A GRATEFUL MIX

I am trying to continue the Alphabet post and I find that fun is always a good option. I use to watch my greatest grandboy Harrison and he was fun! He is smart and silly and kind and loving. I miss my days with him but I always find time to think about him.

I am always grateful. There are days that drag us all down. I like to think about the good in people, the kindness in simple things. I feel thankful and grateful and most of all blessed each day I live. The holidays can be so difficult for some folks so I try to be extra kind and grateful. I thought G for grateful fit perfectly here. List all the things you are grateful for. I bet they will outweigh the things that make you unhappy.

Harrison tells me this is my dance. I LOVE dancing but this Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "Hot dog Dance" is a favorite because Harrison and I would dance together everyday. That child has so much energy. We have hot dogs on the grill in the summertime so it is a big win for me! I figured Hot Dog was a great H word and reminded me of my childhood where you'd go to the drive in movies and the food commercials featured the hot dog jumping in and out of the bun! I love good memories.

Oh Maxine, you are a tough old bird! We have both ham and turkey for our Thanksgiving Day celebration. This year we have a smaller group. Only 18 of us including the hubby and I, Rebekah and Zach, our gracious hosts, Hannah, Nick, Noelle, Roger, , Jeremy, Brittany, Addy and Brody with Alexis and Jake. Everyone is pitching in for a favorite dish or two.

MY friend Carole wrote a social media post stating clearly , "PUT DOWN YOUR DAMN PHONES". Harsh, I don't think so. I think we all need to learn to respect those we are with and  put those phones away. We aren't going to perish without them.

 This is another pet peeve of mine. I feel when people use this they are just trying to get away from you. I am a Chatty Cathy but if you have other things to do, speak up! This is just plain R U D E! I have a friend who is so up front I imagine some folks would find her rude. She lives in another state and when we chat on the phone and she has to use the bathroom, she speaks her mind! Ha Ha Ha! I love it! She's just like her mom, an upfront kinda gal. I love her so much!

I need to dig out old Thanksgiving and CHRISTmas photos.  My folks always hosted the best dinners and we had such fun times with remarkable people we called our loved ones. Do you have traditions each year or do you like surprises? I know lots of Italian phamilies who eat a full Italian menu. I may be repeating myself but when I was a young woman my neighbor Annie made all the fresh pasta for her sisters Italian restaurant  . She taught me how to make all those great pastas. I love all the dishes and enjoy them today.

We like to include wine at our dinner. One for turkey and one for ham. I worked with a doctor years ago who was a wine connoisseur. There is wine for every food.

I love Jan Karon and read all her books, this one is on my list. Do you love to read? I love holding a real book in my hands. Not into all the electronic options for reading, just not my thing. But this title is lovely and on the subject of prayer, would you remember my hubby's co worker? Geraldine had some heart issues and was hospitalized for a procedure . She won't be back for a while so my honey and his co worker Tony are splitting her hours. She is a lovely person and I am praying for her health to be restored. Always remember the homeless and the hungry in this season. SO many I pray for for each day.

Or eat a healthy meal on this blessed and beautiful THANKSgiving Day. See you here again soon.

ALPHABET SOUP

The letter C, is a cute letter for lots of great words that begin with this letter, carrots, cactus, colorful, cooking. Carrots and Cooking go hand in hand although I will eating carrots raw too. I like to cook with them and add them to many dishes like Potato Cheese Soup and Stew. I suppose carrots can be colorful too. Did you know they come in a variety of colors too?

These carrots are so colorful and come in a variety of colors, orange, yellow, purple, orange, pink. Did you know the orange carrot dates back to the 16th century? It was suppose to have been created for the royal family although there is no proof to back this claim up. Red and yellow carrots were popping up in the 13th century in Europe. Due to modern genetic research orange carrots were developed from the yellow variety.

There is a restaurant in our area that serves a delicious Carrot/apple juice. We love to order one and split it. It tastes so good, with organic ginger, carrots and a Gala apple. YUM!

I love tea. I love coffee too. But sometimes I am in the mood for one and not the other. Darjeeling is an exquisite tea. It is a favorite and  so I choose "Darjeeling" for the letter D today.

If you are a fan of Toy Story movies you will remember Buzz Lightyear drinking Darjeeling tea with Mrs. Nesbitt in the first movie. As a small boy my grandson Colton loved Buzz and today his own son Harrison loves Buzz too. Our youngest son Nick loved Woody and I still have a pillowcase keepsake from his childhood. Harrison has a full sized Buzz Lightyear to play with when he visits me.

I have a tea pot and tea cup collection. I don't think I have this one covered with beautiful pink roses but I thought perhaps it would fit in nicely for Pink Saturday I hope you visit Beverly and thank her as she has hosted this fun meme for many years.

My hubby has one amazing sense of humor. You would get this if you lived with him all these years. We enjoy a cup of hot tea before bedtime many nights. So although tea comes in a bunch of yummy varieties Darjeeling is a personal favorite.

The word energetic is an adjective and means showing great vitality or involving great activity or vitality. If you lived here with us you would enjoy or maybe not enjoy energetic puppies. 

This is early morning cuddling time and we had to show them a treat in order for everyone to look up together. They are quite a fun crew but full of puppy energy!

Love is....is such a favorite of mine. Dick Van Dyke, the actor turns 93 on December 13th this year. He swears by Tai Chi and says this is how he stays active. I think this is something we might have to try. Does anyone Tai Chi?

Brody is always a smile maker. He is growing up so quickly. The spitting image of his daddy at this age. He is quite a little handsome fellow.

A handsome fellow who will be a big brother shortly. He is going to have another brother and he is quite excited about it. This guy is 100 percent pure boy! He is energetic and funny and has a very kind heart.

I feel as though God has blessed me tremendously with my phamily. I hope your day is beautiful and you share a kindness.

TGIF

When I was younger, I loved this expression, Thank God It's Friday.

It has been a long while since I visited here with everyone. I missed my 9 year blogaversary and thought perhaps, after the New Year, I can have a giveaway.

I love this quote. I also love art. But I have spent the last several weeks caring for Bandit, Jeremy's little rat terrier who passed away at 6:58 P.M. on Thursday November 8, 2018. He was 17 years old and 7 months. His little life was one that had a tremendous impact on all of us. Even as a week came and went I found myself unable to sit and write about him. He was so important to me. The last few months were difficult but his life brought a joy that is hard to explain.

This is a photo of him on Valentine's Day this year. He touched so many lives. It is difficult for me because I spent so much time with him.  He even made a huge mark on the three puppies. After his passing, they all sat quietly. No one could even muster a bark.

Bandit was quite the Dapper Gentlemen when he was younger. He was fierce, faithful, kind and an amazing watch dog for a small fellow. This summer, when he still had a lot of bark in him the mail lady told me she thought I had a pit bull! When she saw this tiny fellow, she smiled.

This quote really touched my heart. I said this is Bandit and I need to share it. He was a remarkable little guy and he will live forever in all of our hearts.

This was the last photo photo I took of this my fearless little friend. I was washing his big comfy bed and linens and moved him into this smaller puppy bed. He loved being cuddled like a baby and many days toward the end of his life, I held him close and told him how loved he was.

This google images caught my eye as I searched for the right words to say for my funny little friend. The words are fitting to the patriarch of our canine phamily.

Although life will be different without this longtime friend he will live in our hearts and our minds for the rest of our lives. R.I. P. my quirky phamily friend.

CHRISTmas Bucket List

I'm A LIttle Sad Today

Sorry my photos are not perfect the way I planned but considering I am indoors on a cold and rainy Monday with ten pets. Mr. Kitty is on a weigh loss plan, Rose is on a kidney disease plan and  Bandit just needs full attention.

I shot these random shots and tried to clean them up. No such luck with this band of feline and canine friends. So stop by Aw.......Mondays and enjoy some smiles.

These puppies are growing so much and they hate the cold so they have to be coaxed to go outside while wearing their fashionable sweaters to stay warm. Loki is gaining weight and he is a very independent fellow. He likes to lead the pack. The smallest yet mightiest.

Wouldn't it be grand if people behaved and let everyone be entitled to their own opinion? Peace is what I prefer along with Quiet too!

Ha Ha Ha! I'm not interested in celebrity stars, in fact most of them annoy me. Act or go into politics. No one needs your opinion and anyone voting because celebrities suggest their favorite candidates, oh brother! That is sad!

I never seem to get through the alphabet without something stopping me. So I Am going to start with the first three letters of this series on Alphabet Soup for the Soul.

Some Granny Smith Apples still on the tree. Do you know there are about 7500 varieties of apples worldwide? About 100 varieities grow commercially in the US.About 2500 grow throughout the US including Michigan and Washington state.

Apple humor although I think people need to limit their children on electronics. It is a sad world when kids are buried in some electronic device.

I still love basbeall but if it starts to go the way of the NFL and other sports where too many cry baby overpaid players whine continually then I will find something more intelligent to do.

Sad our Colorado Rockies lost their playoff bid but grateful to see them go as far as they did. I will root for my beloved New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves. This gives my sister and I something to chat about and boy can we chat away!

My father would have loved the Colorado Rockies but his heart always belonged to the Yankees.

I am experiencing baseball withdrawls already. It's hard to understand unless you have the opportunity to be at the ballpark and watch your favoriute players play the game.

C is for candy, a sweet treat that will be filling bags for children all across our country in a few short weeks. Do you like candy? Do you have a favorite?

Candy humor.

Love this verse. Made me smile on this rainy Monday.

A smiling devoted Bronco fan. He is happy even though they have been losing. His cute shirt says " I drool orange and blue, Broncos".

Harrison is an artist and a cowboy. He lives in a super cool house these days with lots of land to roam and animals to see. My oh my he is growing up too quickly. But he will be a big brother come CHRISTmas.

Today is a federal holiday. It is funny all the comotion about this day yet many of those same people take it off with pay. I remember it fondly because I was about 10 when I learned a lot about politics. My auntie Mima catered the Columbus Day dinners. It was fun to make a few dollars by helping out. I set up the tableware as it was a sit down dinner back then that consisted of the best homemade fried chicken and spaghetti and meatballs. Although she was my dad's oldest sister and the second to last to pass away she married an Italian and she cooked like a dream. I met my favorite Colorado governor at one of these events , Dick Lamm. His predictions about the immigration crisis are coming true. He was a very brilliant man and I still pour over so many of his writing.

I'm going to have an apple as a snack and head over to read some Aw.....Mondays blog posts. I challenge anyone who use to blog to please come back and do it. I want to thank Michele Luttrell for this awesome windmill post. I love this and my hubby loves a windmill. It was one of his favorite things from his childhood.