He Leadeth Me

Some of you may remember the post where I talked about our basement resembling a bowling alley. We have done some decorating since then and someone the other day asked me how the bowling alley was looking, so here are some photos. The picture above shows an antique sideboard, a rocking horse that was used by our children and now our grandchildren, an old ladder which houses some of my quilts. The red and white quilt was made by my coworkers as a retirement gift. Isn't it beautiful? The downstairs is big enough for a game table. Most people have a pool table in the basement but we don't play pool. I really thought a ping pong table would be fun, but David nixed that idea. This is one of my favorite antiques--a double antique school desk. The stuffed people/animals on it are characters from children's books. This is the view looking from the seating area back to the "kitchen" as Caleb likes to refer to it. This is the sitting area/TV room. YEAH!!! NO MO...

A dear friend gave me this little boy charm to represent Caleb, my first grandchild. I usually wear it on the same arm that I wear my watch, but had taken it off for a few days. Caleb and I were snuggled up on the couch, spending some great time together when all of the sudden, he exclaimed, "Where I Am?" Needless to say, I am once again wearing the bracelet and cannot wait to add two more charms, representing two more precious grandchildren. I wonder, will they be little boy charms or little girl charms or one of each???????

Well friends, you saw the many suggestions that came in about my laundry dilemma. I am taking all suggestions to heart, but there are two that are getting the most consideration. #1 --Jenni had the very first suggestion about granite countertops. Since I have not had granite countertops before and have them now, this seemed to make a lot of sense. So for the past 2 days, I have worn an apron almost all day when I am at home (much to David's amusement--he thinks I am always cooking) and ALAS there have been no new holes sighted. #2 --You did not see this idea because it came in e-mail format, but it was so delightful that I feel I must share. The author (who will remain anonymous unless you recognize the initials LF) suggested that the holes came from my Belly Button Ring. LOL HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!

It's not quite time yet for all the Aspens to be in their full glory. David and I took a drive to check them out, but will have to wait for some more cold weather for them to be in all their splendor. We'll keep you posted.

Sign observed at a local playground. Don't worry, we'll stay out!

OK, all of my friends in Blogland, I have a problem and those closest to me are getting tired of me showing them my laundry dilemma and of me trying to get them to help me figure it out so I am sharing my problem with you in hopes that some BRILLIANT person can help me. Several, and I mean several of my shirts are getting holes in them. I hope you can see from the pictures below--I have put a red cloth behind the holes in hopes that they would show up better. They start out with tiny little pinprick holes and then they "grow". They are always right about waist level. I have been working on this puzzle for a several weeks because I don't want to have to replace all my clothing every few weeks (although there is a Stein Mart in Colorado Springs.) See the solutions that have been ruled out. not one of my bracelets puncturing the cloth no, I'm not wearing a belt that is puncturing the cloth it does not seem to be something that I am leaning up against the seatbelt ...

I have heard a couple of times since we have moved to Colorado Springs that you can experience all four seasons in one day here. This morning I had my first experience with that by viewing God's beautiful nature. All of these images were taken on my morning walk. Autumn Winter Spring Summer

Because I teach Children's Literature to graduate students, I am often asked by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc. for suggestions for good books for the children in their lives. That is a very hard questions for me because there are so many wonderful books out there. In this post, I will tell you some of the books that I like. Keep in mind that books are very personal and what your child likes might not match up with my suggestions. But here goes....... Pictured above is one of my very favorites, Come Along Daisy because it was the first book that Caleb READ! He loved the book so we read it over and over and over again. When he was about a year and a half, it dawned on me that if I would read along and leave out words, he would fill in the blanks. He Was Reading!!!! The following photos are courtesy of Titlewave.com Eric Carle is a wonderful author/illustrator. You can't go wrong with his books. There are several more books in this series! If You Giv...

I wasn't in "Blog" mode this weekend, meaning that I forgot to take many pictures. I do, though, have pictures of four very special people--my mom and dad, Adrian, and Kelly. In addition to visiting with these wonderful people, I also got to: eat REAL TexMex (yummy) teach a class at UHCL see many of my friends from church enjoy some girl time at my mom's house delight in a family dinner at my sister's house remember what humidity feels like (you know it helps to keep your skin young) :) and did I mention eat REAL TexMex???? Looking forward to more weekend visits to Houston!

You might remember my Surprise Visitors post when Kelly and Adrian came to see us in Colorado. What I couldn't tell you then was the reason for their surprise visit. When Adrian took this shot, instead of telling us to say "CHEESE" , he told everyone to say, "Kelly's Pregnant" and the shocked looks on our faces show how surprised we all were. (By the way, Grandpa Mark is not in the picture because he was out of town.) Kelly's due date is April 15, 2010. A few days later, we got another wonderful surprise. Mandy, Jeremy and Caleb announced that they too are going to have a baby. Guess when their due date is.....you guessed it, April 15, 2010 . As you can imagine, David and I are extremely excited. I have teased both Mandy and Kelly about how much fun it would be to have twins in the family, and now Nana will have the joy of twins in two precious little cousins. As I have said before, "Life is very good!!!"

The Colorado Springs Balloon Classic is held every Labor Day. It has over 100 hot air balloons participating each year. On Saturday, we got up early and went to Memorial Park to watch this exciting event. This photo shows the balloons in various stages of being inflated. The balloon on the left was a Noah's Ark Balloon. Looking up at the Energizer Bunny Balloon was really neat! It was the tallest balloon at 17 stories. The only sad part of the day was that the balloons did not get to launch. The winds were blowing toward the west which meant that it was dangerous to launch since they might have blown into the mountains. We hope to see them launch on Monday morning, Labor Day, weather permitting. If not, there's always next year. Anyone want to come and watch them with us?

I realize that the way that David and I spent our day might not be everyone's cup of tea. We went to nine different libraries in the Pikes Peak Library District . The first one was in the little town of Palmer. The library was tiny but the atmosphere was wonderful. The librarian was most gracious as she gave us a tour of the surrounding historic area. The doors were wide open to allow the cool breezes to flow through the stacks of books. The Old Colorado City Branch was the oldest one we visited. It was in a historic Carnegie Library building. Again, the doors were wide open welcoming in the neighborhood. This statue is in front of the Penrose Branch. This is the downtown library and is huge. It was here that the children's librarian asked me if I was a visiting librarian. David had a good laugh out of that one. He said they can spot a children's literature lover every time. At the East Branch Library, they had a wonderful Young Adult Center (East Teen Center). ...