

Until then -

Talk to you later - gator!

Carol

Snack Time

Yummy apple Nana!

Hugs!