The Gallery

This last year, Mike has become quite a prolific painter. He has this pitiful "studio" in the basement but he has been turning out paintings like a man possessed. I have a room that I didn't quite know what to do with---a dining room, a library? I started hanging art on the walls and it became The Gallery. After we hung all the paintings I thought we needed something 3 dimensional so I headed to C.G.Sparks (where else?) and bought Mike an African ladder for Father's Day. Last month we set up tables and had Stu's birthday dinner in there but mostly it is a pretty room to do yoga. I have my eye on a cream leather daybed that would make a nice place to relax...someday. Thanks to Sonny, my father-in-law for the trunk--he saw it at a garage sale and thought "Leslie has to have this!"

Silly Mammy...

I was having a Christmas-y day with Grace today. We weren't exactly baking cookies but she was playing with the nativity scene in the office and I was making some new Christmas stockings. Every once in awhile she would wander into the kitchen with me and watch 101 Dalmations, then she would go back to the office and suddenly I realized it was very quiet. I surprised her in the act of decorating my office furniture with two bottles of "white-out" she found in the bin under the printer. I have only myself to blame because she painted the printer stand with it last week while I was in the room, but I was compulsively blogging and didn't notice right away. Of course, she got in trouble and she was a very sad girl while sitting on what is now the time out chair, watching me scrape off her artwork.

The "white-out" is now safely stored in the top drawer of the credenza and in case anyone was wondering, it does come off shutters, drop-leaf tables, laptops and the mouse, and printer stands. However, it cannot be removed from walls. I bent down to kiss her tear-streaked face and she looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said, "I missed you, Mammy." We should all be like a two year old and forget offenses in five minutes or less.

Merry Christmas to all.

Jingle Bells

Grace and Malachi learned a Christmas song this week. We are now in a countdown to Christmas. Malachi wants a train and Grace wants a baby doll...we are back in the 50's and it is all good. They both said they would sit on Santa's lap this year---we will see!

This is a fun game Daxton plays with his daddy. He gets a mischievous grin and falls backward when Sam stands by the bed.

Thanksgiving 08

Daxton and Papa on the "polka dot horse"










Cabe and Mammy.










Thanksgiving was a fun day at Grandma and Grandpa Great's house. We had about 30 people to feast on a wonderful turkey dinner. It was a truly glorious autumn day of 50 degrees so we caught the horses and gave rides to all the kids. We all have so much to be thankful for and I don't express enough how great my life is surrounded by family: especially kids that are so fabulous and doing such great things, and of course the population boom of grandkids is such a blessing.









Sam and Megan were here from Vegas and Daxton has a few new tricks. He took his first step to Sam in front of a room full of people. Later, Cabe and Dax head out on an adventure. It was fun to have the babies there together. They were fascinated by each other. We are all looking forward to Christmastime.