Day Five

The pool guys arrived bright and early this morning.  Supposedly they aren't to start working till 7AM, but they were out there at 6:45.  I gotta make sure I'm decent before I start walking around here in the morning!

I was planning to take Sophie to  her first morning of dance camp, but she complained of belly ache.  We spent of good bit of time on the phone and on iChat with George and Lisa, Sophie having a complete meltdown at first.  I felt sorry for them all.  It's so hard to comfort your child from a distance.  We weren't sure if she was having bellyache from eating way more than normal yesterday at the brunch, or if she had major butterflies about dance camp.  I think it was some of each.  We decided to let her stay home this morning, and she cheered up considerably after that.  


We had a good day playing together.  For a long time we were out on the front porch blowing bubbles.

Nilla Bean tried to catch the bubbles, but eventually gave up and cuddled up to the alligator!

This afternoon we went to the playground next to the community pool.  She took her doll along and pushed her on the swings and took her down the slides.  Sometimes I babysat her. 

We've been having so much fun with pipe cleaners.  Sophie has been practicing making braids with them.  Check out her pipe cleaner glasses!

Before Sophie went to bed we iChatted with George and Lisa again.  She loves when we try the different distortions that iChat offers, as you can see on Lisa's face on the screen!  She just laughs and laughs.

Here's what the pool looks like this evening - ready to be filled tomorrow!  

Thank God I haven't seen any snakes so far.  I did look twice when I looked outside my bathroom window!  That hose the pool guys are using gives me the shivers!  And how 'bout that lizard acting like he's guarding the place!

Our first two days alone

Sophie, Nilla Bean, and I have survived two  days together.  For the most part we've been doing just fine, with the exception of one very unfortunate incident Saturday afternoon when I did something wrong with house alarm and accidently set it off.  It scared Sophie to death, but with help from Lisa and George (already in Costa Rica by then) I got things straightened out.  There was nothing remotely funny about it and I felt horrible, but I'm getting over it. 


Lisa and George left for the airport shortly after 7AM Saturday morning. 

Sophie cried when they left, but we soon got busy with her new Play Doh, then a foam mermaid craft, and then some strings and beads.  

Here are her mermaids and some Play-Doh bears that she didn't have the heart to smash up after they were  made.

She hung these strings and beads up to decorate for Jeremy's arrival later. 

By mid afternoon I was needing a little nap, so she said she'd play in her play room with her Play-Doh bears while I napped.  This is what I found when I woke up 20 minutes later. 

Turns out she was pretending to be sleeping!  She surely had me fooled!

We cooled off at the community pool for a while.  She was trying to teach me to swim, hahahaha!

Jeremy just got back from a business trip to Wisconsin Saturday afternoon, and he and his roommate Mike came here for supper and the evening.  It was really nice to have them here, especially after my alarm incident.  We iChatted with George and Lisa while they were here.  Sophie was so happy to see their faces.  

This morning we went to church.  The service was all praise and worship and just wonderful.  After church we had a most amazing brunch with George's mom and stepdad at their clubhouse.  I have no idea why I forgot to take any pictures of them and of all the delicious, beautiful food.  I guess I was eating and talking too much.

We then went to their pool and had a great time. Here's Sophie and her "Florida Memaw".

George's step dad was playing water volleyball.

George's mom bought Sophie the cutest dress and visor at their pro shop this afternoon.

After coming home Sophie and I did some fun things with pipe cleaners.  Here's our pipe cleaner house and doll.

We then took Nilla Bean for a walk in the neighborhood.  Every house is stunningly beautiful.

Please notice that we were good neighbors and brought our pooper scooper baggie along!

Lisa and George's house. 

This evening we iChatted with George and Lisa again.  How wonderful to be able to stay in touch like this.  While we were having such a good time talking and laughing together we failed to notice that Nilla Bean was busy chewing a corner of molding off.

She was "caged" till I could clean up all the splinters and paint chips!

She's as cute as a button, but she's all puppy!

Nanny Boot Camp

Greetings from Nanny Boot Camp!!  Whew!!  My head is overflowing with all the information Lisa has imparted to me in the last two days!  But never fear - she is my daughter, and like one after my own heart, she has it all written down in a detailed manual!  


There's been everything to learn about Sophie and her activities, routines, dos and don'ts;  about the new puppy and her routines, obedience training, feeding, peeing, and pooping schedule; about the huge house and it's lights, security system, garage door opener, appliances, TV's, computer; about Lisa's car (which I already set off the alarm to at CVS today!), about the location of everything I will need to drive to, and much, much more!


Anyway, back to yesterday.  Dick and I left at 4 AM for the Harrisburg Airport, where he dropped me off for my 6:30 flight.  I had a layover in Atlanta, then arrived in Tampa around 12:30.  Lisa and Sophie were waiting to greet me.  Dear Sophie was so excited, because Lisa had bought her a bunch of new craft items to  do with me this week, and of course she thought we would get started with them immediately. Much to her dismay, she discovered that Memaw and Mommy had lots of business to  do before the fun could begin.  She was amazingly patient, because she was promised we would get out the 3D chalk later.

And we did.  We drew lots of fun things on the garage floor with that amazing chalk.  

I was introduced to Nilla Bean, the 13-week-old miniature Labradoodle.  Shes's a rowdy puppy, but has already been getting obedience training.  I am AMAZED at the way she obediently sits and stays.

Of course, I never cease to be amazed at the beauty of Lisa's brightly colored tropical house.  Here are pictures I took so far.

Today Sophie and her doll had matching dresses on.  Just adorable!

We spent lots of time today doing play doh and painting and decorating a wooden mailbox.

Here's a funny picture Sophie took of Lisa acting crazy for the camera!

I want to remember to get a picture of George and Lisa tomorrow morning when they leave for the airport.  

A big project that has been taking place outdoors is the building of the pool.  Here's what it looks like so far.

And here's what it looks like behind the house where they put the dirt that was dug out.

Unfortunately, digging out a pool and then having lots of rain as they have recently, stirred up the snake population.  They hadn't seen one for seven months until three days ago when Lisa saw a little pygmy rattler out front  where we take the puppy to do its business.  And then today George and Sophie saw a four-foot black racer beside the house.  

As most of you know, I have had a long standing phobia of snakes.  I guess I will trust the Lord as never before, try to pretend I'm at the zoo and it's expected to see snakes, and then I have my snake gear right by the front door:

That's my flash light for going out after dark, my boots to keep from getting bitten, and my snake smasher/poker.  Can you believe this???  I most certainly hope I will have no snake adventures to tell, and you are welcome to pray that God protects me from seeing any.   

Our July 4th packing weekend

I don't think I ever missed this many days of blogging.  I am really struggling to keep up with all that's going on in my life right now.  Here's a quick overview of our weekend.

Friday morning I left State College for Lancaster County.  My first order of business was a hair appointment with my favorite guy. Then I galavanted around doing errands and collecting boxes for packing.

I managed to sort through and pack almost everything in Destiny's bedroom before I went to Lancaster to pick her up at her other grandma's house.  That felt like a HUGE accomplishment.

As it turned out, her 12-year-old sister Keshila wanted to come too, so I had two girls for Friday night and Saturday.  They were no problem at all.  Unfortunately, the only picture I got of the two of them was this one - they were watching a movie in bed.

Dick came after work on Friday evening, and Saturday morning we got up with a purpose - to pack everything we possibly could.  What a joy to pack, knowing I will have a home to move my stuff to.  This was the first time I was at our Lititz house for a weekend without crying over giving it up.  

I even had the chance to eat breakfast and drink my coffee one last time in my favorite "holy place" Saturday morning.  I've had many beautiful times talking with the Lord in that spot these past five years. 

Saturday afternoon we had a packing party.  My sisters Doris and Mary Ellen, as well as my step mother came to help.  What a wonderful boost that was!   And we had some fun as well.  What else would you expect?

By Saturday evening this is what things looked like pretty much everywhere!

I took Keshila home to her other grandma's late Saturday evening and we saw fireworks UP CLOSE on the way to Lancaster (Bent Creek Golf Club), and then again on the way home (Lititz Springs Park).  

Sunday morning I led worship at our church.  Destiny sang her favorite song as a special.  I wish you could see her patriotic outfit better.  Even her flip flops have stars and stripes on them!

I forgot to say that on Saturday evening Keshila and Destiny found a baby duckling in the woods behind our house. Destiny totally fell in love with it.

We kept it in a box with bread crumbs and water over night.  But Sunday afternoon we took it to Lititz Springs Park where she tearfully put it into the water with the other ducks.  She cried like a heart broken mother.  I felt like such a mean grandma.

Sunday evening we did our traditional July 4th outing at Longs Park near Lancaster with my sister Doris's family and Mary Ellen.  Frank also came, much to Destiny's delight, as well as Ray and Thyda.  It was SO HOT before the sun went down, it was almost unbearable.  But we had fun anyway.

After the patriotic concert was over the BEST fireworks display anywhere ever began. 

We took Destiny home to Reading after the fireworks, slept at our Lititz house, and drove back to State College Monday morning.  Back home to my precious, little hummus face, hahahaha!

This week he has suddenly started doing some things in reverse of his normal activities.  He discovered that it's almost as fun to BUILD a stack of blocks as it is to knock them over.  It's also as fun to throw the light balls INTO the pack and play as it is to throw them out of it.  AND - this is a biggie - he has begun putting things back into the drawers after he empties them.

"Look, Mom!  I put the dishes away all by myself!"

I will be leaving very early Thursday morning for eleven days in Florida, staying with Sophie while Lisa and George go on a trip to Costa Rica.  Of course I'll get to spend some time with Jeremy too.  And I plan to meet up with my blog friend Tracey, whom I have longed to meet for several years already.  

If I have time while I'm down there, perhaps I'll tell you more about the house that will become our new home on August 2nd.  SO MUCH GOING ON!!!!!

Kicking into high gear

A year ago today Dick started his job at Pep Boys in State College. While there have been many joys in this year (certainly Austin is right at the top of the list!) I confess that I often felt that God had let us down. Way underneath I knew He was at work on our behalf, but many times it has felt like He was getting a kick out of saying "no" to us. At the same time, there were "words", some from scripture, some from a dear lady named Hope, that I have hung on to.

I think that at last He is saying "yes." Sometime I will have a story to tell. I hope it will be soon. We have friends who are buying our house, and today our offer on a house up here was accepted. I can hardly contain my joy.

Tomorrow I'll be going to Lancaster County for a hair appointment. Then I'll be collecting boxes from here and there to begin packing everything in our Lititz house on Saturday.

More details to follow.