Nana's Nest

UPDATE

2010-03-01T08:24:00.001-05:00

I have decided not to update the blog. With 4 grandchildren and lots of pic's it's just to slow for me. I would love for you to visit me on Facebook...Deanna Kreisel Newman is my FB. I am set as private so request to be my friend and we can share notes and pictures.....

Blog will be down

2009-12-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

Due to the time frame it takes to upload pictures I will not be updating my blog until further notice. I have posted some pictures on Facebook for now

Where Oh where has the TIME gone!!!

2009-12-17T07:41:00.002-05:00

I wish I could honestly say, "I have been using my time wisely" but that just isn't true! Yes, I have been very busy between work and family and very little time for myself and that means I have neglected the most important person in my life, My Lord and Savior. I love love Christmas but like everyone else I get caught up in the tornado and that is the first thing to slide.
I have tried to get a few Christmas cards off but this year it's honestly only going to be a "few". With the cost of postage these days, the money could be used some where else.
I last posted in October right after Bryson's birthday and Halloween. So what happen after that.......
November brought us into the beginning of a busy pre-holiday season. We celebrated Audy's birthday in "shifts". The kids had their things to do so we had a get together with some friends and then a family event. If anyone knows anything about Audy, he LOVES his birthday:-)
November also brought us a challenge of "change". Skip lost his job! In many ways we were thankful because it was so stressful for him and he was ready to move on but didn't know when the timing was right. Well the Lord fixed that for him! Thank goodness Jessica was working a part time job and it's turned into a full time job for the last month. Skip has had a tremendous opportunity to bond with Molly Anna and it's the sweetest thing. He's always appreciated Jessica and her role as a wife, mom and keeping up the day to day operation of the home. Well now that the shoe is on the other foot he's REALLY appreciates her!! Jessica's mom and I keep Molly Anna at least once a week so he can continue his job search and his errands.
Katie and her family left the week before Thanksgiving for almost two weeks to spend some quality time with James family. The weather was beautiful so the kids got to roam the property with their cousin Elijah and from the stories I hear they had a blast! They got to spend a wonderful time with Grandpa and Grandma and of course aunts and uncle too. I just know Grandma Toni was soaking it up to have her kids all under one roof!
I must say the kids were more excited to get home to their precious Nellie who is now 6 months old. She did real good while staying with us. It took Maggie a few days to be reminded she lost her throne in the house as thee Queen!
We had a quiet Thanksgiving with Skip's family, Stacey and her friend Becky.
Katie's family arrived home the day before Jessalyn's 7th birthday. We had a celebration when she got home.
So now the ages are, Bryson 9, Jessalyn 7, Dawson 4 and Molly Anna 22 months.....
Now I will get some pictures uploaded in the next few days.....

October

2009-10-31T10:00:00.003-04:00

Katie, Molly Anna and Dawson

Katie, Molly Anna and Jessalyn

More of October

2009-10-31T09:47:00.003-04:00

A couple of post's ago I announced that the Padilla's had a new addition to their family and her name is Nellie. She is now 16 weeks and the sweetest girl. She is a Labordoodle. Yep! Poodle and Lab mix! She smart like a poodle and such a good girl. Of course she is at the puppy stage full of jumps and licks! She has to be put in her bed when Molly Anna is there because she weighs more than her now and she's quite overwhelming! Nellie and Jessalyn are very close too.

When Bryson came down with his outfit on the look on Molly Anna's face was so funny. Her mouth hung open because she knew the voice but could only see the eyes! We said, "Bryson hurry uncover your face"!

Little "Miss Clemson" taking notes of her cheers! GO TIGERS!

Dawson is on the right and his buddy Ethan on left as James rolls balls for them to catch. It is so adorable to watch 4 year old learn T-ball!

BUBBLES AND BUBBLES AND BUBBLES

September-October

2009-10-31T09:19:00.004-04:00

I can't hardly believe tomorrow is the beginning of a new month! September and October were just so busy!
HIGHLIGHTS....Anniversaries and Bryson's 9th birthday! James was out of town and both Audy and I had to work that evening so we were met at Gattitown with Jessica and Molly Anna. The room we were in was playing Finding Nemo and Molly Anna didn't know what to think about this HUGE screen TV and the noise so loud!!!

His favorite game: STAR WARS

Papa and Nana "scored" we got the right Bionicle:-)

Jessalyn has been going through the pains of growing out her hair! Now Nana is putting her old fingers back to work practicing french braiding.

BRYSON, JESSALYN, and DAWSON....growing up so fast!

Claire Sims Birthday and sharing her new bike!

2009-09-09T09:06:00.002-04:00

Claire Sims (Mathew) is Dave and Rhonda's granddaughter who turned 2! Rhonda and I went in on a tricycle. She was so sweet share it with the girls.

Lani Kohler (Melissa) is Dave and Rhonda's granddaughter and she's 18 months.

And then there is Molly Anna....they all had such a good time.

Cooking and Sewing with Nana

2009-09-09T08:47:00.002-04:00

Jessalyn and Nana had some precious time making one of Great-Grandma Jessie's Peanut Butter Oatmeal no bake cookies. I have started her a recipe file for her own use and especially some of mom's recipes. We used her math skills and I explained what a cup, teaspoon and Tablespoon was. She learned how to measure and read a recipe. She is always helping her mommy in the kitchen and this added to her knowledge.

The end results! She thought that was so neat that the cookies didn't go into the oven!

Next I cut out some quilt squares and had them ready for her to sew together. Her first statement was, "Nana do I get to use a REAL needle". And the answer to that was yes...but let me tell you it's a Cross stitch needle which is a round tip and not sharp!!! She really worked hard and did such a good job. When I was her age my Grandma did this with me on school breaks. I had no clue until she handed me a finished quilt of all the pieces I had put together over the years!

Meet Nellie Padilla

2009-09-09T08:41:00.002-04:00

This is the new addition to the Padilla's and they named her Nellie. She's a Labordoodle and just so adorable. The kids have waited along time for a puppy and they have been so excited about Nellie. This was taken on Saturday and 3 or 4 days later I have already noticed she's grown some. I think she is going to be a big girl. The nice thing about Nellie is she doesn't SHED....just my kind of in house dog!!!

Bryson 3rd and Jessalyn 1st Grade

2009-09-04T09:04:00.003-04:00

Once again God has blessed Bryson and Jessalyn another year of being home schooled with Katie. This is something we don't take for granted and especially the blessing of Katie being a stay at home mom. Thanks James for the hard work you do to provide this privilege.
The first few days were very rough getting them back into a routine. I think Jessalyn had the hardest time. I stopped by on the second day and Katie was ready to throw in the towel and said, "forget it, they are going to school". According to Jessalyn, "it's too hard, I am tired and etc..." Well after an "attitude adjustment" things have gotten better. They go to the Calvary Co-Op on Wednesday so with all three in school it makes for a nice break for Katie on Wednesdays.
Bryson has started his second year of piano and will be moving up to a Classical Book. Katie was telling me she rarely has to remind him that he needs to go and practice. Mr. Garrett says, he's doing very well. It sounds good to me too;-)
I have a few things planned in helping Katie with school and that is a cooking time with Nana. Tuesday will be Jessalyn's turn and we are going to make Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies. And I am going to teach her how to hand sew quilt pieces together just as my grandma did with me.
Bryson will get his turn in a couple of weeks and I am not sure what we will do yet. He's not interested in the kitchen but he needs to learn the math of cooking so we will at least make something yummy!

Dawson starts K4

2009-09-04T08:47:00.002-04:00

Isn't this little buddy cute! He's got his book bag and his cute little doggie lunch box with his name on it from Uncle Skip and Aunt Jess.
As I walked him in just as I have in the years past with Bryson and Jessalyn I got so choked up! Where has the time gone that we are now on # 3! He held my hand and took me down to the sign in station and I signed him in and he got his pass for class. Then when I got to his class, just as in the years past Mrs. Karen West greeted him with the sweetest smile and guided him along. But first he remembered to give his Nana some love. As I watched him go and put his folder on Miss Karen's desk my heart swelled with such pride! He is also blessed with a wonderful teacher's helper, Miss Denise who like this Nana takes great pride in being a grandma:-)
Now that he has been in school for several weeks the newness is slowly wearing off. Everyday he says to his mama, "is school over yet"? Boy does he have a long way to go!! Katie asked him what it was he didn't like about school and he says, "the coloring and the writing"!!! Well honey what is it you do like and he says, "play time, play ground and lunch." We had a good laugh over that one!

Washington D.C.

2009-09-01T09:56:00.003-04:00

We had such a wonderful time in D.C. visiting our dearest friends Pastor Dusty and Sandra Gray. It was a weekend of good counsel and uplifting fellowship among our brother and sister in Christ. Bryson requested a picture of Abraham Lincoln.

This is the Pentagon Memorial.This memorial was quite touching for us because it's the first memorial of the 9/11 we have been to. Sandra and I decided to sit on the wall and just visit while Dusty and Audy walked around.

This is Mount Vernon the home of George Washington. When we made our plans to visit we knew we were coming at the hottest time of the year BUT that day was so beautifully cool. Sandra said, "she's waiting in line for at least 30 minutes just to get in the gates and then it would be packed with people touring the house. Well besides cool weather that day we were the 2nd family in line to get in the gates and the tour was a total of 5 people. Even the tour guides made a comment!! The grounds were beautiful and we rested on a bench steps away from the Potomac River. Sandra noticed a "Hawk" dive into the water and pulled out a fish and was squawking above our heads. Audy took out his binoculars and we watched it eat it's lunch. Really interesting! From there we toured the museum and all of the history of Washington's time. They went as far as taking his DNA and making a wax person of what he looked like as a young man and older. It was really well worth finishing off lunch at the Restaurant.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAWSON

2009-08-12T07:57:00.002-04:00

Meet Scooby Do aka Batman!

The night before.....

2009-08-11T22:55:00.004-04:00

As I sat here looking over the pictures from Dawson's early birthday party at Chuckee Cheese (will post them tomorrow) I am amazed how time has flown by. It's hard to believe he will be 4 years old tomorrow. I remember the day Katie told me the news and it came something like this, "Well mom are you ready to be a grandma again?"....Of course we were very excited as we waited for his arrival in August. As with the other two children she end up being induced. She wanted so much to have this baby natural as she was beginning her studies as a Douala she knew it was the best way. Well I honestly believe God had other plans because when he was born (her biggest baby yet!) Katie and I both noticed he had a raspy cry. But the doctor didn't say anything about it so we didn't think anymore about it. Well I had been down to the nursery because Katie was patiently waiting for them to bring her baby when I noticed he wasn't breathing right. So I hurried back to the room and not wanting to alarm Katie I said to James, "bring the video camera and take some pictures of Dawson while Katie is waiting." I showed him what I was seeing and he saw the same thing. He alerted the nurse and a long story short they diagnosed him with Chemical pneumonia. Not sure exactly when he attracted that but it was serious enough that he spent 9 days in (can't recall how to spell NIQ). It was the hardest thing for Katie to have to leave her baby behind and tell Dawson's big brother and sister their baby brother was very sick. A lot of prayers surrounded that baby and it was a great day when he got to come home. The side effect to all of this he struggles with asthma attacks. the first year and half were horrible but to this date he gets a treatment now and then. We keep praying he will out grow them and seems to be slowly.
Michael Dawson has a real sense of humor and more so than the other two children.He comes up with the funniest things. He is Katie's most observant child. If she wears something new he's the first to notice and will say, "that top is so pretty mommy". He's a finger sucking (the pointy finger) child that loves tags on anything but has special blankets. His favorite toy is his stuffed dog. Papa and Nana along with Bryson and Jessalyn made him a puppy (Scooby Do) at Build a Bear and dressed him in his favorite character...BATMAN.
As Katie was lighting his candles on his cake he looked over at his little best friend, Ethan and said, "Happy Birthday to ME"....He takes after his Papa...loves his birthday period....
Until tomorrow.....

Miss Molly Anna

2009-08-11T22:32:00.004-04:00

On the days she goes to her other grandparents she has the same job. She will be our future gardner at the rate she is going.

I need to get her the kids size broom.

Such a little helper with the big broom.

Isn't she the cutest thing!

Summer FUN....July

2009-07-20T13:14:00.003-04:00

We went over to Katie's for a movie on the lawn. It was actually rather chilly for a normal summer evening.

All the kids watching the movie.

Dinner before the movie. They were too funny with their faces

The puppet show has begun

Bryson is giving us a presentation of the story...he did such a good job.

The Last days of June

2009-06-29T08:26:00.005-04:00

Another BLESSED month is behind us and as you can see each of the children are growing up so fast. Molly Anna loves it outside. She is so sweet natured and so much loved by the Padilla children.

Bryson has grownup so much this past year. One of these days I will get him to smile a natural smile that shows his beautiful front teeth coming in. I think it's tomorrow he "might" get his retainer out. They put that in because he has inherited the "big" teeth and a small mouth. He will be having some teeth pulled soon just like his mama did to make room.

Molly Anna taking a break for a juice box....such a big girl with her own one too.

The children introduced Molly Anna to the red Jeep and she loved it. Bryson has too much legs to drive it anymore and we would only let Jessalyn drive her around. She thought she was something else sitting in the drivers seat with Dawson.

It is scary to think it will be a "real" car in 10 years!!! These two are so closely bonded....we see a true friendship in the future.

June has arrived, FUN FUN FUN

2009-06-13T10:48:00.004-04:00

We introduced Molly Anna to our favorite summer spot downtown yesterday. After Molly Anna's nap, Nana and Molly headed over to Aunt Katie's and we loaded the van up with the Nana Wagon and headed to downtown Greenville. The first stop was to meet Skip at Greenville News so he could show her off at the office while we parked and loaded up the wagon and headed to our water spot. I later heard from Skip, "we are ready". So Nana went back upon Main Street and picked her up from her daddy. She came prepared, a pink bucket! Skip said, "they were having a promotion and she got the prize". As it is shown here, she is Sissy's shadow!

This was so funny....she hates for you to pour water in her face so the spray is hitting her smack in the face and she's "yelling". I am standing in front of her telling her, "Molly look you have your face in the water". She looks at me and sees that no one is torturing her and LOVED IT. We had a good laugh over that.

Molly Anna! She is who she is....full of LIFE and LAUGHTER!!

Isn't this a cutie!! Batman saves the day!

Someday she won't appreciate her "protectors" but Mommy and Daddy will...beware now little men!

Wrapping up another month.....

2009-05-25T10:54:00.002-04:00

Well nearly another month, May is soon to be over. I can't hardly believe we have finished out half of the year. Here are some highlights....
Hannah Gray graduated from Bob Jones University and we had a few days with our wonderful and sweet friends, Sandra and Pastor Gray. We won't be seeing much of them from now on as Hannah is done with school(grad school in the future). We are planning a trip to D.C. in August.
Mother's Day was very nice for us moms. The guys and the kids took us to our favorite chinese Lieu's for lunch. I got lots of sweet cards, gift card, earrings and a lovely picture of Molly.
Skip and Jess's big 5 year anniversary. They went out for a nice dinner and Papa babysit Molly Anna as Nana had to work.
Memorial Weekend....lazy! Katie's family are at the beach and a little rained out but I am sure it didn't damper the kids fun! And then as you'll see below Freedom Weekend....speaking of FREEDOM...we are so THANKFUL for ALL of our military and two young men come to mind that we pray for, J.T. Elliot is in Afganistan and Martin is in Iraq...we pray for their saftely and protection....I am thankful for my retired men who have served in years past and now our active men including James in Nat'l Guard....we LOVE YOU ALL.

MAY

2009-05-25T10:22:00.004-04:00

FREEDOM LOFT WEEKEND! We had Molly Anna and decided to go to Target and were on our way to Brewster's for ice cream when we saw the hot air Balloons lift off. When we got to ice cream we told Molly Anna to "look up" but she wasn't quite sure what we meant so we tipped her back (nearly upside down) and then she was the balloons and she was A W E!!!

Brewster's is across the street from our church and right before our eyes one was landing on the lawn.

I told Audy, "now how was that for a FREE view and no crowds".... LANDED!

Bryson and is active imagination!!!

He's COOL.....

The kids love playing with Molly Anna on the trampoline!! She's even figured out that she has to "jump".

LOVE YOU NANA!

Bryson's first piano recital....him and his serious smiles!!!

SPRING

2009-05-12T09:19:00.004-04:00

We are hoping to purchasea new notebook computer in a few weeks and it sure will help with the uploading and blogging. The keys stick and it takes forever for anything to download. I have a few more pictures but it's taken me half an hour just to try and upload them and no sucess......
*********
Whatcha doing Molly Anna?

"Looking for treasure's"

Well it's actually Papa's pepper plant pot!

Molly Anna's first trip to Bruster's for a free ice cream cone. She has no clue what she's waiting for either.....

Isn't she a pro or what!? Our little cutie bug!

HAPPY MAY!

2009-05-04T06:54:00.002-04:00

Well Spring has arrived in South Carolina. We have had some warm days but I would say and even amount of warm and cool ones. Everything is in bloom and so pretty and green. Now if we could just get over all the sickness! Audy and I have done pretty good this winter but we both have been fighting off a cold. For those of you who know me I am a ZICAM believer!! As soon as I feel a sniff off I go and hey it works!
Katie's kids have done really good with allergies. Dawson still battle's with asthma but not like he has done in the past. Katie gives him a breathing treatment just about every night. Now Molly Anna is the one who has been sick this past week. She went up North to her cousins birthday party and came home a sick little girl. She ran a fever all week and then on Friday Mommy found a red rash and it was Roseola. The doctor said, "expect a cold or virus after that" and sure enough she had a snotty nose. Papa and Nana kept her yesterday so Mommy and Daddy could at least go to church and get a nap in as they were exhausted!
Then on Saturday I was getting ready for work when I got a call from our dearest friend's daughter, Hannah Gray from Barge (Bob Jones Hospital) asking us if we could take her to the local hospital. She was crossing the street on campus when a car hit her. It's only the Grace of God she is able to tell the story and from what witness's say as well! She came away with some bruises and scrapes and totally embarrassed!!! She graduates on Saturday and after 4 years she'd be the one to not only go to Barge but get hit by a car too!!! Only Hannah!!!!
My job is coming along really good. I am hoping they will trim back a few more hours so I can manage my home and grand children and still have the energy to do the things I need to do. Audy begins his 2PM to 10PM shift June 1 and we will have more time together during that time.
I do have some pic's on my camera and hopefully this week I can post them.

EASTER SUNDAY

2009-04-17T22:56:00.003-04:00

Well even the big kids gotta have too!

Molly Anna....don't you just love them curls! So cute!

Such handsome three they are!!!

End of Week 2

2009-04-03T11:48:00.002-04:00

Well it's the end of my second week of training and I am so thankful to have the weekend here! I am so grateful for Audy's encouragement and so much help around the house as I struggle each day to do what I can. Oh I miss my grandchildren so much. I have managed to make it by and see the Padilla children and stock up on some hugs and kisses. I have not seen my Molly Anna since Sunday and miss her so much. I was going to go by one day this past week but she was so sick and I really couldn't afford to get sick. Katie and Jessalyn are going to Atlanta tomorrow with Jessalyn's best friend, Kate. They are going to the American Girl for Kate's birthday. James has his weekend drill so the boys are camping out at Nana's for the day and I am looking forward to that.
I have learned a lot this week with the emails. It was quite rewarding to me when I stopped by on Wednesday and picked up a check for the few days of the last pay period. I am Praising the Lord for this job and the good wages because it is so much easier on me with my knee problems. Right now I am battling with eye strain as I am not use to being on the computer for hours at a time. That will soon pass. Right now I am trying to get my schedule worked out as they have me set for 30 hours a week when I am suppose to work 20 hours a week. It looks like I will mainly work in the evenings and I am really okay with that. Audy and I are use to spending quality time together and the rest of the time I can help out my girls with the children.
We are also rejoicing with Jessica getting a part time job as well. She is only away from home 2 days a week for a few hours. Her parents watch Molly Anna one day and the other day I watch her. She is very firm about being a stay at home mom and not continuing a career. Skip is working very hard to make this possible for her. They have been through some deep waters this last year but God has seen them through each wave and they grow stronger and stronger with each other as well as the Lord.

Newman Update

2009-03-28T15:07:00.002-04:00

Well as you can see there are NO pictures to update and probably won't be for another week or so. I started classroom training on Monday at Level One. For those of you who aren't familar with Level One. It's a Centralize Leasing Company. Their operators are the people you speak with when you call to get information on most Apartment Communities U.S. wide. Well I will be working with the emails that come in and replying to their questions and sending their request to the communites they are enquiring about. During the two weeks of training I will be pulling a full week but once my training is over I am going to do 20 hours a week. I am rather excited to have a good paying job and not having to be in so much pain with my knees.
Skip's family has battled with the colds and yucky stuff. I haven't been able to see Molly Anna all week and looking forward to her spending the day with us tomorrow. Jessica got a part time job at the mortage company she use to work with. She's only doing 1 or 2 days a week for a few hours. Her mom and dad live close by so it's been so nice for her to make some extra money. Like she says, she is not looking for a career but it's sure nice to get out of the house once in awhile.
Katie's family is healthy! She stays busy with homeschooling and all the extra activities they are involved with. We stopped by and saw them this morning and daddy had them organizing the video/dvd cabient. What was so funny was Papa would say, "that movie is MINE" and so on. Well Dawson wasn't about to hand over his favorite movie like Toy Story and etc....So it's Mine no it's MINE was ongoing! And guess what? Papa came home with an arm load ove MINE movies;)

CHANGES!

2009-03-19T14:10:00.003-04:00

I know that I am not the only one that hates changes! Changes can cause much stress for the "unknown" or they can be turned around to help us grow and broader our horizon. I have been working for Books Are Fun almost 3 years and have enjoyed it so much. I have met a lot of people and been to some neat places. It is time for me to close that door and a new door at Level One has been opened up to me. Level One is a type of call center that takes the calls for the 800 number for apartments all over the USA. I know some of you are wondering how in the world can I work with telephones. Well I will be working with the email department. They have requested that I work 20 hours a week and it can be anytime Monday through Saturday during 7am until 9pm. I have two weeks of training beginning on Monday.
Yes it's going to be stressful because my schedule will at one point in time conflict with "family outings" and holidays. I am learning a whole new system and working on huge double screened computers (no need for new glasses!) On the positive side, I just might have the opportunity to open a door in the future for others....God knows ALL and I am trusting him with this.
I would appreciate your prayers as I do broaden my horizon for the Lord.

THANKS JENNY!

2009-03-19T14:08:00.001-04:00

Isn't the blog setup adorable! I take no credit for the cute graphics! Once again a dear friend, Jenny has taken care of me again........thanks dear, just love it!

Dawson learns to drive!

2009-03-09T20:14:00.003-04:00

This is Dawson's first year to get to drive the jeep. Of all the people to teach him, Jessalyn! We still have to warn her to pay attention to where she is driving!

Off they go! I think he did a pretty good job!

A week after the 5-1/2" of snow!

2009-03-09T20:03:00.003-04:00

Yep! Just a week after our near blizzard snow storm we are outside enjoying 70's weather! Notice Bryson has his "new front teeth"!

You can always count on Jessalyn to be up in her favorite tree! She was so happy it survived the snow storm! Papa showed her which branches he was cutting next week and thankfully it met her approval! She's growing her hair out long like her American Girl doll, Samantha. Samantha's era is 1900's.

Dawson! That boy is changing everyday! I told him I liked his new haircut and he says, "I have hair like Nana"! And actually we do have the same hairstyle too!

You can always count on these two to help you when you need it! We cleaned the deck off and they were helping their Papa.

I am ready to GO to Nana's

2009-03-09T19:49:00.005-04:00

Well Molly Anna has her hat on (and such a serious face!)

AND her shoes! Aren't these the cutest things. She hasn't mastered walking in them yet!

SWEET MOLLY ANNA

2009-03-04T16:04:00.002-05:00

I just couldn't pass up sharing these pictures of Molly Anna. She is such a sweet little girl and we think she is just adorable with them big eyes and head of curly hair. She is so tiny like Jessalyn was and at her yearly checkup she weighed 18.5lbs and cannot be promoted to the front facing carseat! She is quite tired of looking at the back seat!!

All though we all get fusterated with Lucy she is such a good dog and Molly Anna loves her so much that the dog gets lots of kisses before we do!!

Sweetie!

LOOKWhat Molly Anna is up to!

2009-03-04T15:54:00.003-05:00

Molly Anna found out recently she a had a cool rocking chair (Aunt Allie's gift).

She quickly notices mom and dad are "watching" so she's being "innocent" when she is gearing up to do what is next!!!

CAUGHT YA!!! She's peeking out the window! Needless to say the chair has since then been REMOVED!

MARCH!

2009-03-02T15:56:00.004-05:00

This is what took place last night! We end up having 5-1/2"of beautiful snow. I was on Facebook (where else:-) when we heard this crashing sound. Audy and I both said, "what was that?". He says, "I hope it was just snow falling off the house"....we found the tree with the first branch near the porch and then about half hour later the branch went the other direction! While he was out there letting Maggie potty he heard more trees in the neighborhood breaking!
He left for work (yeepee for days)about 10a.m. even though he was scheduled for 6a.m. boss said, take your time. We live sort of out in the country so he had to take the long way around on the interstate and with accidents along the way what usually takes 20min. took 1-1/2hours!
When we left for church in the morning it was just raining. Them weather people have said SNOW before and it never happened! By the time we picked up Molly Anna at noon it was beginning to sleet. Jessica had coffee shop duty at her church and Katie and I were sharing Molly Anna time. They left church early because the snow was coming down thicker. She said, "that was one scary ride home". I can't say NEVER about too many things but I am 99.9 positive I could "never" live in snow! It's surpose to be reaching 60's this week and just the thought of slushy mess is depressing!

A new week.....

2009-02-23T10:40:00.002-05:00

According to the calender we are approaching the end of February! I say "according" because I can't believe it! I have some more pictures to download but my computer is being very slow (I need a new one!). In the posts below are some more pictures from Molly Anna's birthday and some random shots.
Audy is in his LAST week of nights and boy are we excited! He was off Friday and Saturday night and it felt so werid having this "man" in my bed! The extra body heat means I don't have to turn my electric pad up 3 notches and I found that out on the first night;).
Family news: Skip and Jessica are doing good. We kept Molly Anna on Saturday so they could get some things down around the house. They have let her have run of part of the house and she is so much happier. Skip said, "mom go and look at her bedroom"....looked like a tornado struck! He's going to bolt the dresser to the wall for safety reasons. They stay busy these days especially as they become more active in their church.
Katie and James are doing well too. James still struggles with pain in his foot. He is now able to wear shoes and walk "normal". Now he's itching to get outside and get caught upon things around the house. Him and Bryson made a science project this weekend, a volcano. Bryson and Jessalyn painted it yesterday after church and we got to watch it "overflow"...so fun! I told him about the active volcano near Aunt Debby's house in Alaska and he was like, "wow". I also noticed yesterday he's a tad taller these days. He's built like his daddy....long long legs!! Also his two "big" front teeth are coming in real nice too....Jessalyn is still our flutter bug. What I mean by that is she just flows in the breeze! She met a new friend at church yesterday and was full of news about her. She misses her bestfriend Kate so much.
Dawson is the one who really met a new friend....he's a hoot! He always seems to attract the little girls that just love to fuss over him. At our church it's Haley who is so adorable and now he won't be seeing her much as he is going to church somewhere else. Well this new little girl is "Meggie". His statemant for that was, "mommy is Meggie's name a human name or a dog's name"?Heehee...explaining to the parents of this little girl, "his Papa and Nana's dog's name is "maggie".....leave it to Dawson!
NEVER A DULL MOMENT!

Continuing.........

2009-02-23T10:01:00.003-05:00

Molly's favorite thing to do is crush the tissue paper!

In the background is Amanda, Brianne and Ryzek

Molly's other grandparents, Mimi and Tom Tom. Behind them is Papa and Aunt Christy and Uncle Andy (Skip and Jess's bestfriends)

Nana's little love bug was totally exhausted and as you can see she is "resting her eyes"!

Even the adults had a blast, Mathew Sims including

2009-02-23T09:50:00.002-05:00

Before Valentine's Day Jessalyn and Erica made cookies for their family. Grandma Diane and Nana had such a good time too

Erica Wagner and Jessalyn

That sweet little face is Claire Sims, Rhonda's granddaughter. Nope she's not in the class just visiting Grammy......

Lani Kohler who will one next month (Melissa Sims baby girl)

Lani again...cutie pie

Kids say the funniest things!

2009-02-17T10:03:00.004-05:00

Last night Papa and Nana went over to see the granchildren. We were greeted with lots of hugs and kisses! And the stories Mommy told us I am still chuckling!
From what I understand Dawson was getting in trouble at the dinner table (what's new?) with his daddy. All of a sudden he says," I am not yours and mommy's baby boy anymore but I am Papa and Nana's baby boy"! James got up and opened the door and told him to start walking to Nana's house!!! Dawson got up and looked outside and saw that it was dark out there and says,"it's too scary out there"!
One day Dawson, Jessalyn and Mommy were shopping at Kohl's. It's easier for her to strap him in the stroller.....well Katie was looking through some clothes and all of a sudden he points his finger and LOUDLY SAYS.....YOU AREN'T MY MOMMY!!! Katie says, "Dawson stop that, you know I am your mommy....NO YOU AREN'T MY MOMMY! There was a lady near the rack and glanced up at Katie and thankfully grinned because Jessalyn was firmly telling her brother, "Dawson that is mean of you to say that! You know she's our mommy"! That boy is something else...the Padilla clown~
For some time they have been telling Jessalyn it was time for her to be a big girl and take her own showers. Well earlier that day she had been over to a friends house and she was in the shower when she arrived. So (at the dinner table again) she pops off out of the blue saying, "I am going to be a big girl and take a shower tonight".James teasing and says,"no you can't be a big girl yet, you are daddy's baby girl and you need to keep taking your bubble baths"....she very seriously says,
" no daddy I can't take bubble baths anymore it irrates my.....(private)...Bryson was daydreaming as he was eating and blurts out...WHAT DID YOU SAY....needless to say her daddy was speechless!!! And of course the subject was quickly changed!!! I laughed and laughed! When my kids were growing up we always seemed to have "our talks" at the dinner table! Over the years our kitchen table was nicknamed the MAGIC TABLE!!!
We had fun watching Jessalyn bowling on the wii. That girl scores as high as 193! She's fast! She even beats her daddy!

Family update!

2009-02-16T21:04:00.002-05:00

Well I finally got around to posting the birthday girls pictures. You will find them as you scroll down. Time got away from me as it's been a month since I last posted. The week after Katie's birthday they left as a family for Arizona to be with James family as his dad was having a serious surgery. His dad Mike has kidney cancer and on one kidney the tumor was so large he was bleeding something awful. They had good news that the cancer hasn't spread and will begin chemo shortly. The day before they left I went to Alabama with a dear friend Sandra to take her Mama, Mimi home. The trip came at a time I really needed to get away. As Mimi said, "you need a mama". She took such good care of me and it was just what I needed.
Audy has another week after this one of nights! We are anxiously looking forward to the change.
We had a wonderful Valentine's Day. To us we try and make everyday Valentine's Day. I made dinner at home and we went out for ice cream. It was very nice. Skip and Jess were treated to a night at the Embassy Suites with some friends and they had a wonderful time. We had our sweet little Molly Anna. She was so good, of course!

BIRTHDAYS BIRTHDAYS!

2009-02-16T21:02:00.002-05:00

February is a busy month of birthdays. Feb. 4 Jessica had her birthday and we went to lunch at the Copper River Grill and then Friday 6th was Skippy's 30th birthday. They celebrated that with some dear friends. We had so much to do to get ready for the birthday party.

MOLLY ANNA IS "ONE CUTE LADY BUG"

2009-02-16T20:50:00.002-05:00

On February 7 we celebrated Molly Anna's first birthday with the Lady Bug theme. Her little guest list was, Edwin Sprinkle 9mo., Claire Sims 14mo., Lani Kohler 10mo., Ryzeck Romo 22mo., Reece Wagner 22mo. They munched on cherios and chicken nuggets. Mommy wrote their names on their very own sippy cups. Lots of family and friends were also there
Her Uncle Mike's present was her very own chair!

YES YES YES that cute little bug is walking!

Molly Anna's Aunt Allie and cousin Edwin Sprinkle

Princess Molly Anna

IT'S 12 DEGREE'S HERE!

2009-01-16T21:08:00.002-05:00

I have some pictures on my camera that I could post but to be honest with you I am toasty warm snuggled under an electric blanket in front of the fireplace and don't want to go and get my camera....
We have gotten an Arctic front from the North. I am now convinced "global warming" is a hoax! I had an email from Audy's sister Deb and she informs me it's 50 degree's in Alaska....
It's been a some what crazy week around here. Wednesday was Katie's 34th birthday. James took her to breakfast while Jessalyn and Dawson helped Nana make some cookies for her (the picture in my camera);-)We had alot of fun.
James got word that is dad is having some serious kidney problems. They found cancer in one and a huge tumor in the other one. He is scheduled for surgery on the 29th and him and Katie felt the need to take the whole family home. They are leaving on Tuesday 20th and will return Feb. 4. After that air plane crashed in the Hudson River the other day I am requesting "Skully" to fly my precious cargo to Arizona (I wish) Besides they are in better hands, the Lords.
Yesterday I picked up Molly Anna and we had lunch with Aunt Kate and the kids. I end up with a fun afternoon and evening with her. Mom and Dad were attending a new members class at their church which they have decided to join.
I had a call from Katie this morning and it seems the stomach virus has visited her! James quarantined her to keep everyone well especially with their trip on Tuesday.
This is a tough time of the year as we approach Mom and Dad's anniversary. It all seems to land around this time. Then today a dear sister in Christ went home to be with the Lord today. She suffered an aneurysm on the brain. I will always remember her by the godly example she kept. My heart grieves for her sweet husband, Tony. They seem to have a marriage made of friendship and closeness...farewell Fran Durate you will be greatly missed.

GIRLS NIGHT for Katie

2009-01-10T15:56:00.003-05:00

Almost ready!
The menu was Katie's favorites;
Caramel Mocha punch
Toffee cheese ball with graham crackers
Spinach dip with awesome toasted bread (thanks Rhonda)
Artichoke dip (thanks Dee)
Caramel Toffee Trifle

Jessica made that beautiful necklass and Melissa "mentioned" she how much she loved it and didn't have those colors. So if Katie is missing her necklass she has proof!

Katie mentioned for her birthday she wanted a black toile apron. I did some research online and the cost was over the budget! So I put a little bittie talents together and made this for her.

She got a karaoke machine for Christmas so we had a blast with the thing. It's as in anything else you pick and choose your "decent songs".

Katie and Rhonda doing a duet....I wish i could post all of the pictures as they had so much fun. After everyone else pretty much left Katie, Jessica, Melissa and Lee had themselves a blast cutting up. LOTS OF FUN AND LAUGHS.....

My GRANDCHILDREN pictures

2009-01-10T15:47:00.002-05:00

This my "quote for the year"!

sorry about the "flash"!

I just finished up this wall recently. For those that don't know...the Lord's Prayer in caligraphy was done by Audy's dad when he was 16 years old so that means it probably over 60 years old now!
yep I still have my "calves poop color walls" LOLOl quoted by a dear friend's husband when he first saw my golden yellow walls! After years of the military and the white walls I vowed to never have a white wall anywhere! We are changing the color in the spring to "peanut butter"....

Play time with Claire and Lani

2009-01-10T15:30:00.003-05:00

Molly Anna decided to make her self comfortable while Claire is deciding what she wants to do!

Well she DECIDED! The look on Molly's face is like "hey give me a chance to make room"!

Molly Anna's tasting the dish while Lani gives the look "whatever!"

Molly Anna's saying to Auntie Lee, (southern drawl)"would you like some sweet tea"

Molly Anna's new playroom at Nana's

2009-01-10T15:23:00.003-05:00

Well Molly Anna is growing up! I had the kids over one day after the holidays and we had a cleaning out day. They took all of their toy's upstairs to the play room and we baby proofed the sitting room for Molly Anna. She just loved it!

She's checking out the toys she hadn't seen before......

Happy Birthday to Nana!

2008-12-30T21:17:00.002-05:00

Well today is my birthday and it has been a wonderful day! After sleeping in for a little while longer I woke up to a wonderful breakfast made by my sweetheart! He served me my favorite, fried rice and bacon and it was so good! He headed on to bed and I piddled around the house and then headed out to run some errands.
I received lots of text messages, phone calls and emails from dear friends and family. Thank you so much for thinking of me.
In case you are wondering, "do you feel any older?" well in some ways yes and no! My heart is young and my body says differently!
Audy received a box in the mail yesterday and informed me it was my birthday presents from him and the kids. He brought it with us to Katie's as she was having my birthday dinner at her house. I was showered with lots of Nana hugs homemade cards and just pure family love. My girls made a wonderful dinner and delicious cake...Thanks Katie and Jessica.
So I am sure you are wondering what was in the box!? A new camera ( is why we are minus pictures yet!) which replaces my other camera that was damaged this summer and I missed horribly AND a picture printer! Oh did I tell you, IT'S PINK! Sissy was beside herself with joy! Skip and Jessica also included a picture of a calender with pictures of Molly Anna that I will be getting soon...
So over all I had a wonderful wonderful birthday!

5 more days until Christmas!

2008-12-20T15:42:00.003-05:00

Christmas is "trying" to sneak upon me but so far I am pacing myself! I finally got some presents wrapped and under the tree and the kids were thrilled!
I just finished my last week with Books Are Fun until March 2009. I have been having some rough days with my knees so I am glad I can rest a little more with the cold days ahead! I did go to the doctor last week and he gave me a shot in each knee. Thank goodness because I was beginning to buckle!
Because our families are getting bigger we decided to try something different this year with the Sims and Kolher's. Both of the families usually visit their families every other year and this is their year to be home with their parents. I am thankful for Dave and Rhonda to spend Christmas with two adorable little girls. Anyways we had a Christmas party at Katie's with all of the family. We really had a good time. We had some yummy potato soup and chili and lots of good desserts. Our Jessica has become quite a baker these days and she went all out with some goodies.
We decided to do "elephant" gifts and we really had a goreat time with that! The real keeper gift was 2 pairs of fluffy house slippers. Katie had some little gifts for her kids and they had fun with that.
Friday night was Audy's Sunday School Class Christmas party at Perkins;-) we really had nice time with his wonderful people. We had Molly for the weekend so she went to the party with us and she was the Belle of the party!
It was the first time mommy has been away from her baby and they have both survived. We weren't sure how she was going to do for the night either. She slept all night too!!!
I will post again after Christmas....and with pictures!
MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS

What a week!!!

2008-12-13T08:51:00.002-05:00

Well this is the start of Audy's 3rd week of nights and it STINKS! He's adjusted very well but I can't sleep! Oh well it's more important that he is rested and I hope to catch up one of these days.
I have been working a lot of hours the last few weeks. Things have picked up a little bit in the sales. The hardest part is going to these large companies and hospitals and watch people "window shop" and seeing the concern on their faces. Some of them like to chat and the stories they tell me about family and etc...I try and uplift them with these words, "it's better to be a family than to hand out presents". We have gotten away from the real meaning of Christmas and that is not only the birth of Christ BUT just being with our families.
Audy and I need to get busy and wrap some presents. I have them all in the other room covered up with a blanket so it wouldn't be to hard to do! I was talking to another Grandma (April's mama) and she said the same thing I did, "with the first grandchild you are on top of things, the second one just a little behind and after that she still hasn't got them wrapped and under the tree!! Sure made me feel better!
Last night we took Molly and Dawsson out to pizza and uptown to see the Christmas trees and lights. I don't know how some of you mother's in snow country handle these bulky coats and hats but it's a real pain! I had to sit Molly in the trunk to put her marshmellow jacket on and she's screaming the whole time! I put her in the stroller and her arms are stuck straight out!!! Then you get inside and they have the heater cranked up to 80 degree's and so off comes the hat and unzip the jacket!! Needless to say, Audy and I were exhausted! We did have a wonderful time watching her and Dawson enjoy all the decorated trees at the Hyatt Hotel.
Where was Bryson and Jessalyn? Well Jessalyn went over to a friends house to spend the night and Bryson felt like he needed to stay home and "help" his daddy.
I am sure Dawson will have plenty of stories to brag to them about!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSALYN

2008-12-02T09:59:00.002-05:00

It is hard to believe Jessalyn Mae Padilla is now 6 years old today. A sweet little girl full of spunk and loves life in general. Jessalyn has so much energy that when she is quiet with her blanket and thumb you have to ask her, "are you okay"? I am so sad that she didn't get to meet her namesake. My mom's name was Jessie Mae and she hated her name! Katie told her if I ever have a little girl I am naming her after you Grandma! So she names Jess/from mom and lyn/ comes from Nana's middle name. She loves to chat about Great Grandma Jessie as if she knew her!
Mommy and Daddy give her a choice of where she wants to go eat at or Mommy could make her favorite meal. She chose, McDonalds! So that is where we are heading tonight. Then on Friday she is having a few of her little girl friends over for a small birthday party.
She has gotten all her birthday presents from Paap and Nana early. I made her an American Girl night gown to match Samantha (her doll)and she picked out an outfit for Samantha which was her school dress.

Molly and Great Grandma's Candy Box

2008-12-01T20:49:00.004-05:00

Every year for Christmas Grandma Pat and John (Audy's mom) send us a box of different kinds of candy from Harry and David. Well Molly truly enjoyed herself! She was smart enough to know it was "food" because she tasted each bag that she pulled out!!

"Papa this one too?"

"Hummm yummy"!

THANKSGIVING

2008-12-01T20:36:00.002-05:00

I was so busy being "Nana" or helping out where needed that I didn't have my camera handy for a group shot.
My girls prepared a wonderful meal here is the
Menu
Honey Baked Ham
Roasted Turkey
Mash Potatoes
Gravey
Southern Dressing (Mimi's recipe)
Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Corn
Stacey's Pink Fluff
Rolls
DESSERTS
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Pumpkin Bars
Cookie Bars
Dipped Pretzel Sticks
Peppermint Chocolate Cake
After a wonderful and tearful time of sharing of what we were Thankful for we enjoyed our wonderful meal and this was the results!
Skip and Papa had the right idea UNTIL...........

Molly came along and decided she would rather play than take a nap!

Even her Mama tried to convince her!

She found the window to look out of and lots of things to see!

A NAP at last!! What better place to be, than in your Daddy's arms!

Claire meets Santa Claus

2008-11-25T21:52:00.004-05:00

I was out with Rhonda (Grammy) and Claire (Mathew and LeAnn's) last week and we came across Santa and Grammy introduced her to him. I was quite surprised she didn't get upset! Such a sweet sight!

He got just a little bit to close for comfort!

What I am THANKFUL for....

2008-11-24T13:51:00.003-05:00

It seems like all through the year I am so "busy" and don't really sit down and think about what I am thankful for! Oh, I do from day to day but really put some thought into it.....and then having Mimi here visiting with me for a few days before Sandra and Pastor Gray get here to spend Thanksgiving with her and family. Some of you are wondering "who is Mimi"? She is Sandra's mom and my very own godly Mom! She is going to be 80 yrs. old her birthday and you'd never know it! She has a spirit about her that automatically lifts you up and words of wisdom that sets you straight! We have been doing our "favorite" thing of chatting about life and family. Brought back a lot of memories of when my own mama would come to visit or me visiting her, staying up until wee hours "catching up". Mimi reminds me a lot of my mom's spunk and it makes me miss her so much.
--Anyways what I am really thankful for is knowing Christ as my Savior.
--Having such a wonderful husband of 35 years. We have so much fun together just being together!
--I have a wonderful daughter who has provided me with 3 beautiful grand children. And a son in law that is as close to my heart as my own son.
--I have a wonderful son who has provided me with the sweetest baby girl, Molly and a daughter in law that is precious and close to my heart as my daughter
--The wonderful friends we have and the generosity of sharing their own families
--The good health that our family has been provided with
What more could I ask for!! Both of my children are raising their children to love the Lord and that means so much to Audy and I.

Newman News

2008-11-20T09:24:00.003-05:00

Well I have slacked off with posting pictures and news. It's been crazy with working, grandchildren and life in general. And now Thanksgiving is NEXT week! I am usually so good about getting my Christmas shopping done way in advance but not this year! So what is new?
Audy found out that Sunday after Thanksgiving he is going on the 10pm-6am shift. At first we were like "how in the world are we going to do this?" and then we came to a screeching hault and thanked the Lord that he has a job! It was a year ago the very same time he was told he was laid off!! So we will just change our schedule a little bit and he still gets plenty of time with the family! Right now he is getting over a cold!
I have been working but things have been really slow in sales. You can see the strain of worry on people as they are worried if they are in the next lay off. So they just "browse" and decline purchasing any books. I ache for them as I know how it feels! I am decorting for Christmas starting tomorrow! My dearest friend, Sandra called us a while back and since they are coming down from D.C. for Thanksgiving and her mama lives in Alabama asked if her mama, Mimi could come and stay with us for a few days until they got here. We are just as excited as Mimi is that we have a few "Girl Days" together.
Skip, Jess and Molly are doing great! Other than Molly having a fever she is growing like a weed. She had her 9 mo. checkup recently and doctor said, she was perfect!! Jessica will continue to work from home and will be picking up a few more hours after the holidays. And Skippy is finally making "goal" which means a nice size bonus for the holidays!
Katie and her family are busy as ever! When I go over the kids are full of news what they have learned in homeschool for the day. This past week they were studying the state of Penn. and mainly about the amish people. Bryson moved to another level on his piano and did a little performace for us on Sunday and Audy (having a musical ear) said, he hit the right note!!!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

2008-11-20T09:20:00.002-05:00

Isn't this a BEAUTIFUL setup on my blog! Well I received a HUGE blessing from a dear friend, Jenny who offered to give me this new look. I LOVE IT! This is one busy mama with 4 children (twins just turned 3) homeschools, husband is in full time college and she found some precious time to do this for me. Thank you so much Jen!!!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2008-11-14T13:31:00.001-05:00

I am not real good with changing things so bare with me until I get this figured out...I know it looks tacky!!

New Pic's Coming!

2008-11-13T07:52:00.002-05:00

I know! I haven't posted in awhile and it's because it's crazy around here! Between Bryson's birthday, our anniversary AND Audy's 54th birthday AND now Thanksgiving is soon I haven't had a whole lot of time to update.
The highlight of our week was on Monday November 10th we attended the court hearing for the adpotion of Jonathan (9yrs) and Erica (6yrs) to Amanda(Miller) and Jason Wagner. They got these children 2 1/2years ago through foster care. The judge was quite impressed with the largest turnout ever in her court room of support.
I am reminded of how good God is and it's so true what their Aunt Pat said, "God has a plan for each child and He picked Amanda and Jason to be parents and then gave them their own Reece (18mo)." There weren't too many dry eyes and lots of laughter.
Today is PICTURE DAY...I am so excited. We are meeting at Picture Innovation and let's just hope everyone smiles real pretty!
Molly was 9 months old on Saturday and mommy was greeted with her standing at the end of her bed! So she is now crawling and standing. At her doctors appointment she weighed out at 16lbs 10oz. She is considered "petite" and doing wonderful. She still has NO teeth and doctor said, "not to worry".
This is a big week for Skip as well. He graduates from his outpatitent program on Friday evening. Jessica and I both have been attending his meetings on Wednesday night and Audy took the evening off yesterday to attend the last family night. It has been so good for all of us to. One day at a time!

One tired girl!!!

2008-10-26T21:59:00.002-04:00

Molly is wiped out! She was bouncing away in her Johnny Jumper when all of a sudden we looked up and this is how we found her! She is just like her daddy, he could sleep anywhere!

Molly is crawling! It is so cute to watch her get upon her knees and stretch out to her tippy toes all to do the "army crawl"

Best of Friends

2008-10-26T21:49:00.005-04:00

Ethan and Dawson are best buddies. I think Ethan is about a month older than Dawson. They have alot in common with "CARS" and just love playing together

Boys shall be boys!!!

Bryson's Birthday at Gattitown

2008-10-26T21:42:00.003-04:00

The "Padilla Family" Just as we are!

A 3 boy game setup!

Dawson! Always the clown!

Bryson and Mommy!

Our Anniversary Fall Drive

2008-10-26T21:33:00.007-04:00

As I mentioned in a previous post we were going to lunch and then for a drive. We did have a really nice yummy lunch at the Copper River Grill. We took Hwy 25 up to Hendersonville and up 26 north to the exit for Bevard. From there it was all back country roads and a beautiful drive. We stopped at Eagle Rock and what a beautiful view it was. It has been several years since we have had such a beautiful fall.

Our Lady Bug

2008-10-20T09:28:00.002-04:00

Our Greenville Zoo puts together a Trick or Treat for the children handing out candy throughout the zoo. Being that we went in the evening the animals were bedded down for the night.

Our Lady Bug already for an adventure. She loved watching all of the children dressed up.

I think sometimes she wished she had eyes in the back of her head so she wouldn't miss a thing!

She is having a wonderful time!

"What in the world am I sitting on!?"

OUR 35TH ANNIVERSARY

2008-10-20T08:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday Audy and I celebrated 35 years of marriage. We spent it in a very unusual way and at the end of the day we both agreed it was a very nice day!
Melissa Sims Kohler invited us to attend their church for Lani's baby dedication. So we all headed to Greer for the celebration. It's amazing that these babies are growing so fast. She is now 7 months old! Not sure of the details but they were late arriving because Miss Lani threw up all over her pretty dress just as they were leaving for church.....
From there we headed to our favorite restaurant Lieu's for lunch. We had been invited to lunch by our dearest friends Randy and Diane Miller. Our friendship goes way back to 1982 in Okinawa, Japan. It was such a sweet time of fellowship and of course our food was yummy!
Then we headed home for a much needed snooze and then we received a text message from Jessica that we could meet at 5:45p.m. at their house for BOO IN THE ZOO....so we packed up the wagon and put on some warm clothes and headed into Greenville. Our little Molly was all decked out in her Lady Bug outfit and ready to go trick or treating at the zoo. We had such a fun time watching her look at the other kids in awe. Unfortunately the animals had already decided they had enough for the day and were in bed! So Molly made out really good in her goody bag of candy!
We continue to celebrate our wonderful day....after a nice lunch at Copper River Grill we are taking a drive up to the mountains to see the FALL changes before Audy is heading to work. He took a few hours of vacation leave and is going in late. Every year we say we are going to do this but life is so busy Fall is over before we know it.

HAPPY 13TH ANNIVERSARY

2008-10-14T11:35:00.003-04:00

On this day in 1995 Katie married her bestfriend.....hard to believer it's been 13 years!

James took her out to brunch so the kids got busy making their cookies for them.

Working little beavers. Jessalyn always goes and gets her great grandma Jessie's apron.

Dawson volunteered to cleanup and did a good job!

The end results....

GO! GO! TEAM

2008-10-12T14:43:00.003-04:00

Just a few pictures that Papa captured yesterday Jesssalyn cheering at Bryson's football game. They were all so adorable!

MOLLY'S FIRST FALL

2008-10-12T13:58:00.004-04:00

We got together as a family for the first time since the beach. We had a great time as we always do getting together. I will have some fun pictures to post next weekend as we are going to "BOO IN THE ZOO" with the grandchildren. They get to wear their costumes and wander around the zoo collecting candy. It should be alot of fun.
This is our "famous" dolphin that I have pictures of all 4 grandchildren now!

Molly's first pumpkin. It is almost as big as she is. I haven't figured out how to get the read eye out of my pictures with my new camera...next time

Aren't these the cutest shoes? Her Auntie Ivie bought them for her.

COUPONS

2008-10-04T20:58:00.002-04:00

With the gas prices all of us are looking for extra ways to save an extra buck! For all my local friends be sure and click on Karen's wesite on the right of my blog as she has worked very hard in sharing extra blessings in savings. If any of you have ideas on saving us all money be sure and leave her a comment.
I did get a good deal on my pumpkins. At Whole Foods until the end of the month their pumpkins are 3/13.00 and you can buy one at a time. Mine weighed out almost 16lbs. I read an articule that you get about 4 1/2 cups of pumpkin to every 5lbs. I figured out with that pumpkin I am getting 2cups (= to 1 small can pumpkin) for about $.50. The avg. price for pumpkin is $1.30. These pumpkins are very healthy looking compared to the sorry looking ones I have seen at Walmart!

Our Gerber Baby!!!

2008-09-28T12:51:00.000-04:00

She loves her squash!!!

My Girls!!

2008-09-28T12:49:00.001-04:00

I just love this picture! Jessalyn seems to smile her best when she is with Molly!

2008-09-28T11:04:00.002-04:00

I tried very hard to setup a slide roll as Jessica did for me. I got these pictures all on the slide but got stuck with trying to transfer it to my blog. So that is why I put it in 3 parts.
We really did have a nice week. The weather held out very nice until the end of the week. We were thankful for our heated pool because there were a few cool evenings and then the waves were too choppy to play in.
Our friends Randy and Diane Miller had the house next door with their kids and their families (Jason and Amanda) and also her sister Pat and her kids families. So between us we had a population of approx 40 people!! We were quite a sight when we gathered on the beach!!! It was really fun for the kids all 13 and 3 babies! They had bikes, scooters and just plan fun times. We also had the Elliots for a few days of fun.
Randy and Audy got a few hands of cribbage in and I believe Diane and I had one evening of coffee together. That's okay because the purpose was to be with our families.
The best times for Audy and I was having our grandchildren under one roof. As I mentioned about Bryson and Papa they were out early every morning. Jessalyn would adventure out on the porch with Nana all snuggled up with a blanket for those cool mornings drinking hot chocolate and Nana coffee. Then our little sunshine woke up with a sweet little smile. She has her bottle before her diaper is changed and drinks it in a record speed that time of the morning. Papa and Bryson would wander home with their treasures and by that time everyone is up and saying, "what's for breakfast"? Papa pretty much fixed a huge breakfast every morning and even sneaked off one morning and brought back some donuts too!! Lunch was serve yourself and then Nana would get dinner started....we had some yummy foods too....let's see what did we have? Chicken Laz. Guam food, Prime Rib, Spaghetti, hamburgers and hot dogs. Sounds good even now! Everyone pitched in for cleanup and we went our seperate ways. Skip and Jess went one time to the pier fishing, Katie and James riding bikes with Bryson, Papa and Nana took Molly and Dawson in the wagon and Jessalyn came along for the walk. One night they roasted marshmellows for S'mores.
Now it is back to reality. Poor Molly came down sick when she got home and gave it to her mama. As far as I know everyone is getting better.
Back to work.......

What we do at the beach part 1

2008-09-28T10:53:00.002-04:00

We enjoyed our heated pool. I laugh at this picture because it shows James holding Katie in the water. Truth be said, he could still do it just as easy out side of the water. (I am sure I will hear about this!)

Dawson with his "wings" on and seems to be holding on tight.

Stacey "lounging".

My little Miss Ragga Muffin (we are at the beach!) showing off her pretty shell necklas mommy bought for her.

Mommy changing Molly from her swim diaper. I don't think it was this time but there was one time she was screaming her head off as if she was saying, "no mommy I don't want to get out of the water,please mommy"! She loved the ocean just as much as she did the pool.

What we do at the beach part 2

2008-09-28T10:43:00.002-04:00

Here is Jason (Amanda's husband) setting up his fishing line ready for the "big" catch.

"Oh goodie he caught something to show the kids". Decided to throw that back in and wait for the "big one".

"Waiting"

His waiting paid off...you should have heard all the comotion next door when he brought this thing home. Good job. Gives me the creeps though because he caught it in the area we play!!!

How we spend our week at the beach!

2008-09-28T10:26:00.002-04:00

Papa and Bryson started the morning out on the beach before sunrise to capture the sun rising. It was a good time of collecting shells and just "talking".

Papa's favorite thing to do!!! He's learned to consume his book and still keep an eye on the grandchildren!

Jessalyn has NO fear of the waves. She was testing them out before taking her little surf board out there to ride those pint size waves. I sure wish I had gotten better shots.

Bryson finishing off the sand castle fort that daddy started before the tide comes back in. Notice who the water boy was!!!

Thank You!

2008-09-26T15:54:00.002-04:00

I am sure many of you enjoyed my slide show of the beach. Thank you Jessica for doing that for me and showing me how to do it. Our lap top is still down until probably this weekend so until then this is about the best that I can do. I do have a few stories to share with you next time.

Beach Pictures

2008-09-25T21:22:00.002-04:00

Create a Free Slideshow

COMING SOON

2008-09-22T20:53:00.001-04:00

Pictures are coming soon. In the meantime check out Skip and Jess's blog to see Miss Molly at the beach

Counting down 5 days to the beach!

2008-09-08T18:38:00.003-04:00

Looks like we shall beat the hurricanes! Reguardless to the weather (providing it's not a catagory 4) we are heading to Garden City Beach in 5 days! We are all very excited!
Skip and Jess update: They had themselves a yardsale on Saturday for the first time. They were too funny as they would go around the house and bring something out and say to the other, "do we use this or want this"? The reply was usually, "no put it in the yardsale"! Well $350.00 later that is what they came up with! We took a few things over and made about $14.00! I guess they had the good junk!
Molly turned 7 months old today. So hard to believe! We are going to have such a good time with her at the beach!
Katie and James: We are all sadden that James parents aren't going to be coming out from Arizona to go to the beach with us after all. James grandma's health is failing (she's 91) and his mom feels like she needs to go to California and be with her. So depending on what his mom's report is will determine if James is going to meet up with his parents or come to the beach with us. All we can do is pray for them at this point.
I was over at Katie's this afternoon before Bryson's piano lessons. He played the songs for me that he has been practising on and I was quite impressed! Sissy and I watched a video of Anne of Green Gables...my favorite too. Mom says they are doing really good on their school work. She is taking the day off on Friday to get ready for the beach and there is no school for them next week!!!!
Audy and Dee: We are doing good! Dee went for her physical today and the doctor came in the room to give me the results and said, "you have made my day boring!" Gave me a good bill of health! We are very thankful for that. He looked at Audy and says, "how are you doing"? We laughed as he said, "I'll see you for my physcial on Thursday"! I am still struggling with my knee and my ortho doctor says he is not closing my case and I was to contact him at any time I can't bear the pain. This winter will tell the real story!
I have gone back to work and it was really nice. I only work one day this week but when I get back it will pick up. By then I will have my vacation behind me!
My next post will be from the beach with pictures!!!
Until then....

Continuing of the Homeschooler's

2008-08-26T22:45:00.002-04:00

Today I stopped by Katie's and of course it was RAINING! Katie and I were visiting when the kids came downstairs to greet, Nana. I literally cracked up, Jessalyn was in her bathing suit and wet! I said, have you been outside playing in the rain? No Nana, "I am playing in the bath tub with my new boat"! They learned about Christopher Columbus today and made boats out of foil. Mama told them after doing school work they could float their boats in the tub!!! Never a dull moment around the Padilla's.
Oh I almost forgot....I asked her what the boat's name was and she could tell me AND the year he sailed the ocean blue!!!

RAIN much needed!

2008-08-26T09:50:00.003-04:00

So much for hanging out at the pool the final week of our pool being open! Tropical Storm Faye has dumped tons of rain on us. I can't complain as we really needed it. Our lawn was terribly thirsty and now that means Audy will have to mow it again soon. He's gotten out of mowing it alot this summer.
The Newman and Padilla's are all healthy and doing well. Katie is in her second week of homeschooling and the kids are adjusting. I really should say, Jessalyn is adjusting! This is Bryson's 3rd year and Jessalyn 1st year homeschooling. Katie said, the first couple of days Jessalyn would complain, "I am tired or I am hungry". And Katie had a talk with her about her attitude and would she say that to Ms. Karen? Ms. Karen was her K4 teacher last year whom she loved dearly! Jessalyn's answer was, "no"! So now they have that cleared!
I enjoyed hearing both of them tell me what they learned about the "Vikings" and it was part of history I had forgotten about. I got to help them with their craft project and it came out so cute (should have taken pictures!).
The first Friday of the month Jessica is going to come to the house and do Art with the kids. She is going to teach them the basic stuff about colors and do some crafts. Katie is looking forward to this time because she gets to spend time with Molly. Katie and I did some dreaming for Jess and it would be so much fun for Jessica to expand her talents to the other homeschooler's. She is so gifted and loves doing that sort of thing. Who knows what will open up in the future for her.
Skip and Jessica are doing good. Skip went back to the doctor and they adjusted his pain medication for the middle of the afternoon. That is when he's out with clients and getting in and out of the truck, walking and etc...is rough. Since doing that he says he's in better control. Poor guy dealing with the pain!! The big appt. comes when we get back from the beach....
Jessica stays busy with her home and Molly. And Molly is changing so much each day. They found out the other day she LOVES macaroni and cheese (baby food) just like her daddy and cousin Bryson. I think Jess has covered all the foods so now she gets to taste just about anything. She is going through a growth thing because she drinks all of her bottle and eats most of her food!
I am waiting for an email from my boss when I exactly go back to work. I am ready to get back in the swing of things. My knee still gives me trouble from time to time and I just ignore it and do what I have to do. Chalking it up to old age!
**19 days until the BEACH*** Pray we have beautiful weather and no hurricanes!

Do you see what I see?

2008-08-18T09:26:00.002-04:00

She loves to put a cold glass on her gums. While doing that the glass was like a magnifying glass! We can see her soon to be teeth that will pop up any day!!

Pizza Night

2008-08-18T09:14:00.002-04:00

We picked Molly up on Saturday evening for a night out on the town, well it started out with that plan but she pooped out earlier than planned! We went to our favorite pizza place, Olive Tree and several of the employee's there remember us bringing her in when she was only weeks old. Aunt Katie found the high chair/shopping cart cover so she was such a big girl and got to sit in a resteraunt high chair for the first time.

Sitting like a big girl

This was her reaction when they delivered the food at the table behind us!!!

After we got our pizza she wanted to sit on her Papa's lap...hum wonder why? Can't blame her for "hoping"!

She finally decided if he's not going to give her a bite, she do the next best thing, bite his thumb! I guess it tasted pretty good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAWSON

2008-08-12T11:16:00.003-04:00

It was 3 years ago today Dawson came into this world. From the moment he took his first breath his Mama and Nana knew there was "something wrong". His cry was very raspy and not clear. The doctor said, "not to worry as he probably took in some fluid". After they moved mommy to her room and Dawson to the nursery I wandered down to watch from the newborn nursery window. There he laid such a big beautiful little boy and a head of hair on him! As I stood and watched his little body fight to breathe my heart became troubled. His rib cage was sinking in like the air was being sucked out of him. I compared him to the other babies in there with him and saw he was the only one doing that. Trying not to "panic" I went back to the room and Katie says, "Mom when are they going to bring me my baby?". I said to James, "lets take the camera and get some pictures first". That was my way to quietly get him out of the room and come and see what I saw. He too agreed with me something wasn't right. He went into the nursery and got someones attention.....long story short he stayed 9 days in NICU (ICU for babies) he had what you call, "Chemical pneumonia".....they pumped him with antibiotic's. For the first two years of his life he suffered alot from asthma but this past year had very few attacks. We PRAISE GOD for his good health...
They had his "CARS" birthday party with slippy slide and wading pool. It was a beautiful evening and the kids had a wonderful time chowing down on hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, of course!

Modeling his new swimsuit! CARS of course! Guess what car is in his hands! McQueen!

Bryson almost like Bambie!! All legs!

This is the "baby pool" for now until the "BIG" pool is build hopefully 2011!

All of his friends and their siblings. He only actually had 2 friends there!

Time Flies!!!

2008-08-06T08:38:00.004-04:00

Is it really a week into August!! I looked at the calander and realized wow time sure flies! Molly came over and spent the day with us last week and as always we had such a good time. Katie was sweet and invited us all over for dinner but we were sad that Papa was at work.
We pay the final payment for the beach on Friday and it is coming up FAST..but not fast enough! Jessica cracked me up as she said, "mom I will have the van packed and ready to go by the 3rd week in August"!!! Are we anxious or what!!! It really is such a good and relaxing time for the Newman and Padilla families. This year we may have the elder Padilla's along this time. Poor folks coming from dry Arizona to our sauna coast!! Actually Sept. is a little cooler than August is but to someone else it's hot and humid!
I went over and babysit the grandchildren so Katie and James could have a date night. Katie and kids were gone when I arrived so I was already inside when the kids came dashing through yelling, "Nana's here"...Dawson stopped and says,"Nana what ya doin at my house" in his little southern boy accent...Katie and I cracked up!!!

Update on Skip and news

2008-07-26T21:10:00.003-04:00

This morning we headed in to Greenville as Papa was missing Molly something terrible. She was still asleep at 9 a.m and Mommy said, "she needed to get up anyways". So we had some fun time with our girl.
We finally had the chance to sit down with Skip and talk about the results from the series of tests on his back. They have found that on the L-4 the nerves are "pinched" and that is what is causing all this horrible pain. So now we wait until he sees this very popular Doctor in October. Our family doctor told him that his wife had similar surgery two years ago and has had 100% recovery. That was the most positive news we had heard thus far. So for now he will stay on his powerful pain med's and wait it out. In the meantime from his physical therapy we have seen some real mobility with him.
Katie and Jessalyn came over this afternoon after their yardsale and we had the biggest kick out of Jessalyn. She wanted to show Nana her wallet and she went on to tell me she had 2 George Washington money and 1 Abraham Lincoln money!! That is how she counts her money!! Figure your math by those presidents and that is $7.00!! Well I went and got my wallet and gave her another GW money which made $8.00 and told her I would give her 5 GW money for her 1 AL...she was so excited as she counted out her 8 GW money!! She says, "Nana I can now go to the Dollar Store"!!

Growing!!!

2008-07-25T21:53:00.003-04:00

Every time my blog comes up and I see the picture of the 4 kids for Nana's Nest I think to myself, "I need to change that picture they have grown so much since then"!
Summer is half way over and Katie 3 kids look like yummy latte's!! They are nice and brown in all in the right places;-) I must say even Molly has some good coloring herself, thankfully she has her daddy's skin coloring because Mama doesn't tan on her white skin!! Poor thing, she tries so hard to get a tan and just turns red!
Anyways they have done wonders with their swim lessons. Bryson seems to have mastered his strokes and now Miss Angela is trying to teach him how to hold his breath and breathe between strokes. Jessalyn has graduated from the "floaties" as long as she stays in the 3 1/2ft. area. She's so excited about being able to do that. Next year Dawson will begin his swim lessons. In the meantime he has "floaties" on and a swim jacket so he's good and safe.
I am almost done with my physical therapy on my knee. Up until this past Tuesday I was so miserable. The doctor prescribed me some inflammatory med's and it made a huge difference. Even Brian my therapist notice a huge difference today...yeepe!
Audy has been working real hard, (so he says;-) working the 2pm-10pm shift allows us coffee time together in the mornings and time to run errands. Today while at therapy he bought me a beautiful beige area rug for the living room and says to me on the way home, "now don't have a heart attack but let's move the furniture around"!! So we did that before he headed off to work. Looks like a new living room so refreshing!
Update on Skip: He's been back to work several weeks now and doing good. I wish I could say he's doing better with his pain but he's not. They put him on some different med's and that seems to be helping. The part that frustrates me is not knowing just what is wrong. He has an appt. in October for a neurologist. I guess she is a well known doctor and hard to get appt. So we are hoping to see some answers. He really enjoys his new route and is working hard to make his bonuses.
Jessica's work is picking up a little more and she loves being a stay at home mommy. Since they don't use the dining room they decided to turn that area into a play room/work room. It gives Molly a safe place to play and she will do her work on the lap top in there with her. Jess is talking about painting the walls with the Rain Forrest theme....it'll be so cute. Speaking of cute....that Molly is getting so big and cute as a button. She has had some fussy days since she's teething but over all she's a happy baby. We all just eat her up!
I have a meeting with my boss on Wednesday and will then find out what my schedule is going to be like in the fall. I am sure it's going to be quite busy. I did hear from Gaye that we aren't doing Bath and Beauty events, thank goodness!!! That stuff is a real pain to display and then I am the one that has to pack it up!!!! We are also doing a week of events at BMW this year. That is really fun to do as we set up right in the area of them making BMW's. I wish I could post some pictures but you can't take camera's in!
I should have some pic's this week....
By the way I had an email from my sister Tracy making a comment on my previous pictures with the snake. Most of you know I am terribly afraid of snakes. Well to set the record straight, I didn't take the pictures!! AND I did "peek" from a long distance but that is it!!

"KIT" An American Girl

2008-07-15T12:12:00.004-04:00

Last week I went with Katie and her friend Jennifer to take the girls to the opening of KIT An American Girl movie and we had such a good time. This is Kate, Jessalyn's best friend.

Critter Keeper!!

2008-07-15T12:09:00.003-04:00

Our very dear and best friend Randy Miller is the Critter Keeper man! About a year ago he put together a selection of "critter's" and advertised to do birthday parties for a decent price. Well it's taken off! He's since then added several snakes and this one is his new one a python!! You can see Dawson has no fear of helping hold it up!!

Molly and the Jumparoo!!!

2008-07-15T12:05:00.003-04:00

Thank goodness for "Craigslist"! Skip and Jess have been looking at these Jumparoo's and they are expensive about $90.00. Well they found one practically brand new for $30.00! Molly has truly enjoyed her Jumparoo experience!!

Happy "belated" 4th of July!

2008-07-07T16:50:00.002-04:00

We had a very nice holiday. J.T. and Jen with their 4 children came down from North Carolina. J.T. just returned from Afganistan after a 15mo. tour. Because of the large crowd we had the BBQ over at Katie's. I didn't get many pictures but you have to understand the reason why!! There were 9 adults 7 children 14yr.to 3yrs. old and 3 babies under 10mo. old. Nana was very busy!

This picture is Jessica and Molly....Melissa and niece Claire (Rhonda's grandbaby)and LeAnn and niece Lani (this is Matt's wife). When we took the picture we didn't think about the babies being with the wrong mom's. They were so adorable!!

Jessica and Molly....so sweet uh?

Washington D.C.

2008-07-07T16:24:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip with Dave and Rhonda to see some very dear friends in D.C. They actually live in Alexandra, Virgina which is a skip and a hop from D. C. Pastor Gray is an Army Chaplin and subs for Arlington. Sandra has been pinned as an "Arlington Lady". She works along side of her husband when they have funerals at the cemetery. She's the Lady of Comfort...at least that is how I see it. Anyways they gave us a "behind the scene's" tour and it was quite overwhelming. I have seen pictures of those rows and rows of headstones but when you actually drive through there it is quite different! That is the resting place for over 300,000 of our men and women who have served in the military. There is one section just for the Irag war vet's and there was a "mother,wife,daughter or a friend" who had her blanket spread out on a grave. She was just sitting there and several tourist had approached her. Maybe she was sharing her grief.
As we came around another corner all of a sudden we were on the back side of the Pentagon where the 9-11 plane crashed. We had no idea it was that close to Arlington.
That evening we took a drive downtown as Bryson wanted a picture of the White House. He was slightly disappointed that President Bush wasn't outside enjoying the beautiful evening!!
We had such a wonderful weekend. These are our dear friends that we have known for many years and Pastor Gray was one of our pastors in Guam. They spend a few years in Greenville before pastoring a church in Penn. when he was "recalled" into the military and offered a position as a Chaplin. He went to Kwait for a year and Sandra and daughter Hannah hung out with Rhonda and I in Greenville. They are enjoying being in D.C. very much and hope to have their orders extended for another one or two years.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2008-06-17T09:18:00.002-04:00

Today is James birthday....we celebrated it on Saturday and today I am making him his favorite cake...Banana Split Cake. They are having some friends over tonight for his birthday....I was just thinking this morning he has been a part of our lives now for 19 years!!! So that makes him 36 years old....was teasing him that the BIG 40 is in 4 years! He is not just a wonderful son in law, husband and father but he's a Best Friend to have. We love you James.....

Guess who?

2008-06-17T09:15:00.002-04:00

It's Dawson! Bryson made this mask at Vacation Bible School last week.

Jessalyn

2008-06-17T09:09:00.003-04:00

Jessalyn is always at hand to help her Aunt Jess out with Molly. Aunt Jess is so wonderfully sweet and patient in teaching Jessalyn how to change her diaper and even got a lesson on changing her clothes. Of course the boys want to help and they are they are the "diaper tosser".

What's new with Molly

2008-06-17T08:55:00.005-04:00

MOLLY:
It's amazing how fast they grow. She is now about 4 1/2 months. Always excited to experience something new. And very much loved by her Aunt Katie and Uncle James and of course her cousins. She is going to be Jessalyn's shadow!

FATHER'S DAY

2008-06-14T16:19:00.002-04:00

We are celebrating Father's Day and James birthday(17th)tonight. He has requested our Mongolian BBQ and guess what? He has a baseball game right in the middle of our BBQ. Since it takes awhile for each person to have their favorite mongolian dish cook we agreed he should go to his game and when he gets back his food will be ready to go!! Jessica made him his favorite, Strawberry cake.
I would like to wish Hap a very Happy Father's Day....we are thankful to have Audy's dad in good health and a sound mind;-). We do have to remind him to be careful on his bike as he took a fall a few weeks ago and did a number on his leg. He "says" it's improving.
My dad has been gone for 6 1/2 years now. It doesn't seem possible! June 21 he would have been 78! To me that is still rather young!
Audy is excited about spending his day with his family. He has agreed to cook but saving his new shirt until "after" he bbq's.
Tomorrow we are taking the "Father's" Audy,James and Skip to Macaroni Grill. Yep this is Skippy's first father's day too. He is making such a good recovery and we are rather excited about his progress. Between pain management and physical therapy there has been a break through. His goal date for going back to work is June 26th.
I told him last night he was sure going to miss his "girls".

Molly

2008-06-13T08:03:00.001-04:00

Check out Skip and Jess's blog.

Knee Surgery

2008-06-08T09:17:00.002-04:00

Well my knee surgery went well on Friday. The doctor said that he took care of the problem for now. I do have some arthirtis in the knee and to look for a knee replacement "someday". Until then it will be nice to be able to walk "normal" and chase the children again. No more "Come on Nana!" It will now be, "Wait for me Nana!"
Thanks for your prayers!

MEMORIES and BEST FRIENDS!!

2008-05-31T14:18:00.002-04:00

Padilla's and Everett's did a camp out in the Padilla's backyard. Jon and Jennifer have the same age kids as Katie's kids. All three of them are the best of friends. James worked so hard to get the projector "just right" and when it was completed Auntie Rhonda says, "wow James you are a hero". (that is Jon in the background fixing the computer....

Jessalyn and Kate just buddies.

The children are waiting for the show to begin!

"Auntie Rhonda-Grammy to her little ones and Nana...in awe of all the excitement around us.

Jon and James is somewhere...getting the stuff together for the tents. James, Jon, Bryson and Blake made it until 6 a.m. when they woke up to thunder and down pour of rain! Oh well! It was fun............

"When summer get's here, now I know why I like summer" (Audy's quote)

2008-05-31T14:03:00.006-04:00

"GOTCHA NANA"

Dawson and Mommy

Molly Anna

Molly in her little car floatie. Now mind you this water is so cold!!! She didn't make a peep either.

I have to agree with Audy. Going to the pool with the kids the last couple of days reminds me why we like summer. To catch up on the Newman-Padilla family here's the latest scoop!
Molly had her 16 week checkup and passed it with flying colors. She now weighs
12#10oz. and Doc said, "she was pefect". She now rolls over and loves to stand and sit up on your lap like a big girl.
Skippy is finally seeing "the light at the end of the tunnel". He starts therapy next week and they are going to run a pretty tough test on his back on Monday. He has set his goal to go back to work two weeks from Monday. Being home so much he realized just how much he was addicted to his xbox and video games so he sold it on Craigslist for a good price and bought him and Jessica a Wii...they have had so much fun on it. He told me the other day that he quit playing Mario Brothers with her because she was whipping him. Now I know why no one wanted to play with me when I was a kid! LOLOL
Jessalyn is finished with school and Bryson has about 3 more days of work to do. He gets his cast off on Monday. That hasn't slowed him down as he swims with it on!! They went to the beach over Memorial weekend and had a wonderful time.
Audy has started his 2-10p.m. shift and so far we have really enjoyed the change. We love getting up in the morning and drinking coffee together.
Deanna has her knee surgery on Friday the 6th. I will be glad to get this behind me!

School is OUT

2008-05-21T09:27:00.003-04:00

Now that school is out and I am done working for the summer I have more time with the grand kids. I wish I had gotten pictures but I didn't so I will have to tell you about it.
On Monday I had Molly for the day and stopped by and picked up Jessalyn for a "girls day" at Nana's. While Molly was taking a nap Jessalyn and I drew on the driveway with chalk and Nana made a hopstoch. That was so much fun teaching Jessalyn different ways to play it. My next idea is to get one of those rubber balls and play two and four square...anyone remember that game!? The day went by so fast that her mom called about 5p.m. and says, "Mom do you want me to come and pick up Jessalyn"? She was playing house in the backyard and we both lost track of time!!!
When Jessalyn and I were leaving to come over Dawson was screaming and crying, "I want to go to Nana's house"....broke my heart! If I had his carseat I would have given in!!! So when I dropped her off he reminded me that "it was his turn"....
So Tuesday mommy dropped off Bryson and Dawson for an afternoon....when Dawson laid down for a nap (he loves sleeping on our bed!) Bryson and Nana played the Wii and did bowling and tennis. I am sure everyone knows what a Wii is....for me who doesn't care for video games this is awesome!!! We had a blast!
I did have several more "events" to work at but my kind boss emailed me and said, "we were talking and decided you were prolonging your knee surgery long enough for us that we will release you from the last few events". They were right about me prolong it. If I commit to something I want to follow it through. It just so happened that the doctor had called that day and set my surgery for June 6. It is an oupatient surgery, loposcopy (however you spell it). I had it done over 5 years ago on my left knee. I am heading for knee replacement a few years down the road....
but until then I just want to be able to hopstoch with Jessalyn for now!!
Skip is finally finding some relief with his back. They upped the pain patch so he should feel some relief today. His records are being reviewed with a pain management and therapy clinic and we are hoping he starts with that at least by Monday. He has decided to do his short term disability and get this behind him once and for all......as we remind him, one day at a time.
I am sooo envious of Katie's family!! They are leaving on Friday for a long weekend at the beach! The weatherman says we are to have beautiful weather...goodie for them! Now that our pool is open we will probably hang out over there. I am not to thrilled about "hopping right in" as the water is going to be so COLD for a little while. Our mornings these days are 57 and gradually warms up to upper 70's so you know that pool isn't warming up too fast!

Nana's Nest

UPDATE

Blog will be down

Where Oh where has the TIME gone!!!

October

More of October

September-October

Claire Sims Birthday and sharing her new bike!

Cooking and Sewing with Nana

Meet Nellie Padilla

Bryson 3rd and Jessalyn 1st Grade

Dawson starts K4

Washington D.C.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAWSON

The night before.....

Miss Molly Anna

Summer FUN....July

The Last days of June

June has arrived, FUN FUN FUN

Wrapping up another month.....

MAY

SPRING

HAPPY MAY!

EASTER SUNDAY

End of Week 2

Newman Update

CHANGES!

THANKS JENNY!

Dawson learns to drive!

A week after the 5-1/2" of snow!

I am ready to GO to Nana's

SWEET MOLLY ANNA

***LOOK***What Molly Anna is up to!

MARCH!

A new week.....

Continuing.........

Kids say the funniest things!

Family update!

BIRTHDAYS BIRTHDAYS!

MOLLY ANNA IS "ONE CUTE LADY BUG"

IT'S 12 DEGREE'S HERE!

GIRLS NIGHT for Katie

My GRANDCHILDREN pictures

Play time with Claire and Lani

Molly Anna's new playroom at Nana's

Happy Birthday to Nana!

5 more days until Christmas!

What a week!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSALYN

Molly and Great Grandma's Candy Box

THANKSGIVING

Claire meets Santa Claus

What I am THANKFUL for....

Newman News

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

New Pic's Coming!

One tired girl!!!

Best of Friends

Bryson's Birthday at Gattitown

Our Anniversary Fall Drive

Our Lady Bug

OUR 35TH ANNIVERSARY

HAPPY 13TH ANNIVERSARY

GO! GO! TEAM

MOLLY'S FIRST FALL

COUPONS

Our Gerber Baby!!!

My Girls!!

What we do at the beach part 1

What we do at the beach part 2

How we spend our week at the beach!

Thank You!

Beach Pictures

COMING SOON

Counting down 5 days to the beach!

Continuing of the Homeschooler's

RAIN much needed!

Do you see what I see?

Pizza Night

LOOKWhat Molly Anna is up to!