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.

Sunday night.

I did my first craft show for the year yesterday. I was dreading it, I felt like I just didn't want to go and do it at all. But guess what, I really had a good time. A friend of mine asked me to join her in a new craft market that has begun here in Wilmington and I said yes. And yesterday was a lot of fun, we talked and laughed all day long. Yes, I made some money which made it even nicer. This was Cindy's first show, and she did really good with her jewelry. I'll post pictures later.

I am so bad at posting these days.

Hello to all.

Yes, I'm still alive, I'm just staying way too busy. With my precious grandbaby due in less than 2 months I am spending all my free time on the gift that I'm making her. I would tell you what it is but her Mommy checks in here and I don't want to give it away. lol.

Speaking of Bella, we got to go see her 4D pictures, and I've got to tell you that she is beautiful.

Here, see for yourself.

Isn't she beautiful? I can't wait to get my hands on her, I already love her so much. My heart is swelling with the love for her.

Classes are going okay. I've narrowed the classes down to every other Thursday, and on the off Thursdays we are creating an Crochet group. As time goes on we are all discovering how much women need other women.

Have a wonderful evening. I'll try to get back soon, but I make no promises. lol.

Charlie

Just three months away.

I just looked at the countdown and Bella is only about 3 months away from coming to live with her Mommy and Daddy. Today was Phil's birthday, he is 55 years young, and I gave him a photo frame that said "Grandpa & Me." We are going to take a photo of Bella and him when she is born and put it in there. We are so excited about the arrival of our first grandchild, we talk about her all the time. Here are some of the photos from class last week, we did flamingos. This week we are going to do Easter Eggs, and next week we are going to paint a gourd like a bunny.




This Anne's flamingo, so cute.










Jan got there and started painting on her plate. The flamingo and palm tree really looked great on a square plate.















Kathy put her flamingo in a round plate. They all look so good, and different.



















This Kathee always paints to a different drummer. She just sits down and sort of does her own thing, but her paintings always come out looking great.





Cathy didn't want to do the flamingos at all, it is a long story. But she decided to come and paint with us and did a gift bag and a card. She loved them so much that she decided to keep them herself.

And here is my precious Mommy. She has been feeling up to coming to classes on Thursday night and I'm so glad that she is with us. And she did such an amazing job.




Well, take care my friends and I'll pop in again soon.
Charlie

It's been so long.

Hi, I can't believe that I've been gone from blogland for so long. I got a job working with a school and ever since then I've been staying busy, but I'm loving it. I am a tutor, pulling children out of classes and helping them with their reading and understanding what they read. I have already gotten so attached to them, and when I'm not there for whatever reason I miss them. Go figure. And to think that I could have been doing this all along, I had a teaching certificate and I let it expire many years ago. Shame on me. But better late than never.

Life here has been so busy. I'm at the school everyday, and then still having my painting class on Tuesday's and Thursdays. And We have started going back to church, loving it, and I'm in a Bible Study on Wednesday nights. If Phil and I aren't at a meeting we are usually home every evening, and usually in bed.

All the kids are doing well. And we now have a baby bump. Here is a photo of the kids taken on Philip's birthday. The far left is Hunter, then Philip, Kim, and Samantha. Of course baby Bella is nice and warm in her mommy, Kim.

Here are some photos of the classes from lately.

Well, have a wonderful week. I am going to be working on a cross stitch piece for Baby Bella, and on Tuesday I'm going to go and start work on an afghan that my friend Cathy is going to teach me. When I get done with it My friend Joanie is going to teach me another one for Baby Bella.

take care my friends,

Charlie