Sweet Bribery

I asked my son if he'd mind if I took his photo. Look at his response....





"C'mon, it's not like I asked you to scrub the bathroom or walk the dogs or cook dinner." Please smile without rolling your eyes at me".




"There, that's a good smile. Can you give me another so I can snap one or two more pictures? I'll buy you a piece of candy if you do".





"Oh wow, mom, a whole piece of candy?" I upped the ante a bit here... "Okay, I'll take you out and look for chewy apple slices". (His favorite candy).




Just look at the smile that got me!!! Just a few sweets work as bribery for my son. Unfortunately, though, after visiting 4-5 candy shops, not one had those green,chewy, sugary apple rings. We are hard pressed to find those little buggers anymore.

But, I got my smile!

Unexpected Visitor

Yesterday should have been a very productive work day for me. Instead, it was a very interrupted work day as we tried to figure out what to do with this little fellow.





My husband was doing some weed whacking when he suddenly saw this little ball of fur trying to climb on the weed whacker. Thinking the mother would claim him, my husband left our back yard and started working in the front yard instead, only to discover he was followed. I was summoned outside to help and hence a day of squirrel sitting began, with the head sitter being my daughter.




We tried various things to see if we could get him back to his mom but nobody in the squirrel community around our home seemed to be looking for him. My daughter tried to position "Oliver" (thus named when we discovered he was a "he") close to what we thought was the nest but every time she attempted to leave the area, Oliver came running for her to hop in her lap and sleep.



He appeared very healthy, very energetic, and also unlike any other squirrel we had ever encountered. Neither of us could bear the thought of leaving him outside last evening alone because he did not know how to climb a tree yet and would certainly fall prey to any of the variety of wildlife in our area.




So, after a few phone calls, we ended up on a 50 minute car ride to the closest wildlife preserve where Oliver can spend the rest of his squirrel life with tons of other squirrels who hopefully will teach him how to be exactly what he is - a squirrel and not another member of our family.


I have to admit, though, that he was absolutely adorable and sweet....

Ruby Is Not A Beach Bunny... Nor A Beach Beagle For That Matter

All the best laid plans usually don't work out. On vacation, I had happily envisioned romping with the two beagles on the beach and dashing between the small waves at the water's edge. However, we were unable to get poor Freckles on to the beach due to the amount of steps he would have had to climb and descend to actually set paw on the beach. His back legs are unfortunately not in very good condition.



Therefore, my husband had to turn around and take him back home. I continued on to the beach with Ruby, only discover that she is petrified of the ocean.





Can you see "terrified" written all over her face?




I have never before been able to see such changes in a dog's face take place but plainly you can see Ruby is not at all enamored with the ocean like we are. She definitely has a "white knuckled" grip going on in this photo.....

I Heart Faces - Bubbles

Here is my entry for this week's theme. I didn't think I'd be entering since I didn't think I could convince my two teenagers sit and pose for me while blowing bubbles. When I felt I would just have to pass this week's bubble theme up, I then remembered a photo that I took at my niece's wedding back in July and, bingo, I had my photo to fit the theme.

Be sure to check out I Heart Faces for all of the bubbly entries this week.

Exciting Meeting For Dinner

It has taken me almost a week to put this post together as I was away chaperoning my kids and 85 other kids at band camp in Maryland. I can't tell you how happy I am to be home, using MY shower without bugs and dirt crawling all over, without the 90+ degree heat all day and only hitting the mid 70s at night, and food that left a lot to be desired.

Last Thursday, I had the privilege of meeting up with Rebeckah (Life with Kaishon) and with Drew (Happy Chaos) and their families at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. I don't know about Drew and Rebeckah, but my daughter and I had a blast. It is so cool to see these people in person for the very first time but you feel that you already know them.

We talked and ate, and ate some more, and then talked some more. The kids were wonderful and so well behaved. Drew's husband came along for the ride and what a great and funny guy he is.

I hope you enjoy seeing the pics. The lighting wasn't great but I did my best



My daughter, Naji, and Nathan.



Here are two of the sweetest and warm girls I've ever met - how can you not have fun when laughing along with these two.






This little guy was so mild and smiley.






Another smiler - I think Kaishon had had a great day with his new friends.






Sweet baby Jordan who sat near me and ate some mac and cheese - I think a bit more ended up on that pretty little face instead of her stomach!




Is it possible for this couple to be any cuter? I think not.

A Very Fun Evening

The photo has nothing to do with my evening last night. It is however a picture I just took of our puppy this week. Fun had everything to do with last evening when I met up with two of my fellow blogging friends and their families for dinner.

I will post later today on this. All I can say is it was hard to tear myself away when it came time for us to part....

We Have Been Rick Roll'd

My 15 year-old discovered this gentleman yesterday and he is getting such a kick out of the whole "Rick Roll'd" thing. Now, I happened to have loved this song back in the day and thought his dance moves were really cool - back then. I've watched this video several times now and find myself sort of chorkling at the "roll" and also the high jeans Rick is sporting.

Does anybody out their remember this song? Anybody out there really like it way back when? I googled Rick Astley and he is still alive and kicking and doing some performing.

Please enjoy this interim blog post and see if it doesn't bring back some memories for the folks who knew him back in the 1980s and also a smile to the faces of those of you who don't know Rick Astley from a hole in the wall.