It's been a good long while since I did anything with xanga. I changed my editor settings back to the old way, and I think this will make it easier.

So...this is sort of a warm-up, to hopefully better and more frequent posts.

Verity took the following pictures- this is the work day at Prince Road Church of Christ.

This little dogwood tree didn't survive, so the kids are 'taking care' of it.

Some roof business-

We got a treat this weekend. ALL the grandchildren at the same locale. It was Child Central, and lots of fun.  After church, dinner, nursing home singing, the kids hung out and enjoyed each others' company.

The eldest of the grandchild tribe- Calvin and Moses.

Silas with his tough guy face.

The boys putting their heads together. They were entranced by a video game. Clockwise at top: Calvin, Moses, Isaac.

Verity, formerly known as the baby of the family, holds the two newest babies, Edelweiss (L) and Phoebe (R) I do not know why Phoebe photographs like this. This is how all my closeups of hers turned out. Silly!

Okay- try again...

Okay- that is her smiley self. She has nap tracks on her face- cute. Edelweiss is into just hanging out at this juncture of her life.

And for the big challenge. ALL SEVEN GRANDCHILDREN IN THE SAME PICTURE

This ended up being my best shot. I asked them to make a scary face.

 

The Mortons are out for a visit this weekend- for a sad reason, Duane Talkington's funeral yesterday. But along with that- it is Edelweiss's first Illinois visit at a mere two weeks+ of age.

We have been having fun with the kids. Little sixteen-month-old Silas is a big entertainer-

 

Usually Tom will "draw" on Silas's face- it is a great way to keep kids quiet in church. But Silas is a "do-it-yourself-er".

Breakfast with Emerald. She looooooooves the chocolate muffins from Sam's Club. But we didn't get things coordinated to get those for the weekend, so grandma found a mix that looked promising. They were good, but not as good as the Sam's Club muffins.

Chad and Candace came over last night. We had received a call earlier that day from Chad announcing that he GOT A JOB!  He had a short time of unemployment (probably seemed VERY long to them), after being downsized from his last position. He is really happy with the new company. It is going to be a commute, over to close to Chesterfield, Missouri, but there are no complaints! Employment is all good when you are expecting a baby in a few weeks!

Silas entertained us all with his cuteness. He worked on team-building with his "Bobbbbyeeeeee" routine. One of the things he does is saying "Bobbbbyyeeee" in a low hoarse voice. Which was combined with hands being thrown up and his followers imitating him.

Yard Birds

Moses expresses through body language his disappointment that he can't dunk on our basketball goal. Won't be long until he is big enough to!

Pensively awaiting spring!

 

Silas takes some trampoline time.

With Grandpa.

Squirrel!

 

March 5, 2011- Corinth Mississippi

BIG Kmart Grand Re-opening

  After being closed for quite a while (about a year) after being flooded, Kmart in Corinth was back, with newby manager Sam Woody at the helm. Sam put a lot of time and effort in getting this launched. Tom, Verity and I went down there for the event- it was our first-time visit to Mississippi (which is FUN to type, by the way). We are very pleased with Sam. He went from Kmart private first class to manager in little over five years. We are happy for him! The only thing that would make it happier is if he were closer to home, but we are confident that will happen in due time.

The Grand opening was a big deal! Even though it was rainy out, there were lots of folks there- customers, Kmart big-wigs, a celebrity and Mr. Blue Light himself!

*Big K at night. The streets didn't need a wet-down for the photo- it rained the whole time we were down there, I think.

Not exhibiting any pre-opening night jitters is Sam the relaxed in his domain.

The next morning...

Sam reviews his "troops".

Ribbon Cutting. Sam looks confident that he has delegated this job to the mayor, so he can just beam.

Sam greets the first customer.

 

Verity and Kelsey with Mr. Blue Light. You will have to ask them if there is a story to go along with this.

Sam schmoozes with the mayor of Corinth.

This Kmart has extra wide aisles, low-profile shelves and bright lighting. We were comparing it to how similar to Target they look, and Sam would end each of our sentences, "except much better".

Deee lighted to get her face painted at the gala event.

Confederate Interpretive Center- Corinth Mississippi

This is really a great place to visit. We were the ONLY people there for awhile. It is a National Park site- we highly recommend visiting this.

Just outside the museum Kelsey, Verity and Tom join the troops.

We sure didn't realize that there was so much history around here. The battle of Shiloh, one of the first major battles of the Civil War was fought just northeast of Corinth, then there were some more engagements in Corinth itself, where a vital railroad crossroad was located. It was very sobering to learn about some of the costs of the war.

*This fountain symbolizes the Civil War. Each block represented a major battle, with the size proportioned to the amount of lives lost in each.

*The final battle- Appomattox.

Corinth Train Depot- the epicenter of the struggle for control of the railroads.

The crossroad.

Back to Kmart-

Where... Tom got to meet former Oakland Raider Ray Guy- a local boy who made good. He was a punter who inflicted some damage on the Kansas City Chiefs back in the day.

Ray had lots of good stories! Nice guy!

Tom does his Heisman bit, getting ready for the ball signing.

Sam in his office- he was really ready to call it a day after months of preparation for this day.

Mississippi had started to turn spring-green and the Bradford pears were all abloom.

Mississippi state flag.

And back home in time for a little Sunday afternoon zombie game with Isaac and Calvin- nice!

*Photo by Verity Woody.

...and difficult to capture when you don't take pictures often.

Isaac took off to hang out with family Stutz yesterday afternoon, instead of taking a nap with Mr. Bear at Grandma's house, so I don't have a picture of him. I managed to get a couple of pictures-

Calvin enjoying his Uncle Chad's headlock. (I said daddy at first)

He's getting to be such a big kid. He is reading some now, and there is no topic of conversation that cannot be expounded on lengthily.

 

Yesterday I got to do my very favoritest grandma thing- rocking a sleeping baby- and a little morsel at that-oh, that was nice!

 

Sleeping Beauty.

I wish I would have gotten some shots of her laughing/smiling- she is a VERY happy little gal! Always smiling and I got her to laugh yesterday.

Her little tights/shoes. Grandma R. got these for her- that is so clever doing that- how cute as well!

 

 

Our very youngest grandchildren are bringing us much joy with their niceness. The Mortons were out last weekend. Verity very kindly volunteered to take pictures of "the babies". Calvin, Moses, Emerald and Isaac are now VERY mobile, making it a little more difficult to get their pictures. They were here, also, but I didn't get many pictures of them. We did celebrate Moses' fifth birthday- I saw others' cameras out, and will trust that they got some pictures to share.

Mr. Fourteen-month-old Silas and his cousin Miss Phoebe, almost three months. 

Silas strikes a pose, while Phoebe waits for the next cue card to come up.

 

"Oh, Silas you are just the funniest!"

 

 

Snuck some of the oldster cousins in this series. Moses has excellent retinas.

And now- for a little snoozing in the most stylish garb.

Silas is totally up for his five-course breakfast.

"Ahhhhhhhh- this hits the spot!"

Phoebe's Duds, Sunday January 2, 2011

Grandma Range once again proves that she has impeccable taste- she got Phoebe this entire ensemble from head to toe. From her little red shoes to her little red hairbow.

"Okay- I will try to leave my dress down around my knees for a moment."

While making spit bubbles.

And smiling at daddy.

 

Nearby buddies Julie and Verity share a hug. Julie will soon start student teaching at Hazelwood High School. What an adventure that will be!

 

Back, back, back...to September!!!!! I found these pictures of Verity's birthday on my camera's internal memory. I didn't realize that is where they had snuck off to.

Our youngest, Verity, turned 18 on September 27. We had a Wednesday night party for her before church with a DQ cake and some splendiferous presents. 

Thanks, Martha!!! V is for Verity!

Verity loved, loved, loved all things cat when she was little, and Martha remembered that in the wrapping paper.

St. Louis 

Here is the present-day picture. Tom was off parking the car in the brrrrrrrr, really cold wind weather.

The 2006 version-(see the October 24, 2006 xanga entry for complete comparison)

Understood.

Present day above, 2006 below.

The warped Woodys

(out of order, sorry)

Afterwards our happy youngest girls. Candace had found a motion-activated laughing puppy at Cracker Barrel, which she just thought was the most hilarious thing ever. 

V and C with St. Louis of the cold horse riding behind them.

 

 

Calvin's Thanksgiving Play- it was SO nice- just his class and their families.

Young Phoebe at her first social soiree. She had gunky eyes for a few weeks- they are all better now.

Sure-enough Injuns. Wendy will have to help me with this little gal's name. She and Calvin seemed to be big buddies.

Calvin's teacher Mrs. Firkin keeps the Kindergarten class in line.

Isaac helps Grandma with the leaves

Isaac came up and spent some time with us after Phoebe was born and was a big helper in getting the front yard leaves corralled.

Thanksgiving

Not too many pictures- here are some pictures of meal prep

Candace and Chad were our gourmet specialists- stuffed mushrooms and other good stuff.

Kevin's big important job- cutting up the ham. Thanks, Grace and Kevin for hosting this event with six kids age five and under in attendance for the duration.

Phoebe behaved herself with Grandpa.

Sunday morning breakfast for Mr. Silas

Hair curled, Sunday clothes, and a rousing game of chess until it is time to go to church.

All perfect, except for the black eye. Can't remember how she got that, now. It was a souvenir of Thanksgiving rough-housing with the cousins, I think.

Cal and Moses, the ancients of the cousin troupe.

 

Isaac Birthday

Mommy did her usual good organizing of a theme birthday for Isaac- Hot Wheels!

And then my camera battery died....

Yesterday we attended Jason's grandma Virginia Crook's funeral. It was so nice to see Jason's family- good people!

 

Uncle Josh Range with Phoebe. She is most usually happy, happy.

Calvin gets a good visit with one of his cousins- oh, can't remember his name. I thought the cousin looked a little like Isaac.

Tom stayed at Wendy and Jason's with Isaac during the funeral. Isaac had been having stomach flu issues. They had a good time watching Voltron. I think maybe eight episodes. Isaac would tell Tom at the beginning of each one- "Voltron always wins!"

After picking up Tom, we headed for Fairview Heights. When we got to Kmart (PLUG FOR OUR SON SAM) we noticed the motorized cart taking up a parking spot next to us, where someone had considerately just left it. So Tom took it in.

Our youngest grandson Silas just had his first birthday. Quite possibly the fastest passing of a year ever! He is a sweet, pleasant fellow with a big, boomy Morton-like voice when he uses it, but that isn't real often- he is a quiet kind of guy, and in Grandma's opinion, one of the prettiest babies ever with his white hair and blue-BLUE eyes. He is precious!

 

Momma and Daddy are good cake-makers. The cakes always have a motif, and this time, the cake was inspired by the book series "Frog and Toad". Kevin and Grace did their usual outstanding job. Kevin made the frog and toad figures out of gum paste- they really turned out so well! Grace did the lettering, using the theme of list-making featured in one of the books.

Assembly procedure begins!

Kevin mixes up just the right color of frosting.

The finished product!

Frog....and toad.

 

 

Silas anticipates his first cake-tasting, while the family gathers round and sings "Happy Birthday" to him.

 

At breakfast the next morning. "Where's the Cake?"

Be-curlered Emerald wakes up chipper and ready to roll.

 

 

Moses tries to keep a low profile.

 

There has been a vast slackadaisical trend in xanga updates on my part- there are several now that I need to do. We have had several events in the past couple of weeks.

Every journey begins with one step, so here is step one for today:

Grandpa Woody got in some snuggles with our newest family member a couple of Wednesday nights ago before church.

Grandpa with little Phoebe Mae Polky Dot.

She has been having some issues with her tear ducts, but that hasn't diminished her considerable charm.

 

PERE MARQUETTE STATE PARK AND LODGE

We were treated to an overnight stay at the beautiful Pere Marquette Lodge on the Illinois River, north of Grafton, IL last Thursday, courtesy Jason and Wendy. The weather was stunning, and the accommodations were posh and perfect. We got there before the sun set, and got some evening pictures in front of the lodge and by the river.

GOOD evening!

Tom and his new straight hairdo, courtesy "chemical" straightening. Now he knows what it is like to have your hair blow in the wind.

A portion of the lodge. It has a restaurant, conference rooms, a great room which you will see in a couple of pictures. There are other amenities as well.

Trying to get a picture with the timer on. Back lighting makes us very mysterious.

Okay- let's try it with the flash on! 

The rustic lodge interior- huge fireplace, and a restful game of giant chess.

In the hallway going to the "hotel" portion of the lodge. All very rustic.

One of our quiet neighbors, presumably there for a Native American retreat.

Here is where we were kicking ourselves. We should have taken some time to do some research on the lodge. We did not bring our swimming gear, and we could have had the pool all to ourselves! 

Ahhhh, the peace and quiet- you can almost hear it. There was a mist rising off the river in the early morning.

 

GEOCACHING

This was the first time we had ever attempted geocaching. It was included in the package Wendy picked out for us. We decided to try the closest and easiest one. After some head scratching, and 'figgerin', we unraveled what we were supposed to be doing. We didn't actually find the geocache, but we did determine its location so we could find it next time we are there. Tom "ran out of gas" after awhile- we needed to hike up and further for awhile; it was a bit much for us old people. 

And so the adventure begins!

How do you work this thing????

Tom gives clues.

Okay! I like what this says!

 

 

I found the following today when we were cleaning out bedrooms in preparation for moving people around, now that we are a family of three.

It's nice to find things like this- to remember the sweet, funny, entertaining young girls in the poem as they were then. (they still are!)

Evidently written when Smart Road had the Labor Day meeting- that would mean that was a year that Pleasant Hill hosted the two-week meeting. So this might have been written in 1993.

Wendy and Kelly’s Labor Day Weekend
By Wendy Woody

The Labor Day meeting
Was finally at hand.
Jennifer didn’t go
But there wasn’t demand

Lemon drops are nice
Just don’t eat too many
Throw them out the window
And there won’t be any,

We wrote notes to Amber
But she didn’t care
As a matter of fact,
She wasn’t there.

Erin was there
To follow us around
We didn’t notice
She never made a sound.

Erin was hyper
Callie was stressed
Wendy was calm,
And Kelly, depressed.

Volleyball was fun,
Though we didn’t play
We walked and we talked
It was a rainy day.

Indecipherable…
And Harold lectured long
Skating was decided,
Movies were wrong.

Erin snapped a picture
Of everyone she knew
She was trying to get someone.
I’ll always wonder who.

Kevin and Kyle
Serenaded us well.
Was that music?
I couldn’t tell

After the songs,
Hardees was the place
It wasn’t uncommon
To blow water in your face.

Next verse indecipherable

Jumping was done.
To a groovy beat
Even if Kelly
Had blisters on her feet.

We said goodbye
To our Smart Road friends.
Would we write?
It all depends.

Locking keys in a trunk
Was done with ease,
But getting them out,
Wasn’t a breeze.

Purple candy
Was all Wendy got
She enjoyed it,
Because Kelly did not.

The trip is over,
That is clear.
It was great,
But watch out next year!