Paw Paw & Jake

Paw Paw is my Mama's Daddy. We get to see him at least once a week! Every Tuesday we get together at Mama's for family night. It always makes for good food and even better stories!


Manny (as Josie calls her), Mammy (as Jake calls her), and Granny (as the other grans call her) almost always has surprises for the kids. It can be anything from food to stuffed animals...which she knows I adore....Ha. Stuffed animals aren't my thing, but I don't deprive my children of the joy they bring...just not to me! Barbies and those little tiny princess dolls with the rubbery clothes that make you wanna cuss are a big hit for the Josinator! This time she got Jakey a pink t-ball set! He didn't seem to care about the color choice. All he knew was that he was gonna get to whap that thing and that he had an audience! Here are some pictures of Paw Paw and Jake along with a short video! Nennette, I thought you'd love these! :)

Wedding Bells!

Josie was the flower girl in Jennifer Fort's (now Manley) wedding. She was very excited to get to walk little Ethan down the aisle. Dragging him down the aisle and back by his tiny 18 month old hand is more like it. I was pretty impressed! Can you even believe I don't have any pictures of Jennifer and Sherman? Shame on me!

Here's Josie getting her hair done for the event! She's never had her hair curled before!

Josie waiting to get "real" pictures taken!

Gigi gave her a french manicure for the big day. She even did her toes.

Ethan and Josie. She was so over the Kodak Easy Share! Poor girl! I really couldn't fuss. She was simply acting on the outside the way I was feeling on the inside. :0)

Paw Paw and Manny cheered her up a great deal! Gave her the boost she was needing.

Jake and Joey at the reception! That boy is such a ham! Jake that is!

I'm so glad we got to be a part of Jennifer and Sherman's special day (as Josie calls it)!

Happy Easter (5 days late)!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here's a slideshow that I hopefully did right! We had a wonderful Easter. We celebrated earlier in the week at Mama's. It was so cold that day. You'll see the clothes :) Easter day was at Grampa Leroy's house. It's tradition and we love it! All of us stopped by Manny's on the way home to show off Easter outfits and goodies. Paw Paw was there and he loves seeing the kids! It was a great day!

Giddy Up Horsey!

She got to feed the horsey a mint!



All geared up for Safety!

Josie, Ashley, and Lady!

And here's the Party Girl Peaches herself!

I have not been on a horse in what....17 years or more. It was with Ashley to Wildwood High School to see some boys! I mostly remember my horse getting spooked and spinning circles (lots of them) in front of the gym!! I do believe that was the last time I rode :)

Ashley wanted to take Josie riding. I was all for it as long as she wasn't riding with me. I can just see us now looking like were on some freaky fair ride spinning round and round! Lori went and rode Angel. Now, isn't that the name you'd want for the horse you get to ride? Angel! Way better than Wicked, the one beside it! Keagan got Swan. Ashley and Josie got Lady. I got Peaches (the Party Girl)! Seriously, that's what her tag said!

We got to ride for an hour through some trails in Ocala. We did all kind of horsey things...galloped, trotted, walked along, cantered, and ran! I think I got all those names right. My main concern was that Peaches (the Party Girl) knew how to Ho! That meant stop :)

Peaches was "a little over weight" according to the guide! Woo-hoo! That meant she wouldn't be trying anything fast on me! Poor girl was sweating and huffing! I couldn't help but ask if she had asthma. That's how I found it she was pleasantly plump! She sat pretty comfy, but I'm still doing my John Wayne walk and it's been close to a week since we went!

Josie LOVED riding. She preferred walking as opposed to running because she said it hurt her tummy when they slowed down. That girl was bouncing like she was on a trampoline. Her little white helmet just a bobbin! It was too cute! The pictures are sweet. Josie was in her cowgirl shirt and boots and her hair was all Ellie Mae Clamented up! Such fond memories! We'll be going again, I'm sure!

Lowry Park Zoo!

We went to the zoo with Aunt Ashley, Keagan, Neicey, Parker, Aunt Bob and Evan on Wednesday! All of us really enjoyed ourselves! The zoo wasn't crowded and the weather was beautifully hot & humid! But, we honestly didn't mind :) I'll let the pictures do the talking!


This is us...maybe 10 minutes into it! Look at those steamy faces! Thank the Lord for breeze!


Josie and Jake loved feeding the Lorakeets nectar! Jake's crazy about him some birds!


Aunt Ashley found an inch worm on the picnic table! Josie LOVED him! He was standing up "looking at her" in this one!

A shout out to Parker & Neicey for the popsicle! Mommy was too cheap to come out of her pocket $3! Woo-hoo! Jake and Josie (and mostly me) enjoyed that little piece of frozen heaven!

They HAD to get on the Komodo dragon! Don't worry! It's not real! :)

The giraffe's were the biggest hit! We got to feed them a cracker! That joker licked me all the way up my arm! Josie fed him after that, but Jake was like, "I not feed dat grafe, you do it!" Little did he know I was thinking the same thing! Needless to say, Josie got to feed the giraffe Jake's cracker too!

The last picture of the day! They were ready to get back in the water, get a treat from the candy section in the gift shop and head home! That night at supper at 7:15 Josie laid her head on the table and said, "I need to go to bed. No book. No puzzle." Jake wasn't going down without a book though! They were both asleep by 7:30, despite the concern over it not being dark in her room. I told her to close her eyes and it would be dark. :) I should've gone to bed then! 6:00 came very early this morning! It was all worth it!

How could I forget this?? When we got home from the zoo, Jake wanted to try to pee pee in the potty like a big boy! Well, we were at Nana and Pa's. Joey took him in there to let him try. No business happened, but he sure did work hard! Anyway, I didn't bring any diapers in so we just stuck him in the van, diaperless, for the short trek across the pasture. I was lugging everything inside when my daughter yells, "Ugh, there's poop in this garage Mommmmmmyyyy!" I was thinking bird poop, frog poop, you know the regulars. Unh-uh! That was some Jakey poo! That boy had dropped him 2 big lincoln logs right on the floor. Those things slipped straight out of his plaid pants! Josie had stepped in a piece of it. I had stepped in a piece of it. Jake had several pieces of it in his crocs with a big ol funky smear down his leg. Oh my that was some nasty stuff! We (meaning Joey) got the dook cleaned up and I got the kid cleaned up! Just a funny ending to a fun day! Sorry, no pictures of that incident for ya!

A Few Photos and Forever!!

Here are a couple of pictures of Jake and Josie.

One day I'll title my blog high heels and footballs! That is the story of my life. Josie clackin through the house in princess shoes of all designs. Jake jetting through the house throwing, kicking, or hitting balls of all shapes and sizes. I desperately try to make sure we only have soft squishy balls inside.

Mama got Josie that Princess Pop Star dress (as she calls it). The shoes are from Alma or Chloe. They have cheetah print inside. She mostly uses them for Snow White, but today they'll do for Pop Diva. Everyday she goes through at the very least 10 dresses. Watching her is like watching a Broadway performance. So dramatic! Lord, I love her!

Jake has been doing this new thing. I wish you could hear it just the way he says it. I'll try to do it justice. When he gets mad or upset or whatever he'll end his sentence with FOWR-EVEWR! Like he goes, "I not gonna be a nice boy, FOWR-EVEWR!" or "I not gon wear dat helmet FOWR-EVEWR!" It's so hard not to crack up. The other night/morning, it was 5 something, he got in the bed with Joey and me. He had to sleep with one of his squishy balls that night. Well, he brought it with him and kept throwing it at the head board. Joey finally told him to stop or Daddy was going to take it. Jake didn't and Joey took that ball. He chunked it so hard it went flying out of our room and landed in the dining area. Joey later told him he could have the ball if he didn't throw it again. Jake ran in there to get it and said, "I am gon frow dat ball FOWR-EVEWR!" We busted out laughing. He does bring such comic relief. Words cannot express the love I have for that kid!

The End.

Funky Fixins!

**Please note this funkyness is not a typical meal at the McDonald household!**

Believe it or not, I DO try to feed my kids the right food! You know....healthy stuff. It's quite the challenge for my ignorant behind! I have loved the wrong foods for as long as I've lived. Ever since I can remember I'd choose cereal over "real food" any day! I seriously have a crush on candy! Thanks be to God middle age has kicked in and I do actually have a sweet limit. Plus, my mouth gets so raw I cannot possibly eat the entire bag of Now & Laters anymore! Yes, bag! At Halloween they have these hugungous bags of sinful treats!

So I work hard to put good things in my babies bodies! I don't want them to love the junk I love! Tonight was hilarious! The combination was actually kinda nasty, but the kids ate it up! They had oatmeal (real Quaker Oats), edamame, and a hard boiled egg! I threw the grapes in for color! :)

Joey laughed his butt off when he saw their plates. He was like....eew! But, when my sweet little Josie sat down, she exclaimed, "Mommy, this is the BEST supper ever!" Ha!

Just thought I'd share this! Real food is getting easier for me! I'm no Paula Deen! Everyone who knows me knows the kitchen is my thorn! But I am trying! Who would have thought Jeanne of all people would care about the food groups (at least when it comes to my kids)?

Lori's been a feen about taking pictures of my kids. I put a few on here that I love! This ones for you Nana Net!