Let the countdown begin.

Bella is on her way, just don't know when she will be showing her beautiful face to us. We have been under a "Baby Watch" all week, and now we are even closer. As of right now, which is Wednesday afternoon, we will be going to the hospital tomorrow night for them to start the process of "induction". First they will give Kim some drugs to help make the lining thin, and then at 6:00 a.m., they will start the actual induction. Kim has been on complete bed rest since Monday, she is having high blood pressure with severe headaches. Bless her heart. But tomorrow evening we will be in the hospital and they will be taking wonderful care of her and Bella. I'll take good photos so that I can share them with you.

We are supposed to be going to our niece's wedding on Saturday, but that is totally up in the air at this point. She is going to make a beautiful bride, and I wish only the very best for her.

Here are some photos of things that I've been painting. I'm trying to keep all my painting to happy things. Enjoy the photos and I'll be in touch soon.

Charlie

Hunter's Graduation and Kim's baby shower

We began our weekend with the arrival of my brother-in-law, Johnny, and he and I hit the road Friday afternoon buying food for the shower, decorations, and stuff like that. He is always so good to do the cooking for showers and get togethers. Anyway, we stayed busy all day long and then Saturday morning found us up and moving. He did some cooking, I did some wrapping of gifts, and then we all got ready to go to a graduation party at one of Hunter's friend's home. It was beautiful. It was an old summer home that the family uses and it was right on the Intercoastal Waterway, and as you can see the kids were having a blast. They had all kind of games set up, and finally they ended up in the water. I love the photo of the lab up on the float. She has hip problems but wanted to join in on the fun. She jumped right in the water, swam for a while and then they put her on the float to rest.
The graduation wasn't until that night, and here is a group of the entire class. It was so neat, we have watched so many of these boys grow up since kindergarten. It was a magical night.

I don't really have a photo of Hunter in his cap and gown, can you believe it? But when the graduation was over it was so dark outside that no one could find anyone and by the time I found him he had already taken everything off. I'm waiting for some of his friends to post photos on facebook, I'll get some then.

After graduation we went to dinner and had a nice time. Hunter opened up cards from his friends and it was a nice way to end the day.

Then on Sunday we got up, went to church, and then came home, got everything packed up and went to Samantha's for the baby shower. We had a great turn out and Kim and Bella got some beautiful things. A lot of the items that she got at this shower were hand made, and I loved it. People took time to think about it and then spent time making them. Much love went into the gifts. And the ones that didn't make things, well they went overboard on their gifts. They were just beautiful. Bella is going to be the best dressed and most loved baby ever.

Doesn't Kim just look beautiful? Okay, I guess I will go for now, I hope that the next time I post it will be to tell you that I have a beautiful new granddaughter.

Enjoy the journey,

Charlie

Kittens and Samantha

I just have to share this little story. Last night Samantha and I went to play Bingo with Mom, I don't really like playing bingo but I do enjoy spending time with them. Samantha won 100 dollars and I thought she was going to pass out, she was so nervous and excited all at the same time. Anyway, after it was over we were driving home, Samantha was driving, and she screamed and jerked her car. There in the middle of the road was a little black kitten and she was not going to hit it. After we made it by the kitten I knew what was in store for us as she whipped her car around and went back in the direction that we came from. I was just praying that we wouldn't see a dead kitten in the road.

Samantha pulled into a church parking lot and there in front of the church were about 12 kittens and two cats. Out she goes, in her mind she is going to get those kittens and take them to the shelter. This was her first experience with wild kittens.......they kept running from her. She is walking after them, talking to them and not understanding why they want to hide. She goes to her car and gets a bag of chips, crumbles them up and start throwing them on the ground for the kittens to eat. Some of the kittens when under the porch to hide, and I looked and there she was on the ground talking to them.

It was just so funny watching her do all of this. She loves cats, and I could just see all of them ending up at her home. Thank God she wasn't able to get any, but I know my daughter, she will be back there today with food for those kittens, and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she doesn't end up with one at her home. lol.