Labor Day-Literally

Thirty-three years ago this Labor Day holiday we began what was many hours of "labor" to deliver our beautiful baby girl. Happy B'day, Klee!

Mother and daughter on birth day!

Baby Pacifiers

A few weeks back I helped host a baby shower for our Music Minister and his wife. My responsibility was to create the party favor. A couple of years back I had seen an article in Paula Deen's magazine on a baby shower she had hosted and had gotten the idea to use her idea if the occasion arose. Making the pacifiers is not difficult, but a little time consuming due to the drying time between each step. However, they were a big hit at the party, especially with the little girls! Paula, you don't have to worry.....I am no threat to you or your creative ideas!

August in Texas

Last week Klee and LilE came for a visit while JD visited a friend in East Texas. LilE hadn't been for a summer visit since she was 15 months old so we crammed as many hot weather activities into the visit as possible. We took advantage of the splash pad, swam at a friends house, visited the city park, and went letterboxing where we uncovered several boxes in and around town. We travelled to Wichita Falls to attend the b'day party of LilE's cousin and spent Sunday with Elle and B enjoying a good time hanging out in the Texas heat.

No playday complete without visiting the playground. Look familiar, B?

Splash pad fun.

Needed a friend to make this more fun.

Klee and LilE enjoying a swim.

Finding one of the letterboxes after following all the directions.

Letterboxes must be returned to their hiding places.

This letterbox had been "hiding" here since 2005.

Just a swinging..on monkey swing that Pop made!!!

The family enjoying a Sunday afternoon.

Pop, LilE and Mimi.....what a fun visit!

Bees: The Sequel

About a month ago I blogged about the bees and the hive that was formed above our dining room window in the front of the house. You will recall they had several honeycombs attached to the exterior part of the eaves. Those were eradicated and presumed gone. About a week ago we began hearing a "buzz" outside our bedroom windows in the backyard. Upon investigation we found bees that apparently were housed within the soffet area around the brick chimney. We called the pest control out again to eradicate the bees. It took over 2 1/2 hours to kill thousands of bees. He said he was sure the honeycombs were inside the soffet and must be scraped off to prevent another swarm of bees taking up residence. The pictures below tell the story of what we found.

First sighting of bees in the backyard.

Smitty sawing and pulling down the soffet to expose the honeycombs.

11 individual honeycombs. (Some bees still working)

Close up picture of the honeycombs and the honey inside.

Go Rangers!

I love the Texas Rangers and baseball. I love the atmosphere and the excitement of being at the Ballpark and the good excuse it gives me for eating hot dogs and nachos. I'm not sure where I got my love for the game; possibly from watching my older brother play church league ball, possibly because I lettered in junior high softball, or maybe those Saturday afternoon's watching a few innings of TV baseball with my dad. Most likely I got it from my Granddad Strickland who would sit for hours in his favorite chair and watch the early years of the Texas Rangers. I know he was not always happy when they lost and during those years losing was the norm. No matter the reason, I love to get to "know" the players and follow them through a season. We've just had a lot of changes, so during this second half of the season I have many new faces to get to know before we go into the post season. Looking forward to seeing my Texas Rangers in October!

Family Gathering

It is very difficult to get families together in today's busy world especially when we are scattered across the states, but we tried very hard to pull it off this past week. Those in Midland happened to be in the area, Mansfield residents had a free Friday night, the Weatherford clans with the exception of one family were available, so the date was set. Unfortunately, the Carolinians were missed, but distance prohibits getting here for those impromptu gatherings. We had good food and good fellowship! Hope to do it again soon with all the family. (See if you can find what is different in the two pictures below.)

Pictures 1 & 2 of the family

Resort or Hospital Stay

Monday following the July 4th weekend Smitty decided to take a little extended stay in a Ft. Worth hospital. After several days of a rapid heart rate, doctor encouraged him to get to the emergency room. After getting his heart rate back to normal the cardiologist wanted to do some testing to rule out any medical reasons for the incident. Fortunately, all the test came back negative and we were released a couple of days later. Smitty still needs to follow up with an electrophysiologist to determine why the electrical impulse misfired causing the high heart rate. We pray and trust it will be an easy fix. Very good care was provided by the heart center. The room was very large, comfortable, and provided a beautiful view of downtown Ft. Worth. I am certain that once we receive the total bill we will feel as if we stayed at a luxury resort.

View of downtown Ft. Worth from hospital room.