Stay The Course

 I know that many feel the last day of August brings the reality that Fall is just a step away.  The last day of August for me always says: Happy Anniversary! 48 years ago we tied the knot and bound ourselves and our families together.  As kiddos arrived and moves happened we stayed the course. As careers continued and all the regular family things happened, we stayed the course.  Troubles came here and there in the form of health, finances, and just plain life happenings.  We stayed the course.  There were times we both felt like taking the high road when frustration and, again, life happenings closed in.  However, we stayed the course.  Marriages fail for many reasons that are personal to those involved. They happened in our kids lives, my sister and brother's life and many friends lives. I have no answers or words of wisdom for a long marriage.  I'm just grateful we have stayed the course and are able to be together now through life's happenings.  Thanks for the journey Jack and for being my pilot, co-pilot, best friend, lover, father to our kids, and partner in all things.  Now on to life and we'll just keep on keeping and staying the course! Happy Anniversary to  us!

Beautiful flowers for me! Thanks Babe!

Gift card for Jack. Last year all he got was a package of Fall Oreos so I had Annabelle help me pick out the perfect card this year. Plus she got a treat from the cashier! Win-Win!

Where have all these youngsters gone? Time goes fast...enjoy the journey and hopefully stay your own course.

Garden Of Weedin'

I really needed to get a blog post in before this month is over.  I can't believe it's only a week away from being September.  Schools are back in session and a few signs have been showing up here at the Pines that Fall is knocking on the door.  I'll save leaf pics for a bit later but the buckeye tree has visible orange and yellow leaves that are always the first to turn.  I'm still trying to catch up on weeding and gardening.  I've been canning and mowing and trimming to keep up with the growth due to the rain and warm temps we've had.  I think I could mow 3 times a week! It's as green as Spring grass and I know I should be very thankful for that.  I'm very thankful we haven't had the devastation that Kentucky has had.  Many of the members of our Church went down south to help with the clean up.  Jack really wanted to go but I said no way.  Not with all the surgeries he's had and the work down there would be pretty challenging.   Sorry Jack! I know how you like to help in situations like that.  So this summer we've been playing catch up from not being able last year to get it all done.  Many projects to keep us busy plus a few surprises in the way of appliances having a suicide pack and deciding to all conk out at the same time!  So a new refrigerator followed by a new washing machine, followed by our van  A/C also taking a dive! Ouch! We also just replaced all our windows so our bank account is a bit bruised. But that's life and all will be good as the food stays cold, the clothes are clean, and riding in the van in the heat is comfy and we can see out the windows and know they are holding in the cool and will help in the Winter cold.  So just a few pics to show what I've been doing...which isn't much! Ha! I hope everyone is doing well and if you have a real desire to grab a few weeds I have plenty to share!

Working on the garden across our driveway.  Soon I'll have it mulched and looking much better.

Slow but sure.

These nasty pests are back....web worms.  We have to cut the branches and burn the webs...yuck!

Annabelle is happy to sit and watch me work!  She's smart like that!

Annabelle does like to explore when she's not watching me work. I had a time trying to find her one day.  Can you see that stinker in this pic? 

When I couldn't find her in the house one afternoon I looked up the stairs and saw this little face. Problem is she can't get down these stairs and we have to carry her down each time. So we have a gate to keep her downstairs when we don't want to haul her little hiney down....until we forget to close it and she troops up there.  Oh Annabelle...good thing you're cute!  So that's about all that happening for now at the Pines.  I'll finish all my weeding and will probably blog before August is over.  Annabelle and Jack both have birthdays on Thursday and we have a wedding anniversary next week. So take care everyone and enjoy these final days of summer!

Birthday Boy!

 Saturday our Grandson, Cameron, turned 15! How can that be?  He wanted to celebrate here at the Pines with his family and of course we said...."Of course!"  He's a very quiet, nice kiddo who doesn't like being the center of attraction.  That's a problem when you are the center of attraction for at least one day a year! So Happy Birthday Cameron!  You're a great kiddo and we had lots of fun celebrating with everyone!  His Mom and his sisters did the planning and everyone helped with food and then clean up.  It was a hot and humid day but the rain held off until the last car drove down the driveway.  Perfect timing and that's unusual for us.  If you've followed me long enough you know we usually have some kind of weird weather or disaster going on when we plan events here!  Of course I have a few pics to share so here goes:

Our Granddaughter made this cute birthday banner with pics of Cameron through the ages. Nice job Summer!

Granddaughter, Driana, set up games and even had a scavenger hunt for everyone to play.  Cameron won the most money with lottery tickets that a grownup will have to cash in for him.  Like I mentioned it was hot and humid but that didn't keep us indoors all day.  Fun under the big oak tree.

Some sisterly love from Summer!

Annabelle had fun with her "cousins"...We tried a group shot but Kip was the only one willing to sit and pose! This was the best we could capture. 

Cameron loves cheesecake so that was  his birthday cake to load up with 15 candles. 

Presents followed and we all laughed at this shirt his Mom got him. Cam loves his video games and even makes money playing.  So this was a pretty true statement for him!

Our son, Jack is watching the games and I'm sure wondering how his youngest is already 15. I've been blogging since Cam was a baby and I think I have a few pics of him from over the years.

Playing basketball

With Great Grandma and his siblings.

Other birthday parties.

Halloween fun at the Pines

Enjoying the pool.

Finally growing taller and trying to catch up to big brother, Anthony.  Also trying out new hairstyles! So happy birthday Cam-man! We love you! 

The Boogeyman

 Did you have fears when you were a child?  Fears of a ghost in the closet or something scary under the bed? I remember we always scared each other with talks of the Boogeyman.  That crazy, scary, unseen thing that went bump in the night.   So a light on in the hallway, or maybe a night light?  Tales during a party to make you shiver?  Looking at yourself in a mirror while repeating Mary, Bloody Mary?  Yep those were the scary things of childhood that we can look back now and laugh.  Yes, there are really scary people in the world. We hear about them daily on the news.  We take many precautions to prevent them from being in our world.  However, there are other "Boogeymen" that are not hiding in the closet or under the bed.  This scary thing is hiding in our bodies.  We go about our daily lives and then will hear of a friend or family member that has been attacked by this monster.  We call it "Cancer".  It's often unseen until symptoms appear or a routine check up reveals that something scary is hiding within us.  I faced this Boogeyman this past week when a call from my family Doctor had me calling a thoracic surgeon to rule out a mass on my lung that looked suspicious.  I've had lung nodules that we've kept an eye on for about 3 years. These haven't changed and are usually of a non cancer variety.  But my scan this year picked up on a very tiny new mass that looked suspicious.  So I've had those boogeyman scary feelings for a week until my appointment today.  It's a mass too small to biopsy and in a place that would be difficult. However, the surgeon feels it's only a 4% chance of being cancer and would suggest doing another scan in 3 months and we'll keep an eye on it.  It could even go away on it's own.  To me that would be such a blessing.  So for now I'm in a better frame of mind and even though that Boogeyman is still hiding I'm hoping to be the one to scare him out of existence! I know many of my followers have dealt with a cancer diagnosis for themselves or a family member or a friend.  Prayer does help and I'm grateful for my family and friends these past few days that have prayed for me.  I hope one day for a cure for all cancers and that stinky Boogeyman to be gone from all our closets and under all our beds.