Awwww Monday: best of both worlds

Hello again. Cabo here with an update on the changing seasons. Although the calendar says it’s Autumn, the temperature still says it’s hot here in middle Missouri. My mom read in one of her magazines there should be another month added to the calendar called Saugust……hot temps like August, but in an Autumn month.

I agree. Part of me really wants to enjoy the outside……

But part of me likes being in my kennel where the portable AC is still running.

What do you think of my solution? Hope everyone has an (p)awwwwesome week.

Blog hopping today with Comedy Plus and Awwww Monday.

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Wordless Wednesday 9.12.18

I hope you all realize just how much self restraint is involved for me in posting a photo and not adding words.

Just sayin’. 🙂

Blog hopping with Comedy Plus for Wordless Wednesday.

Awwww Monday 9.10.18

Meet the newest member of our family clan. He’s a 9-week old border collie that has a home on Entrepreneur’s parents’ cattle farm. He’s yet to be named, but leading the list is: Scout, Laddie and Duke.

Just going to leave this cuteness here for you all this morning. Blog hopping today with Comedy Plus for Awwww Monday.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

The end of an era

I’m not going to cry. I’m not. I’m not. I’m not.

Okay, yes, I cried.

Today is the first day of Pre-K for Twix. And, I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit this is a bittersweet day for both Entrepreneur and me. She has been with us since the day she was born. We were at the hospital when she arrived three weeks early, one day ahead of a February snowstorm.

She came home to our house when our daughter and Peanut were living with us. We were right there with her Mama when there were concerns about health issues stemming from her premature birth.

After our daughter went back to work, I transitioned to working my job from home so she didn’t have to worry about child care. And so my journey  with our second grand girl began.

Twix’s health issues improved and she flourished with so many caregivers watching over her. I made her baby food and she went everywhere with me. She took her first steps in our home and it was here she said her first words.

Even when they bought their own home and moved out, she continued to show up Monday through Friday at 7:30am while Mama went to work and Peanut went to school. We watched her grow from an infant into an inquisitive toddler…and now into a precocious preschooler.

I know she is, technically, not my daughter, but she has become such a part of me over these past four and a half years.

And now we have to let her go. As hard as this is for me, I believe it’s going to be doubly hard on Entrepreneur. She’s been his little shadow ever since she could walk, and a shining light in the middle of a very dark time for him.

She has her new backpack, new first day of school outfit, Nana-made quiet time blanket, pillow and small luvie. She is ready.

I’m just not sure I am.

Blog hopping with Happy Tuesday from Comedy Plus and Pictorial Tuesday from Peabea’s Photos ‘n Scribbles

August Photo Challenge: Photographer’s Choice

August is over? Really? Wow.

And with that thought, it must be time for PJ’s monthly photo challenge. August was Photographer’s Choice. Which is a synonym for Anything Goes. This usually results in an eclectic collection of photos and interesting commentary.

August was (thankfully) easy for me. Seems like I was always on the back end of the viewfinder for some reason. Not that I’m complaining at all! My August photo folder is awfully large, and I did have a bit of a struggle paring down the options. So, of course, I adapted and pushed a few boundaries. Whaaaaattttt?????

Photographer’s Choice #1
Love is the greatest gift that one generation can give another. ~Richard Garnett
The month began with a neighbor’s request to come to their home and capture a few moments with three generations of fathers and sons. The youngest son is 5 months old and the oldest father is in his 70s.

Photographer’s Choice #2
Family is what happens when two people fall in love.
Next on the list took me to the botanical garden in town to recreate some wedding portraits of our daughter, her husband and their blended family. See my two previous posts for more on this event.

Photographer’s Choice #3
Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
We took the grand girls on a whirlwind tour of SE Missouri for a late summer vacay trip before school began. We stopped at a park called Elephant Rocks State Park in the St. Francois Mountains of the Ozark Plateau. These granite boulders are millions of years old. I was going to crop this top photo, but changed my mind as it gives some perspective to how large these boulders are in comparison to a human. And, these were the smallest ones.

Photographer’s Choice #4
Sometimes it feels so good to just sit by yourself, relax and not to talk to anyone. ~Kristen Butler
Peanut got in some last-minute relaxation time before beginning her 4th grade adventure.

Photographer’s Choice #5
Meanwhile, on the other side of the pool……
Children are happy because they don’t have a file in their minds called “All Things That Could Go Wrong.” ~ Marianne Williamson

Bonus choice
Learning is a treasure that follows its owner everywhere. ~Chinese Proverb
Yes, there is a bonus photo because I could not keep to just five this month (obviously). School officially began a couple weeks ago for Peanut. We take these shots for the first day of school and it’s amazing to see how she changes from year to year. Twix will begin Pre-K after Labor Day so we’ll start documenting her school years next month.

Those were my choices for this month. Please blog hop over to PJ’s to see what other participants chose. Better yet, join us and link up!

Blended Beginnings Part 2

Last week (or so) I shared with you all some pics from our oldest daughter’s recent wedding in June. Because of a few issues during the day, the bride and groom didn’t have the opportunity to have the traditional “formal portraits” done after the ceremony.

Add to the chaos the fact that Peanut and Twix were leaving for their six-week summer visitation with their dad the following week. Because of that schedule, we had to postpone photos until (ugh) August when they returned. Hot, sticky August in middle Missouri. Perfect.

We chose the local botanical garden and I went and scoped out backdrops a few weeks before the shoot. Because of the August heat, we decided on a 9am meet time to try and finish before the heat and humidity set in for the day.

First, we began with the bride.

Then, we added the groom.

A base of love and commitment established to begin the art of blending.

The rest of the brood is added.

Blending a family has been quite the challenge with five children. Yes, count them…..f.i.v.e. all between four and (almost) ten years old; three girls and two boys. No chaos or drama here, right?!

Getting used to the new “normal” for blended family kids can be a little unsettling. It takes a while to establish trust and stability with the new parent and situation.

So Peanut and Twix now have two brothers and another sister. Each of these children are uniquely different so finding balance in a new family situation can take some doing. Boundaries are being set as well as expectations and responsibilities.

It’s been quite an adjustment but they are working on making the transition as smooth as possible…as smooth as you can with a (almost) 10-, 9-, 8- and two 4-year-olds!

Two children is enough of a handful.  Three can be challenging. Keeping track of and up to speed with five is completely beyond my comprehension. Patience will need to multiply exponentially.

It’s estimated one third of all remarriages form blended families.

Sibling rivalry, attention issues, discipline challenges will all be things these parents will deal with as they present a unified front and lead by example. Bonds won’t grow strong overnight, but as they do more things as a “family,” relationships will strengthen over time.

Expect conflicts. Extend grace. I hope and pray this is the attitude adopted by everyone as they experience these growing pains.

The only steps in this house
is the staircase, and
the only half in this house
is the half&half creamer.
~Al Hodson