another first! love you Isabelle Marie

It's a budy day today! Izzy has her first day of kindergarten and she did fabulous. Love her so much xo

cooking, my heart, book club, and movie time

1 We work together in the kitchen today making Strachi. It is a recipe a friend gave to me years ago. It's crepes stuffed with either a ricotta cheese mixture or thick spaghetti sauce, then it's smothered in more thinner sauce and cheese and baked. mmmm
2 Isabelle tells me how happy she is to see me and that she loves me so much. My heart melts from this wee one and when I say it back she smiles and leans in for a big hug. 
3 Book club. It's that time again and our food theme is Italian. The potluck consisted of strachi, lasagna, bread salad, tomato and mozarella salad and breads. Dessert was cannolis, tiramisu and gelato. Oh right the book. We had read Unbroken. It was liked by all with the focus on redemption, forgiveness and hope. 
3a I've also seen the movie and would  recommend it. Great acting, relatively close to the storyline and dramatic but not over the top.

a few quick stories to catch up

1 After my fall it's decidedly smart to take it easy. A little puttering, a little movement and lots of rest.
2 The day passes quickly despite the resting or maybe that's because of it. Lots of heat/cold, heat/cold processes and a good book.
3 I've missed book club two months in a row. December because of work and January because of the fall. I'm determined to get to February's meeting. We are reading the Book of Negroes. I've deliberately not read the reviews on it so I can have it fresh and new to me.
4 The chiropractor pulls and stretches out my neck, upper and lower back areas. It feels like he's pulled it in many directions, each time just a wee bit more. Lastly he does an adjustment on my neck that feels like it's going into my skull with instant relief.
5 The car repair ends up 30% more than estimated. Car is fixed and we can defer the other fixes for another time and possibly another shop.
6 Mr P works on the driveway again so that Chris can drop off the grandkidlets. They're here for a sleep over! Kes is reserved but Isabelle runs to us with open arms and gushes her hellos.
7 Blueberry muffin makers. We have three bowls so that each of us can make our muffins. Only mine get the seal of approval for cooking! Kes decides to wear his in his hair!
8 Later when it's bath time I wash his hair only to discover that he's painted his head with a marker. The suds are BLUE!
9 After baking and lunch we lie down to read our book and soon both of them are making light snoring sounds and have their arms over their heads, so I know it's safe to sneak out of the room and get clean up started.
10 Mr P gets all the dishes done for me. Thank you.
11 A pink play dough spider with eight bendy legs. Izzy loves play dough. Kes observers and eventually comes over to play but is happier with his Leap Frog.
12 Izzy and I made a board game out of some scrap wood from Grampa. We put lots of squares on it and each one gets a number, letter, or picture in it. You roll the dice and Izzy does the counting then we move randomly from one end of the board to the other. She's excited to win but in subsequent games she's very concerned that we all win and even skips her turn to others can move to the finish line! Very sweet thinking for a 4 year old.

good morning sleepy head, ouch, and quiet please

1 The grandkidlets wake up later than usual. Kesler is up, fed and dressed by about 8 but Isabelle sleeps in until 9! We make quick time of it to get her ready for her Daddy to pick them up. He's got a busy day so it's a quick hello and out the door they go.
2 Ouch, my head. It's been a while since I've suffered with a bad migraine but today it rears its ugly head. It's extra bright out today so I pull the curtains in the bedroom and sleep from 11 fo 12:30 then from 1:30 to 3:30 and again from 5 to 6:20. My headache is easing up but I still feel rough. It's only 7:30 but I think it's almost time for bed again.
3 Some of the sounds around me are rhythmic and soothing like the ticking of the clock, the wind chimes and the wind itself. I desperately need stillness and quiet to heal my head.

Cherry pit, putter on, a/c, and tradition

1 We spontaneously stop into a restaurant right beside the Buckerfields shop. It's called the Cherry Pit and when we open the door to enter we're pleasantly surprised at the casual decor and see how full of people it is. Usually that's a good sign that the food is good right? We decide we're hungry but not starving so we share a breakfast of eggs, toast, hash browns and bacon. Great decision! It's a place we'll come back to and definitely kid friendly! Plus...they did the bacon just right!
2 And the puttering continues. Mr P puts up more towel bars and toilet roll holders, mirrors and some framed photos. I water the plants and wash the deck and front entry. We both tire in the heat <not acclimatized yet) so we nap.
2a We try out the air conditioning and are shocked at how quickly it cools off!
3 Family dinner on Sunday is a tradition now. The kids come in the early afternoon and we have a chance to visit and let the kids play. Kesler always loves the water but today he's drawn like a moth to a flame to the geranium plants. He likes eating them so we spend half our time saying no and pulling it out of his mouth! Isabelle has decided she doesn't want to get wet so she climbs onto my lap and covers herself with her little fuzzy white blanket that she calls her "mimi" and looks up at me and says, "Can you hold me like a baby Grama?" We cuddle for a bit then it's Grampa's turn.

dance party!, exercise, and eat this!

1 One more from yesterday. We had a dance party! Isabelle was a bit sad/grumpy because she had to go home so once the music started playing in the family room I started dancing. She pulled a pouty face then all of a sudden she's jumping about and dancing her heart out. Everyone else joined in and we rocked it to Dire Straits, "The Sultans of Swing!"
2 Our walk/run takes us to Beach Avenue and it lives up to it's status. The walkway is smooth and clean and the view of the lake inspires us to kick it up a notch.
3 A late lunch of leftover ham, rice, ribs and veggies with dip. The clouds have rolled in so it's the perfect temperature for eating out on the deck.Oh, I almost forgot, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Kes, Isabelle, and share please!

1 A mellow Friday is just what I needed. I do a class in the morning and then a visit with a friend followed by a visit at the kids place. Kes runs to the door for his hug but then is happier with mommy. I guess he's a bit more tired than he thought.
2 Isabelle snuggles in with me and before long she's asleep. I love how her lips still purse themselves and move like she's nursing while she's sleeping.
3 Mr P and I have fun watching our ever entertaining hummingbirds feed before dark. They're in fast and furious but eventually they all are able to eat and sometimes even are kind enough to each other to share the feeder.

potted, happy wedding day, busy girl, and in her room

1 A morning of running around getting supplies but an early afternoon putting it all together. I love making hanging and potted baskets with annuals. Every year I say I'm not going to do it because it's too expensive but every year I see their little happy flower heads and give in!
2 Finding out that a lovely friend (who lives on the island) has just married. Wishing them every joy in their new life together!
3 Isabelle and Grampa hang out riding the motorcycle and then rebuilding and painting the free standing birdhouse. She has been wanting to paint with us ever since we have moved here so it's great to see this dream of hers come true. Then it was my turn and we do magic on her hands with soap and water. She liked seeing the paint, "disappear!"
3a After dinner she plays in "her room" and snuggles up with 10 pillows and 3 stuffies!

in their garden, performing, and light showers

1 Our daughter in laws parents, Yosh and Cres, have been visiting them for the past week. Not only have they spent time with the grandkidlets but they have worked with them to get a lot of the backyard cleaned up. The big trees that we pruned with chains saws have been cleaned up even more and it's looking great, the weeds are out, seeded soil down, trenches dug around trees and two rather large cedars are waiting to be planted where a couple are missing. The raspberry patch is growing and the rhubarb is almost ready for eating. Oh there's a strawberry patch too!
2 While Kes is sleeping Isabelle wants to play. So it's Circus Circus time in the back  yard. I announce her, "And now Circus Circus presents the amazing Isabelle!" She beams from ear to ear and proceeds to go down her slide jump over a few big poles and do circles around the yard. Mr P looks at me and says, "Wow, you sure know how to get her to burn off energy!"
3 The forecast was for rain and thunderstorms but we only get the wind and rain. The plants are happy enough to have their petals and leaves sprinkled.