Day Ninety: Josie and Max

Max walking Josie into her school this morning.

Day Eighty-Six, Eighty-Seven, Eighty-Eight, Eighty-Nine: Josie's Birthday Weekend

Day Eighty-Six: Annalee and Uncle Booter come to Iowa

My son, Howard (known as Booter to those who love him) and my granddaughter Annalee arrived in Iowa about 7:30 tonight.

Booter came up with the genius solution that the 3 girls....Annalee, Josie, and Grammy (me) all sleep in my king-size bed. I loved the idea, even tho' I got next to no sleep for 2 nights.

Day Eighty-Seven: Josie's Birthday
Happy birthday, Josie! Josie is 6 today, and it was quite a day.

As soon as they woke up, Annalee wanted Josie to open my present (the Hello Kitty). I say Annalee, because Josie doesn't care that much. But Annalee is the girly-girl!

My daughter and I took Josie and Annalee to the mall to get their nails done. Then was Josie's birthday party at the Build-a-Bear wanna-be at a different mall. There were about 12 girls. Everyone got to make an animal, there was cupcakes and presents. And it was a Hello Kitty theme.

When we went home (oh, after going to the grocery store to find all the ingredients), Booter made us a 4-course Asian dinner.....Singapore noodles, Shrimp in Lobster Sauce, Mongolian Beef and sticky rice. We invited some of Stefanie's friends over to join us. They have a daughter who is friends with Josie, and the 3 girls had a great time.

Day Eighty-Eight: Goodbye Again

This morning, Sunday, we took Booter and Annalee kicking and screaming to Sunday school. It turned out they all had fun.

Afterwards, we went to a mexican restaurant for lunch with friends. And then it was time to say goodbye again. Annalee tried everything to stay a day longer, since she had spring break this week. My son checked his work schedule, but he had a Monday morning client meeting, so they had to leave.

Day Eighty-Nine: VIP
Every child in Josie's class gets to be VIP for a week. It's usually around birthday time. So this week is Josie's week. Here she is with Mrs. Bromwich, her teacher putting on her crown.

They also bring in pictures for the class and post them on the bulletin board. Of course, we couldn't just bring in a bunch of photos. Oh no, Grammy made album pages for Josie......and they were a hit! Stefanie is on the left, pointing out what each of the pictures were. Mrs. Bromwich is on the right, with Josie next to her.

Day Eighty-Five: A Day with Josie

Today was a day for just Josie and Grammy. We went to the Phelps Art Museum for Kids in Waterloo. It was fun....we colored, we drew, we played. We had a yummy lunch.

Unfortunately, I don't know why, but I let Josie talk me into not taking my dslr with me. So I just had my little point and shoot. The place was a great photo op at every turn, and I had a camera that took forever to shoot. Needless to say, I was very frustrated.

Tomorrow is Chuck E. Cheese, and I guarantee you I will have my Canon!

Also, tomorrow my son and Annalee are coming down to Iowa for Josie's birthday on Saturday. This will be a really fun weekend.

Day Eighty-Four: After Swimming

Today I'm down in Iowa visiting my daughter, sil, and Josie and Max. Wednesday night is swimming lessons at the Y. The kids have gotten really good and it's fun to watch them.

I took pictures in the pool, then in the showers in the locker room. I didn't realize I was making everyone nervous, as I sat there with my big dslr shooting photos. I forgot people might be a little unhappy with a camera in the showers of the lady's locker!

Anyway, I liked this picture for today......in the shower!

Day Eighty-Three: Birthday Gifts

I'm going down to Iowa tomorrow. Saturday is Josie's 6th birthday. So today I got her an Amelia Bedelia book, since the author will be at her school next week. And I went to Build-A-Bear and made her a Hello Kitty, since that is the theme of her party.

Day Eighty-Two: Baby Jonah

My friend's baby.....baby Jonah. I love going over and "practicing" baby photography. However, I'm afraid to move him around too much when he was sleeping, and his mother was upstairs!

I have been knitting hats for babies and kids, and wanted to try it out on Jonah. I got this one on him, and he seemed very happy to sleep away. However, when I tried to take it off, and try another, he woke up......and not in a good mood!

Day Eighty-One: Morning View

When the kids are visiting, they come into my bed in the morning. Lying in bed, this is often my view of Josie and Max at the end of my bed!

Day Eighty: Bathtub Revenge

My "picture" of the day: you can't have one without the other!

Day Seventy-Nine: Love

After picking the kids up at the airport, we went for dinner at our favorite chinese restaurant. Max and Grampy were so happy to see each other, Grampy had a hard time eating his dinner with Max hanging on him!

Day Seventy-Eight: It's Still Winter

I look at this picture, and can't believe it's still winter. Tomorrow is the first day of spring. But in Minnesota, that doesn't mean much.

This is in front of one the stores in "downtown" Wayzata. To the left is Lake Minnetonka. You remember, from yesterday, there is still alot of ice on the lake. And still some snow.

But this looks like the Florida Keys to me!

Day Seventy-Seven: Another Beautiful Day in Cuchamonga

I think it was my son-in-law who always said "another nice day in Cuchamonga" when he woke up and saw it was nice here!

Just a few weeks ago, I used a picture of ice fishermen on Lake Minnetonka. They had their trucks on the lake, as well as their ice houses.

Then up went this sign: "Thin Ice". But if you look, you will see the thin ice has given way to water. I am sure there are already bets for the date of "ice out", which is the date the ice is completely gone on the lake.

This lake is just a few minutes from my house. I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, about 15 minutes from town. Minnesota is the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", and though is not the largest lake by far, it is a huge lake close to town. It used to be filled with cabins and lake homes. It was the summer spot for city "folks". Now it is ringed with mansions for the wealthy well-known business owners here.

In the summer it is filled with boats- small and large. In the winter, ice houses, and polar-dipping (those crazies who jump into the lake on January 1st in freezing weather).

Some of the towns around the lake, like Wayzata and Excelsior, are really cute towns with great shops and restaurants.

This is my town. I think I will intersperse pictures of "my town" among my pictures this year. I love to watch how things change over the years, and this will be one more thing to journal in this year. I already have the library and the fire station.....I'm off to a great start!

Did I say, I love this Challenge!

Day Seventy-Six: Happy St. Paddy's Day

My wish to everyone today, from Michele O'bel.

Day Seventy-Five: It's Spring (-like)

It's in the 60's and balmy in Minneapolis. It's been that way for the last few days. And it may last another day or two.

But I've lived here almost my whole life. So I'm not dumb enough to think it's really Spring. It's only "Spring-like".

This was the sun outside in front of our house at about 4:30pm. Still beautiful and light out, and the sun is still shining!

Day Seventy-Four: Wow!

I had pictures I took today. I Photoshopped them, framed the one I wanted, and was about to post my picture.

Then my daughter emailed me this picture she took outside of the Baskin Robbins in Miami. (If tear drops could stick to my blog, there would be tears from her having another night of Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream!)
I took the picture, and fixed it up in Photoshop (does that count as mine?). I really want this in my 365 Days album, so from Miami, Florida......

This is a picture of the Space Shuttle Launch!

Day Seventy-Three: Yum!

This is my photo of the day. But, it's not a photo I took. I wish it were.

My very favorite ice cream in the whole world is Baskin-Robbins Jamoca Almond Fudge. Unfortunately, Baskin-Robbins closed their last stores in Minnesota over 3 years ago.

So my darling daughter, just to tease me, sent me this picture from Miami today! I can just taste it.

Day Seventy-Two: Have Fun in the Sun

Dropped the kids off at the airport this morning. They're on their way to Miami. I added a picture of the Northwest boarding sign, which was way above them. That's because Northwest will soon be part of Delta (well, ok, they are part of Delta). Minneapolis was always home to Northwest and we could fly anywhere in the country non-stop. We're all afraid of what will become of us when Delta takes over.

Anyway, I hope the kids have a wonderful time.

(Night) Seventy-One: Tired Travelers

The kids fell asleep in the car driving up from Iowa. They got here at 10:00pm.

This is the first leg of their trip. My daughter, son-in-law and Josie and Max leave tomorrow morning for Miami. They'll visit some of my sil's family there.

Then Monday through Friday they go on a cruise to the Bahamas. The kids have their snorkel gear, and are very excited.

Next Friday, they return here. The last leg of the trip will be driving back to Iowa Saturday or Sunday. Luckily, they are really good travelers. And they are very adaptable.

Day Seventy: I'm a Lucky Girl

While I sit in my chair, with my laptop on my lap playing with Photoshop, this is what I see! My dh is vacuuming.

I am a lucky girl, I know that. He cooks, he cleans......all in is cute little gym socks! I, on the other hand, play on my computer and drive him crazy. That's what happens when an anal-retentive marries an ADD!

Although, I know he never believes me when I tell everyone, I feel sorrier for him. Though his perfectionism can drive me crazy (I usually just ignore him or laugh), he has to live with my messes and my "piles".

Could this be love?

Day Sixty-Nine: A Photographer's Dream

While at services with my son and his family, this little girl was rolling on the carpeting in the aisle. She was so cute. Then my dil's mother asked me to take some pictures of her, since she knew the mother.

I was so excited. If I had just been taking pictures, they probably would have thought I was a pervert! But now I had an excuse. I took over 20 pictures of her in probably 3 minutes, and everyone of her was so cute. She was so cute, so free, just posing naturally.

I will put the pictures on a cd and pass them along. But for now, I have no idea even what her name is.

Day Sixty-Nine: Awards

One of my favorites, Ellay, passed on 2 awards to me:

The first:

“These blogs invest and believe in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!”

The second is:

The Premio Dardos award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in their effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.

And, I'll pass these on to:

Petra: http://petra-project-365.blogspot.com/

Anne: http://annecproject365.blogspot.com/

Debbie: http://willow885project365.blogspot.com/

JanMary: http://welcometomyworldjanmary.blogspot.com/

Sarah: http://my3hensproject.blogspot.com/

http://iampunch.blogspot.com/

My photo for today to follow later! Thanks, Ellay!!!

Day Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven and Sixty-Eight

Day Sixty-Six: Zombies

All four cousins got together Saturday night at my Son's house. With the tv, or WII, we had Zombies on our hands. I loved this picture of Josie and Annalee.....I think it was all the color.

Day Sixty-Seven: My Two "Bookends"

I have four grandchildren: Sam, Annalee, Josie and Max. Since Sam is my oldest and Max my youngest, I call them "My Bookends".

Day Sixty-Eight: Goodbye Again

My daughter and her kids left Minneapolis Sunday afternoon. About 30 minutes away, my sil called to tell her to turn back because the roads were too dangerous to travel.

I was thrilled to have them another day! But, her friends, when they found out she turned back because of "weather", wanted to to know how bad the weather was here! Well, the weather here was great........so we're not sure where Cary's weather report came from.

So, here they are Monday morning, repacking the car, and leaving again.

Day Sixty-Five: With Grampy

The kids are in town, and having fun with Grampy before bed.

Happiness is.......

Day Sixty-Four: Morning Routine

While visiting in Iowa, Josie and Max usually come into my bed in the morning. Max is usually the first one in bed. We play "I Spy", and then it's time for a kid's show.

When Josie comes down, there's always play. It's my favorite time of the day!

Day Sixty-Three: Music Program

Josie goes to Price Laboratory school in Cedar Falls. It is associated with the University of Northern Iowa. It may become the laboratory school for all of Iowa.

It is a fabulous school. Small classes, great teachers, swimming, roller skating, art classes and many other pluses.

Their music teacher seems to be a genius. Her music concerts are amazing. The talent is fabulous. The drama and entertainment is great.The music program was for pre-K through 5th grade. This year it was an American Music Theme.

Josie's class (this was just a small part) was singing "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land" in this picture.

This picture is the finale with all the grades together.

Day Sixty-Two: Ready for School

Josie is having school pictures today, so I decided to have her pose for me before school. Then I played around with some of the pictures in Photoshop!

Day Sixty-One: Kitty Kat

Picking up Max after pre-school, we found a little kitty cat.

Day Sixty: Line Up

A lineup on the last day!

Day Fifty-Nine: Doing the Dishes

I'm two and a half days behind.

Beginning at the first day of our weekend together, we went to downtown Cedar Falls. Downtown is the cutest 6 blocks of stores I've ever seen, even in some very fancy towns around the U.S.

My son-in-law and I stayed with the kids at "Pursuing Picasso" painting "dishes". It was so much fun. I couldn't decide what to paint, and I couldn't resist a bank that was a giant egg with a baby dinosauer coming out of it! When I was getting the paint colors, I was picking out bright yellow, greens, purple....and I wanted bright orange for polka-dots on the purple dinosauer. The young girl's eyes got wide. I had to explain that I was really a little kid at heart!

Annalee made a pretty pot, Josie made a reindeer, Max made a gecko, and Sam made a dragon since he's into wizards and Harry Potter.