Just keepin' it real~

Visits with grandbabies, hand made teddy bears, the last of the Pink Scarf deliveries, and a beautiful heartfelt gesture from a dear friend -- all the blessings that are so very special to us in our life.  This is my chance to share some of those most special memories with you~

Mason - 5 years old
Avela - 18 months old

We just returned from a wonderful

visit with our grandbabies in Atlanta. 

It seems like you just turn your back

and they grow so much!

Avela poses by the Christmas tree. 
(ALL the photos in this post were taken with our
Iphone 5 cameras)

You probably already know this-
but-- grandbabies are BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!
~
there was lots of jumping on top of
Papaw's belly!

we celebrated Christmas with our babes
so there were new toys to play with~

the dollbaby lost out-
but Avela took off with both the teddy bears
in her new grocery cart!
~
(the teddy bears have their own special story
later in this post)

Mason was SO excited about the five
one dollar bills that his Papaw gave him ---
he wanted to take us all out to dinner!

EARLY morning building!
Grandbabies do not sleep late
when we come to visit!!

Avela's favorite toy was her
gb's iphone!

Avela's first ride on the merry go round
at the mall

Papaw captured this magical moment
with his iphone~

she is laughing out loud here~

we went to this little Italian bistro-
I said, "Mason, turn around here and smile for your gb".
and THIS -- is the picture that I got.

You can pay for expensive photo props ---
or-- you can plop the baby
on the bed at the Pottery Barn Kids!

but the truth of the matter is really this --
most of the time when you are taking photos of
busy, busy, busy grandbabies,
what you end up with mostly is
this!

 Papaw got to fly a vintage aircraft
while we were in Atlanta-
a Waco YMF

Mason was as excited about the airplane
as his Papaw was!

these precious little Teddy bears
were created by my friend Gregory Patrick.
~
Greg's story of how he came to knit
teddy bears is both unique and heartwarming.
Once a homeless person, Greg now knits these bears
as his means of making a living
 and uses them
to touch the lives of people all over the world.

You can find Greg at his blog
Mad Man Knitting.
He will be happy to make a precious little bear for you-
but --as with all things that are specially 
created and made
one at a time~~~
you will need to patiently wait your turn.
~
Just like me when I make my little nests,
Greg only has two busy little hands and
they are constantly
knitting!

Miss Maddy girl
~
I've been promising photos of our Maddy girl
(actually my sister's grand daughter,
but - we count her as our own!)

Here she is posing with her
favorite Uncle on Thanksgiving day.
~ 
Maddy girl will turn 5 years old next month!

A few weeks ago,
I delivered the last of the scarves
from the Pink Scarf Project to my 
friend Donna.

(Kay, me, Donna)

Donna and her friend Kathy 
met me and some friends in Columbus for lunch
and the scarf exchange.
~
For me -- this was the final great moment
of the Pink Scarf Project.
 The true completion of what had been
such an incredible project.
~
Meeting both Kay and Donna was the greatest
experience.  Before this day,
we had only communicated through our blogs
and emails. 
Can I just say ---
they are the
NICEST. PEOPLE. EVER!
(I just can't put into words what this day meant to me.
I could get all gushy here!)
~
You can find more photos of our meeting 
on Donna's blog here
and on Kathy's blog here

Sometimes people do things that
are so heartfelt and special
that it truly is hard to find the words
to express your gratitude.
~
My dear friend Deb
has created these beautiful little smocked gowns
for our most special babies
in my NICU.

Deb told me that the making of the little gowns
had been in her heart for such a long time.
~
This is really Deb's story to tell
and I want you to read it as she
has written and shared it on her blog.
You can find more photos and Deb's special story
here 
and here
and here

And finally~

Merry Christmas to you all
from the Gardener
and me.
~
Treasure every day you spend
 with those you love.

Love,

Vicki

ps -- thank you to everyone who has sent me best wishes for my recent cataract surgery --- all is well -- and round 2 will be coming up soon! More prayers please!

And--

You just have a little over 2 weeks to sign up for the big party!  You can find all the info here-- be sure to bring your friends along too!  It's going to be a wonderful opportunity to make new blogging friends and increase your followers!!

Catching up with the Grand Babes

We are so blessed to have 3 of the most precious little people in our lives~

 Our Keri Beth will be 2 years old in April.

 She loves her Papaw and runs to him the minute we walk in the door.  She says "Papaw" all the time - she WILL NOT say "gb" at all :(

 We all got the Pink memo for Maddy girl's birthday party.

I think it took 5 or 6 times to finally get a photo of her in this adorable snowman hat.  Most of the takes looked like this!

 Or like this!  Such a squirmy butt!

A budding artist~

Tickle, tickle, I wish you could hear her giggle and laugh when they play like this!

She is fascinated by his beard~

Our Handsome little guy- Mason, will be 3 years old in August. 

Mason told his Papaw that he wanted to go to the "museum for animals."  So - we took him to the Atlanta zoo! 

He is SO much fun to play with! He makes me laugh and laugh he is such a sweetie!

Petting Zoo's are the most fun places to visit with a toddler!

Mason absolutely LOVES trains.  He could not wait to ride this little train at the Atlanta zoo.  It was his most favorite thing that we did the whole day!

I think we could have just stayed on the train all day and he would have been happy!  He likes to snuggle with his gb and we read Thomas the Train stories on my IPAD.

Mason also loves airplanes  - (just like his Papaw).  Don't have any photos here - but we always go to the playground at the airport so that he and his Papaw can watch the airplanes.

  Mason's Christmas gift from his Papaw!  The look on his face was priceless when he first saw this!  It took him about 10 minutes to figure out how to drive it and then he was OFF!  It goes 3 miles an hour~~

It's a guy thing~~

Our Christmas picture with our favorite little boy.  I'm telling you it is SO hard to live 8 hours away from this little guy! 

 And -- our Maddy girl.  Maddy was 3 years old just last week!  

She is all about posing for pictures!  

Maddy adores Keri Beth.  She says, "baby Keri Beth is my cousin.  I'm going to give her kisses and hugs!"

 Remember when I couldn't get Maddy to hold still for a picture?  She is ALL about the picture taking now! 

Are these not the biggest smiles you ever saw?

Celebrating Maddy Girl's "Big 3" birthday party last week.

Smiling so big in her pretty little dress on Christmas Eve~

Maddy had the "tearing the paper off the packages" down to a fine art this year.  (Keri Beth was not so sure about it all.  She mostly liked to play with the empty boxes this year!)

  Have you ever!!!  Can you say PRISSY!!

She makes me laugh~

They BOTH make me laugh~

This is one of my favorite Christmas pictures taken at our Christmas Eve gathering.  Both of the girls sitting on Keri Beth's Mommy's lap.  

ALL my pretty girls~~

"Oh NO"!  (Her gb taught her to say that!!)

Maddy's favorite toy this Christmas - was baby Keri Beth!

Remember ALL those Christmas cookies we had at our Christmas Eve dinner?  Little fingers kept stealing them off the plates!

Aren't these shoes so funny!  Maddy loves shoes just like her Auntie Vicki does!  (I think they look like the ones that Dorothy wore in "The Wizard of Oz"!)

Yep- we stripped them down after the pictures ~~~!

~~~

Can you believe how big our babes are getting! Thanks for letting me brag a little bit about our precious little people.  

~~~~~~~

Coming up next - my first give away of the year.  Something to warm your soul for the winter's chill - (and a little bit of Vera too!)

I love you all!

Vicki