The Return of the BLOG!

That title sounds like a 50's B movie, doesn't it. Well, after not posting since July 28 I'm back in blogger heaven. Just took me a while to remember my password. Don't worry, I haven't decided to give up blogging after 300+ posts. But I have a litany of excuses for falling behind:

• I left for Atlanta right after my last post and was without a computer, much less the Internet. But with the wonderful time I had with my family and friends there, I wouldn't have had time to blog anyway. In fact, I didn't get a single picture! (This is where you pretend to faint).
• When I got home there were papers to read, grass to cut, and most important of all, BABIES TO SIT. Or whatever.
• I could use my excuse that Blogspot is still infernally slow at loading my pictures, if it loads them at all. Me and Judy are both tired of seeing that page that comes up after the modem has been doing its best for 15 minutes, "Internet Explorer cannot display the page." Then I either start all over or go to bed.

But I finally got enough pictures loaded last night to start a new post and here it is.

Both Jennifer and Amanda were thoughtful enough to have lunch with me and Judy at 195 the day after I returned from Atlanta. They knew I was going through baby withdrawal. That made it all better, plus Brianna and Claire made a host of new friends at the restaurant and health food store.

During the following week we had more quality time at our house. Brianna uses this magnetic construction set to see if she truly has the magnetic personality people keep mentioning around her.

And speaking of magnetic personalities, Claire and Kitty Cat have a fascinating attraction for one another. Let's just hope it's not a fatal attraction.

The babies agree that this Kitty Cat is just the best. As far as we know, there hasn't been one solitary cat scratch yet. And I think we'd hear about it. : )

Tuesday of that week Judy and I had a long-awaited get together with friends Debi and Doug, both dedicated educators in the St. Pauls area. We visited at their lovely home and lunched at Tar Packers for the second year in a row. Let's keep that streak going! (And Debi has been my biggest encourager to get my blog going again, so Debi, this one's for you).

That night we grilled hamburgers in honor of Stephen's birthday (and his recent promotion to Master Sergeant). So naturally, we invited Stephen. : ) Amanda and Bri came along, too.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Claire's in training on using a comb. She's the only one in our family with notably curly hair. In fact, I have just revised an old folk song and will sing it to Claire tomorrow. It's called "My Curly-headed Baby."

Here's the original:

She's my curly-headed baby,

Used to sit on daddy's knee.

She's my curly-headed baby,

Comes from sunny Tennessee.

Now here's MY version:

Claire's my curly-headed baby,

Comes from sunny Caroline,

She's my curly-headed baby,

Claire, that pretty baby mine.

All I can say is thank goodness I didn't have to rhyme with Georgia.

We had outdoor pool time with both gals, but as Claire demonstrates, reading continues to be a favorite indoor activity. We've been very thankful for that love during this hotter than usual summer.

Saturday provided a special treat. We babysat at Brianna's house while Amanda and Jennifer conducted a yard sale. Bri demonstrated her prowess on the harmonica that I had given her a while back.

And nothing makes a little song better than a little dance.

If I get real brave I'll attempt to load the cutest video of her little performance.

YES!! It has apparently loaded, so sit back and enjoy! Be sure to notice how deftly she manages the pickup of the pacifier and the switcheroo. : )

My next blog will be about my and Judy's 34th anniversary. And yeah, that's another reason I haven't blogged.