Our Little Penguin

At story time, Oliver was given shiny orange feet and a matching beak.  We didn't know which book they read, but we did know it was about penguins; so I did some research. Above were the books I thought could be the one.  I circled, The Playful Penguins, the one I think is most likely.  OK, what  do you think?  I guess the only way I would know almost certainly would be to get a few at a time and read them to him.  Do you think a child almost three would be able to remember if I found the right one? I'm thinking that he could, especially if he had seen the pictures.  In any case, isn't he really cute?

It has been a very different, but relaxing, last week of the year.  Neither of us has done a whole lot.

I have, however finished a book for publication. I'm pretty happy about that. The new book covers from the last week in July, through the third week in November.  So the next one will start with Thanksgiving.

Just in case I'm unable for any reason to post a layout tomorrow night, Happy New Year!

Pumpkins and Pecans

Pumpkins! Well, I suppose pumpkin pie season is officially over now. Evidently we have passed through pecan pie season as well. I was craving it today, and NO I'm not pregnant! I went to three stores looking for one and did't find it. Guess I'll just have to get over it...or actually bake one from scratch...not much chance of that.

Had to post this of our Colorado grandchildren. I'm pleased with the way it turned out...such cute kids! We are so blessed to have the best grandchildren ever. The are not only spread out geographically, but by age as well. We have them approaching 30 all the way down to 9 months. (Julia was 7 months in October when these pictures were taken.)

I have LOTS of pictures of them all. They are in regular scrapbooks  and they take up a tremendous amount of room. These digital  layouts are certainly space savers.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.  Psalm 136:1

An Early Start

It's not every not yet 8 month old who gets to ride a real pony. Living in Ft Collins has its plusses and this is one of them...a farm school at Laughing Buck Farm. Yes this was her first ride. Her little brother started when he was 2, I believe. At least, I don't remember him being younger. His riding coach called him a natural. Maybe Julia will be as well.

May our loving God bless you and keep you as you travel through this life.

Neputa / Ashley

Back before Halloween, our granddaughter, Ashley dressed as an anime character, Neputa, for her church Halloween Party. I was pretty impressed. She looked so good, she put Neputa to shame...well at least on a back shelf. I've decided this Neputa character needs to dress like Ashley.

As I write this there are 24 days 00 hours 38 minutes and 44 seconds until we have a new president in the oval office. I'm pretty excited to see what he and his administration can do to get our country back  

to a positive place to be again.

Praying that everything goes well and God blesses us with better  times. We can now have hope again. It was fading fast these last few years.

36 minutes, 30 seconds...and counting.

Grandchildren and Disney

Disney is certainly a Magic Land. Caleb, Oliver and Julia spent several days there in November and there are lots of pictures to show for it. This is the first layout I've done. I love this idea of Tinkerbell dancing in one's hand. I haven't yet figured out how it is done. I forgot to ask Caleb if he actually saw it there. I'm assuming now that it is photoshopped, since that's the only thing I can understand.
I will put it on a list of things to ask. It seems like when we talk, there is just too much to cover and not enough time. I know it is hard to sit still long at their ages and it is hard to think at my age.

I've made a correction to the dates above. Thankfully a friend called my attention to my mistake. The date on the layout didn't match the date in this text. Sorrowful thing is, both dates were wrong. Thank you, Gail, for proof reading.

Well Christmas has come and gone and we did it!  Now, hopefully there will be a little lull, where we can catch our breath and relax a bit...I did say hopefully...it isn't really likely. We manage to keep ourselves very busy from day to day.

I've gotten out of the habit of cooking, since I have been eating mostly fresh fruits and vegetables with a little chicken for some time now. During the holiday, I've been off that; but we have eaten out or take out food quite a bit.  I'll be starting back on that diet in the new year.

When I do need to cook, it is hard for me to get ideas of what to cook and to gather up all the ingredients I need. It also takes me longer to prepare things I've made in the past...as a matter of fact, it takes me longer to do just about everything I do. What is with that?

Play ground Pals

Julia swings with her big brothers. She looks like a happy girl. I believe this is a first for her. The picture was taken October the 23rd.
She is facing a lot of firsts this year. And of course, Christmas is one of the biggest. She has seen Santa. I can't wait to show you a picture of her in tears on his lap.

It is so common for very young children to react that way the first time, but we take them for photos...because of the beautiful memories in the making. Next year, we can look forward to a calmer little girl.

Speaking of tears, it is so sad to see so many young adults who cannot face the fact that they didn't win the election. This is a first for me to observe. While feeling sorry for them, I also get a little angry, not just with them, but  also with those adults in their lives who gave them their own way in every area of their lives. That not only includes coddling parents, but teachers who were not allowed to punish them and administrators who made the 'rules'. It includes coaches who presented each participant in their sport with a trophy...for what? For showing up at least once?  We used to have names for these people such as Pansies, and spoiled brats, but I suppose that is not PC now.  LOL
I no longer feel a need to be PC...as a matter of fact, I strongly feel the need to  oppose those who cater to others who cannot just grow up and smell the coffee.

Whoever you are and wherever you are, I want you to know...you cannot get your own way your whole life! Make the best of it.

The Lakes Draw Us toTheir Water

Now that there is a thin sheet of ice over the lakes, it is pleasant going back to a time when we could still look out and see water. While Chelle's family was here in October, we all enjoyed the lake.  Soon I'm be taking pictures of people literally On the lake.

Thank you, Scrapgirls

Scrapgirls.com is the best! They were able to help me with my shadow problem and I'm back up and running.

I don't know if you can tell the difference, but here is the layout I posted last night, finished with shadows.

Absent Shadows

Here may be the last layout I ever do. No, as far as my health is concerned, that has not interfered with my scrapbooking. The bad guy in my book is Photoshop Elements 15. Since I moved up from PSE 13, I've had tremendous trouble making  necessary shadows on my layouts.  Things are just not the same without them. I've been begging for help everywhere that I know, but I have not yet found any clues to making  simple shadows...or any for that matter that look even remotely realistic.

These pictures were made when April and her husband, Tim were here for Thanksgiving.

And now it is almost Christmas. Time flies when you are busy.

I am excited about Christmas, the New Year and our new administration. 

Great Kids

Since Oliver is not yet in school, his friends  come as family friends and Cora is basically it. 

She is a good girl and a good friend. Here they are at the farm watching the goats.

This has been a difficult day. It just turned midnight and I'm totally exhausted already.  I have almost fallen asleep twice while typing this, so I'll sign off now. Hope to be back wide awake tomorrow night.

Lunch at Howie's

Back in October, we were  having  some pleasant weather for enjoying the boat. Here is our granddaughter, Ashley, relaxing in the sun, on our pontoon... docked at Howie's on Turkeyfoot Lake. We were waiting for them to deliver our lunches to us. 

We were pleasantly surprised by the menu and would recommend  it.  Will make it a point to try it again next summer.

Shoe Shopping

Shopping for shoes can take on different looks. Now if I were the one on the hunt, there would be several shops involved and multiple boxes scattered around and a look of anticipation at times, but more often,  abused feet and disappointment. It isn't easy to fit my deformed feet with their large bunions, crooked toes and narrow heels. Shopping can get exhausting, but this is not me in the picture above.  It is our grandson, Mason, who is not tired because of shoe shopping, believe me. I am not sure why this happened. I guess that stool just looked too inviting to resist. I'm just glad I was there to snap the shot, so that this very moment will go down in history. LOL  Love you, Mason.

It's a Good Life

It is raining pretty hard  in Ohio right now...mild December weather for around here. However, it is just passing through. Yesterday, we had a low of 5.1 and tomorrow a low of 7 has been forecast.
It won't be long at all until the rain turns to icy rain. It could be treacherous. So, what am I doing, layouts from fall, with the beautiful colors it brings.

ORU made a trip to the Pine Tree Barn near Wooster for lunch and a little shopping the last day of October. It was nice to be together and of course, we made it a point to get pictures.

It is wonderful to live in OH, because there is always someone around who is very happy to snap a picture. I'd like to post an appreciative note to all of you out there, with your smiles and beautiful attitudes who oblige the requests of people like us, who like to have pictures to remind themselves of all the fun things they do together. Thank you!

Work

Lauren is our Cross Fit Queen. She has work out fever, if there is such a thing. As she says herself, “I coach almost every morning, go to work, workout, then coach again at night a few times a week. I'd rather be busy than lazy! ”

She gets that drive honestly from both sides of her family, I believe. She truly is a worker. How could she be anything else?  

We are proud of her.

It is sad that we don't see enough of that spirit in the world today. 

I'm hoping to see more opportunities for work to pop up this next year. That should give many of the younger people who have not been able to find jobs, the chance to get meaningful employment and thus meaning in their lives. Maybe there won't be so many basement dwellers, couch potatoes, etc. Hopefully, they can feel good about their own productivity and support themselves.

Looking forward to some better times in 2017.

Bears and Tigers

Back in October, when the triplets, Chelle and Greg visited from TN, we made a tip up to a cool drive through zoo called, African Safari Wildlife Park...well four of us went. Ashley and Mason joined Chelle and me for a day of fun. It was near Sandusky, so  it took about 2 hours. Of  course we had lunch on the way, so we added that to our fun day.

Most of my layouts for the park do not include us, but just animals, but I  couldn't resist using this one of Mason with the bear and Ashley hanging onto a tiger, no less...her very favorite animal. 

She collects them...and I'm sure the thought of owning this one was in her head, but we all resisted and as far as I know, it still resides at the wildlife park.

By the way, these were the only  bear and tiger we saw that day. 

the following pictures, should give you an idea of what we saw.

I think seeing this fellow with the crooked teeth made my day. He seems to need an orthodontist; but then he wouldn't be anywhere near as entertaining as he is now.

Popcorn Break

While at the pumpkin farm in October, John and his boys, Caleb and Oliver took a break for popcorn. It appears as if Miss Hen is quite interested and wouldn't mind eating some of that stuff as well. I don't know if she caught their eye at the right time or not. I'm not sure feeding her popcorn would be a good idea, either. Guess I had better study up on that in case I'm in the presence of chickens while eating popcorn, not a real likely possibility, but one never knows.

Right now, our yard is covered with snow. Since the fall season was so very long and colorful this year, it seems like it couldn't possibly be time for snow; but it really is. I love that white blanket. However, I'm not too excited about the very cold weather. Sometimes I wish there really were such a thing as global warming that we could control. I'd be the one bringing on the heat.

My body is still in fall mode, so it seems there should be plenty of time before Christmas. I mean, we  just now have our first real snow; but as you know it is almost time for Rudolph.  I hope Santa isn't feeling like me, or the trees might go without presents for a month yet.

Speaking of global warming, that's just what I need...a fire under me to speed me up a bit.

Presents, oh, yes, I do have to buy presents. It is not that I have to...I WANT TO. I just don't know what to purchase. I'm afraid that by the time I know what I could get, Santa's sleigh will be filled and he won't be able to deliver mine.

I Have Not Forgotten My Blog

It's true.  I've been gone from here for three weeks. Have not forgotten, but have been too busy. Hopefully I'm back for a while.

 I've not created layouts many of those days. And other times, I've made quicker  pages  using pre made layouts, or at least parts of them.  This one is an example. I used a PSD which can be found at Designer Digitals. I left out some parts of it and changed the location of others. It is busier than ones I do  all by myself, but I like the look sometimes.  I really appreciate the help when I  don't have time to create.

This layout tells the story...all that I know about it. Leah went to a  concert with a friend  who grew up in Charlotte, I presume, and her friends from high school. I love the picture. Leah is on your far left. She is our beautiful granddaughter, or I should say, one of our beautiful granddaughters.

I have to  admit I have been paying a lot of attention to the news lately. I find politics with a non-politician at the helm, very interesting. I enjoy all the controversy around it all. It doesn't seem like I can get my fill. Things are happening so quickly.

I know that God is in control. And He is ready for Trump.