Baby Dolls

I have not played with dolls since early teen Barbies but in the interest of making some doll clothes to help old Santa out this year, I acquired some models to help. They are cuties!

I really like them. Unlike other babies, they don't pee, poop or spit up on you. You don't have to feed them so they don't get food everywhere. They are very quiet!

So you only have to change their clothes if you want to put a new outfit on them, AND they don't gripe about the clothes you select for them

These are my kind of babies!

HD on a Mission

My HD left Sunday morning early to pick up Ken Starks, in Austin, who rebuilds used donated computers for disadvantaged kids to have a computer at home. They will travel to Indiana to acquire 40 of these donated computers and take them to Austin.

My HD has never met Ken, but has followed his generous activities for some time. He is very happy he can donate his time and truck to haul these computers back for this great program. Check out Ken's website. This is a very worthwhile program if you care to donate to it.

http://heliosinitiative.org/news.php

Sunshine – friend or foe . . .

(Note: photo might be disturbing to some.)


Sunshine is good for us in many ways but not so much for our skin. Years of tanning, burning, and peeling can not only make the skin like shoe leather but also cause unwanted visits to a dermatologists office. Years ago, we did not know how much damage the sun could do to our skin. Now we do. So, please wear a hat and sunscreen and long sleeves if you are going to be out in the sun for any length of time.

I had my first experience with skin cancer and hope to not have any more experience with it. I hope this picture of my nose will help make kids and grandchildren be aware of what can happen with too much sun and too little protection.

Visitors

 We had a great visit with our daughter and grandchildren the last couple of days. HD set up an extra computer for them to use while here. I got a timer down so there would be no disagreements about whose turn it was.

During a walk to the post office, “Little Red” spotted a 'pet' in a yard and wanted her brothers to see it so, after a walk and visit to the senior center, HD (otherwise known as Grandpa or Poppa), took us by the yard with the 'pet' in it. Being from the city, they don't see this type of 'pet' in town there.

They packed up this morning and left for home. I am not sure “Little Red” was ready to leave but got all her stuff packed up. She is a very grown up four year old! Mom does a great job of teaching them to be independent!


  They had a good time at our senior center, “Big Red” and the “Doe Eyed Boy” with the pool table and “Little Red” with the computer games. Our seniors enjoyed them as well.

Jacob's 'Buddy'

Jacob's 'Buddy' Quilt

Jacob, our daughter's middle child, reminds me so much of our middle child - his uncle Jay.
 Always with a gleam in their eyes and are mischievous and teasing but have a big heart and would give the shirt off their back if someone needed it. They are always willing to help.
Jacob has been a good “buddy” to his older brother, “Big Red”, who has Aspergers and needs a little extra help from time to time. It may be actual help or just giving him the alone and quiet time he needs, but Jacob understands this.

 His is also a great big brother and buddy to sis “Little Red”, helping, playing with her and teaching her. In addition, he helps Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa are very proud of him.

 I hope this quilt will be a good buddy to him for a long time.
 Making "Buddy".  I made an error when I used the tan fabric. It is a lightweight velour and I did not realize it would stretch when I tried to quilt it. So I quilting every thing else and tied that fabric using the layout below for spacing but not quite that many ties. He does look a bit furry, though!

Our Valued Seniors

HD and I have been spending a lot of time at our Senior Center and are truly grateful for our Seniors. They are special people and are very welcoming, even to us, part of the “kids” of the gathering. They are good spirited mostly – sometimes I think the domino games get a bit wild! Our resident trouble makers Therenni and Earnie (just kidding) pitch in along that line as well but it's all in fun. We have a good group there, just to name a few: Mozelle, Margaret, Therennie, Earnie, Ron, Bobby Jack, Rufus, Priscilla, Harold, Aubrey, Jewel, Amelia, WD, Ray, Wilma, Michelle, Troy, and Mr. Odom. I still have not learned all the names yet of those attending.

The Center is a wonderful place for them to come, get a good nutritious meal for a very reasonable price and enjoy great companionship. The age group is wide spread from the 50's to the 90's. They also have a volunteers to do meals on wheels for those in the community who cannot attend.

The Center is a product of the city of Cross Plains and is managed by a wonderful young woman named Amber. She is the busiest lady I have ever met. She makes sure all is done at the center and if someone is absent, she calls or goes by to check on them. The kitchen staff are great cooks and include: Arlene, Barbara, Martha and at times volunteers, Era Lee and others. Esther is at the front desk as the greeter and takes the money and donations. Ambers two younger children help as well and her older son does what he can when not working.

Some of the activities the seniors enjoy in addition to the good meals are: dominoes, playing pool, jigsaw puzzles, manicures, bingo – (with prized and sometimes with root beer floats) blood pressure checks and shopping trips to Walmart. Sometimes they have local citizens come in to sing, play the piano or guitar. Amber recently arranged to have the US and Texas flag set so we can say the pledge allegiance before the prayer and meal.

Now Amber has acquired some computers to add to the activity selection. HD with a little help from son, Jay and myself, set up six computers for them to use. HD gave a class for beginners last Thursday and had a senior at each computer.


It looks like from initial interest shown, there will be followup classes each Thursday morning. The computers have the basic word processor, spreadsheet and games, as well as connection to the internet. Everyone was very excited to learn and had lots of questions. It was really great to see so much interest.

Best Laid Plans . . .

Our plans did not work out exactly like we wanted. We left on Wednesday afternoon for the halfway stop on our trip with our three fuzzy babies with us. It was VERY HOT! The first happening was to find a low hanging tree branch over a nicely shaded spot at the RV park. We creased the top edge of the 5th wheel on one side. We don't think there was much damage other than it not being nicely rounded like the other side. The lady at the office said there was a sign out there, unless the wind carried it off again, saying that site was only for popup campers!

Next happening was to turn on the air conditioner, (did I mention it was VERY HOT) and find it not cooling down. The compressor would try to come on but just couldn't do it. We retrieved out money from the office and hauled it back home again, transferring all we could to the little toaster (car). It was pretty well packed, dog beds, puppy seat, clothes, ice chest, us and the fuzzy kids. Coco thinks her spot is in the puppy seat with chin resting on my seatback!

We had hoped the problem with the a/c was just a low voltage problem but after checking in out this morning, that was not the case. We then took it to the shop to see what needs to be done.

We left again on Thursday morning and made it without incident. It was very nice to see so many family there. We did find that having refrigerated air conditoning makes you intolerant of swamp coolers in humid conditions. We spend one night with Mom, who is always cold and wears a sweater to siblings homes that are well cooled.


After that we went to sister, Teresa's and were so much more comfortable. Our Coco was so very happy when she discovered Teresa's new member of the family - a border collie puppy named Comet, who loved to chase and be chased. They even got Halley, the other border collie into playing chase. It was interesting with 5 dogs in the house.



Barbara planned a 4th of July celebration at her house with cookout and fireworks. We called at 5pm to check on things as it was supposed to start around 6pm with the cookout. They were still at their fireworks stand and very busy. We found that sister, Kathy and hubby Gus came in from the Corpus Christi area and went to work helping them at the stand. We went to Barbara's house and my HD cranked up the grill and started cooking hamburgers while a few of us sisters started getting other things ready. Everyone brought something so there was plenty.

I never did get a count of all who came but it was very nice. There were five sisters there and myself made six of the seven of us; three of the four brothers and lots of nieces, nephews and their families. We were particularly happy to see our sister, Faith, there who is not doing well with her battle with cancer and needs for everyone to keep her in your prayers.

After we ate, the fireworks began. Since they live out from town, there were fireworks in every direction but quite a lot came from their house. It was a very enjoyable evening. I wish I had gotten more pictures of everyone.

While in Amarillo, we also visited with some friends, Maria and Dick, who are full time RVer's and really enjoyed catching up with them. It had been about 10 years since we had seen each other.

We cut the trip a bit short since we did not have our trailer to stay in but hopefully will get it repaired and be ready to go again.