Logan's 8th Grade Promotion

So it's not a graduation anymore.
8th grade to High school is now called a promotion. Makes more sense to me.
What ever they want to call the ceremony, our Grandson, Logan is now a high schooler.
Stacy now has 2 in high school and 1 in middle school. My, my, how time flies.

 Logan waiting to be called. He has his "Come on get this over with" attitude showing. (He was hungry.)

Grandma, Logan and Papa

He didn't mind taking pictures after though.
I am so, so, proud of him.

My Mother's Day

Technically I am a Mother, Step-Mother, Mother-in-law, Grandma and Step-Grandma. I really don't care how they all came into my life I am just so happy and blessed that they are part of me.

Bryan calls me Ma and Mary calls me Karen so Luke asked me if he could call me Ma - I said no, because I am not his Mother. Then how about Karen?  I just laughed and told him if  a hug comes with it he can call me anything, but Meemaw will work just fine.

I had a whole weekend of visits, but one is going to stand out the most.
Bryan and Mary and the boys are over for playing and pizzas. Brian calls so I invite him over too. When a car pulls into the driveway and our 16 yr old Grandson, Dylan, unfolds himself out of the drivers seat, Mike and I look at each other and smile. Did that just happen? He had his Father's car and didn't have plans till later.
He's all by himself - no Mother, no Siblings, just him and he came to see me. The smile on my face was big, but the lump in my throat was huge.


We walked in the woods to hunt for sticks for the fire. They found so many we stacked them in a pile to be picked up later. We had a pond and a waterfall to see. (The water fall is a small one in the creek, but in their defense water is "falling" over the rocks making a noise)

Roger, Luke and Owen went one way.

Brian, Mike and Dylan the other

Owen HAD to drag this one all the way back

Stopping for a family picture with sticks

Mike and the boys (big and small) build a fire for roasting Marshmallows.

Brian and Bryan showing Roger the art of roasting 

Owen's first time 

We kept the fire small and not too hot, but marshmallow were burnt and some even fell off. That's all part of the process.
There were some that did make into the crackers though. Proof is in the pictures.

This was Owens first taste of a smore

Yummy!!!
They even would pose for a picture with me. Feeling the love.

Me and the younger group

I can say my Saturday Mother's Day celebration was perfect.

And on Sunday the older set of grandkids came over bearing flowers. 

OMG, I forgot how teenagers can cause so much chaos and I loved every minute of it.

Being their Grandma is the greatest gift and I can say my Sunday Mother's Day was perfect too.

Sharen with an "E"

So the story goes that Sharen, my twin, was named first. Dad liked the name.
Mom thought that Karen would do nicely with it so hence they named me Karen.

To make Sharen look like Karen they changed the spelling to be with an "E" instead of the normal "O".
That's the story I remember - if it's not true - I don't care. That's what I remember being told.

I know for sure one thing that is true is...
She has spent her whole life saying  - Sharen with an "E" whenever she was asked how to spell her name.

So, as I am reading James Patterson's  "Private Paris" book much to my surprise I see this. I couldn't help but text her a picture. Yup, the lady detective's name in the book is Sharen with an "E".

I wonder if they wrote this book on a computer with spell check because Sharen is not recognized.

Golf Hats and Towels

My husband is a "Golf Hat" junkie.
In some households they are called baseball hats, but in our house - "Golf" hats. Even the ones with baseball, football, and hockey teams on them. All used for golfing.
And my husband has lots. Some hang by the front door. Some in his TV room in the basement, some in the garage. Some are stored in bins in the basement. I think I've seen him get rid of maybe 3. I have asked him to throw some out, but Nope all are keepers.

Now, there is some hanging in the bedroom.

This may be my fault though. Since we got rid of the hot tub we had this cast iron arrow not being used.  I bought it to hang the towels on near the tub. I just could not get rid of it. The memories it brings. We bought it on a visit to Nogales Mexico when we were visiting one of his best friends who lived in Tuscon and has since passed away. It was definitely a "drunk" buy.
Thanks god we had our clubs with us and could stick it in one of the bags for the plane ride home.

Well, as you can see,  he has assorted colors and sometimes likes to accessorize his hats to his shirt.

Now that I have a new golf bag, I'm thinking why not accessorize my golf towel to match my bag. I knew I had a few in the basement tucked away in a box.
Yikes, I had more than a few. You can collect a lot of towels in 32 years of golfing together. I'm not going to admit to just how many, but lets just say I won't be complaining about his hat collection.

I found me a light blue and a navy that match pretty good.
Too bad looking good couldn't help with my score.

Visit with the Grandsons

The Flory grandsons to be exact.

I get jealous sometimes when Carrie just drops off her kids at Sharen's and she can play with them while Carrie runs her errands.

Mike and I have to "plan" our visits into the city to see the boys. On a good day it's about 40 to 45 minutes from our door to theirs. Traffic is usually a nightmare, with all the construction going on, and it can sometimes be a nail biting, over an hour drive.
Yes, I understand that we have it better than some, but I don't have to like it.

When we do go in though it is so so worth it.
The boys are happy to see us and have things to show us and stories to tell.

There are favorite books to share.

Read this one Meemaw

And Roger always has something new that he built in his Lego room to show us.

Wanna play Legos with me papa?

It's fun just to visit and play.

 Mary puts Owen down for his nap after lunch. We head on down to the basement to play hide and seek, and basketball, and much to Bryan's pleasure video games. The boys like to watch him play video games.
Bryan has all his old gaming systems (You're very welcome for storing them for you all these years) and frequently will add to his games with selections from Ebay.

Here he is trying to beat the bad guy at the end of a level on Xbox, Shovel Knight.

It needs complete concentration

They all get excited when the bad guy goes down.
I am sure Bryan can't wait till they are old enough to compete with him.

Then he will have to drag out the old Tecmo Bowl and invite the Reuter boys over for some rematches .

Lunch with My Sisters

Mary was up from South Carolina with a dislocated shoulder. Ouch!
Turns out - She was walking her son's dog and he went backwards while she was headed forward and he took her arm with him.
She strapped that sucker in a sling and they drove up.
It was so nice to see her again. Time between visits are way too short.

We all got together for lunch.

It really was nice to see everybody.

Too Busy? Not for the Quilt Show

I understand that people get very busy and blogging is not a high priority for them.
 I check blogs anyway hoping to maybe get a glimpse into what's happening and see updated pictures.

Then I check my own blog and realize, even with my retired life I am not always catching up on my blog either. Reminders from people who read this thing from outa state let me know though.

So, I have been busy.
I painted the bathroom and we hung a new vanity. Question: How many shower curtains are too many? I want to buy another one in gray or silver to match the new paint and tile, but that would make no.5 so I have resisted the urge - plus I haven't found one that excites me yet.

I have painted the family room and Mike put up new crown molding and a new back door. New windows have been measured and ordered. No more putting up plastic in the winter months. Yay!

So see I have been busy

BUT  - never to busy for the quilt show. The quilt show is back at the Rosemont and I want to go.

This year Sharen and I took a newbie with us.
Our cousin, Eileen, (she's our cousin because she is married to our cousin right?) who started her quilting journey a year ago when she found out she was going to be a Grandma. She has caught the quilting bug big time and has never been to the show.

"We are having a great time at the IQF Chicago"

We fueled up with breakfast and headed to the Rosemont.
 We taught her the few tricks we learned from the years we have been going.
Get there after the rush around 10:30.
Pay for parking when you go in - The lines are long on the way out.
Bring a snack and water bottle.
Wear bright solid clothing, so you can spot each other.
Start in the back and work your way forward. No need to follow the crowd down each aisle.
If you see something in a booth you like and are going in just yell out "Stopping" and we will wait for you or follow you in.
Don't overpay for something. We did have to talk her down a few times. She got over excited on some materials. She found some material that was $11 a yard. Pricey but "Some Good Shit!"
Always ask if they have a website. Even if they do, they will tell you to buy it now at the show. They don't want to haul their stuff home.

Eileen did see a "Glow worm" quilt that she wanted to buy the kit. Then she didn't - Then she did - That happens alot at this show. There was also a Big sign saying "No pictures please"
Sharen stood outside her booth posing for a picture. Funny how that "Glow Worm" quilt happen to be in the background. TeeHee.

Funny, Eileen and I ended up buying the same things. A wristband pin cushion and a "quilts" picture mat. I will post a picture later of the quilt mat when I get it put together.

There is always something new and this year it was folded quilted wreaths. Everywhere!

I am sure they have been around, but we haven't noticed them here at the show before.
I went looking for "Pantographs" or the man with all the wood workings for a new quilt hanger. We couldn't find either one.

I did get a chance to get something off my chest.
I had a few questions about my long arm machine and the people from BabyLock were there. Kathy was so nice and told me what I needed to do or buy.
I asked if I could get in online and she told me No, I had to see my distributor.
Me "That's too bad, because I won't ever go back to them."
Kathy "Why?"
Me "I don't want to give them any of my business if they treat their customers the way they treated me."
Kathy opens her folder and shows me a flyer from Fabrics, Etc. and asks me if that was the place.
I couldn't hold back. I told her yes and how rude they are and how I bought it at the show 3 years ago and had to visit their store 3 times and ended up at another store to get what I needed. Blah, blah, blah.
She apologize for them and I told her no need I just wanted to tell her how I was treated. And it spite of them "I love my Machine!'

Eileen had a great time and thanked us many times for letting her tag along. She is definitely hooked.