Friday, December 09, 2005

Smelling The Wuv

Grandmother Phyllis has been busy all year making quilts for her family. And when I say her family, I mean all of her children, their spouses, their children and their grandchildren. She has been non-stop quilting.

We are all very grateful that Aunt Janice and Uncle Earl have been coming down during the winter months and keeping Grandmother busy. While they were here Aunt Janice and Grandmother put up a quilt. This has really meant a lot to her. She was so bored. She thought she would never be able to quilt again because of her failing eyesight. But she has learned that she can tack quilts and they are still beautiful. Especially to her family.

Well she has been making special quilts for the grandchildren. She made a very pretty Spiderman quilt for Caleb (He thinks he really is Spider man.) Amber told grandmother that they had been trying to get Caleb to sleep by himself, so she decided to give him his quilt early, hoping it would encourage him to sleep by himself.

SmelltheWuv04

This was a very good idea. Amber says he has been dragging this full sized quilt around the house all day long. Amber said she sat down with Caleb and asked him, "Caleb, did you know that Grandmother sewed a special ingredient into your quilt."

Caleb looked at her and shook his head no. She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Caleb, Grandmother sewed some of her love into you quilt." His eyes got big! His mother said, "Caleb, smell your quilt."

He pulled the quilt up to his nose, took a big sniff and squealed, "Momma, I smell the wuv!"

SmelltheWuv02


She looked at him and said, "Caleb, rub the quilt on your face."

He quickly pulled the quilt up to his cheek and squealed, "Momma, I feel the wuv!" He was so excited to know that his grandmother had put love in this quilt.


SmelltheWuv03


Now his mother thought he should share some of the love and asked, "Can I smell the love, Caleb?"

He looked up at her and let her know what he thought about this suggestion, "NO!" For several minutes she begged to smell the love and finally he agreed. She pulled the quilt up to her nose and took a really big sniff. The scream that came from Caleb almost pierced her ears, "You're smelling all the wuv, Momma. STOP IT!"

He drug his quilt around all day. That night after they had all gone to bed and Amber ended up sleeping with him, he woke up around twelve and whispered, "Momma, you forgot to snuggle me."

Amber, of course, was under this quilt with him and had it pulled up to her face. As she rolled over to snuggle him she heard him mumble something under his breath. She asked, "Caleb, what did you say?"

He turned to her and said, "I said stop smelling the wuv!" He is so afraid she is going to sniff out all of Grandmother's love from his quilt.


Posted by Jeff

Monday, November 28, 2005

Thanksgiving Dinner 2005

I'm not sure whose idea it was but this year we gathered the Stalker and Looney families together at the church at the mouth of Jimmie's Creek. The church has a nice kitchen and dining area on the lower floor that was just perfect for our group.

Mom and Dad and all of their kids were there of course...

We were joined by Patty, Randy and Sandra Kay with their spouses and several of their children. Danny Looney was able to attend too.



Someone counted twenty-seven of us in all. There was more than enough food for everyone. In fact, we could have fed another twenty-seven easily.

I don't know if it was going back to the church where we all grew up, or getting together with cousins, neices and nephews that we hadn't seen in quite some time, but something about this gathering brought back special memories for many of us. None more special than our memories of Junice and Hula.


A couple of people have already said that we need to do this again next year because this was..."the best Thanksgiving ever."

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Pikeville City Park in Fall

Last weekend Jennie and I took Emerson up to the City Park in Pikeville to play on the playground equipment there. The trees in the park were near the peak of their fall color.



A new statue of former Mayor Hambley had just been erected a week or two before...



The colorful trees provided a fine backdrop for it and a festive place for Emerson to play.


Posted by Clyde

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Fall in the Mountains

We have really seen a burst of color in the last few days. Luci made a comment about how beautiful our house looked from up on the hill this past spring when we were picking strawberries. I though I would send a picture of how nice it looked with the fall leaves in the background.


I also took a few pictures of the boys having fun in the fall leaves that have fallen in the yard at their grandparents house up on the hill. I hope this makes the Florida gang homesick for the hills of Kentucky.



Posted by Michelle

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Fall Colors

The cold temperatures the past few nights and the bright sunlight today really have the colors starting to pop here in Kentucky. This is the view from Clyde and Jennie's backyard.



I hope there is still a leaf or two hanging on the trees when Jeff comes up for Thanksgiving. Posted by Picasa

FLORIDA HALLOWEEN

Grandmaw's home has been invaded by a short little witch and a very small yet chunky turtle.




Sunday, October 23, 2005

Ranger Boys

We have had a woderful Fall Break the boys have really enjoyed their Ranger we went to Somerset and purchased. They even enjoyed taking their momma on a ride through the field in front of the house.





We are still working on the garage but we are getting closer to getting it finished up. Hope everyone has a great October.

I will take some pictures soon of the beautiful fall leaves in the edge of the woods. I hope it makes Jeffery home sick for Kentucky!!

Posted by MichellePosted by Picasa

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Head Scratchin'


I have no idea what is going on in this picture.



Maybe Shawn can explain it.

Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Smokey Mountain Maurader


While we were in the Smokies this raccon visited our chalet each night and dined on the contents of our garbage cans. Jennie watched him one evening, she said he was expert at getting the lids off the garbage cans. He could unlatch and pop the top off a can, all in one quick motion.

With the Stalker family there he was not getting much in the way of scraps, so Jennie tried feeding him some graham crackers.


Click on the photo to view full size





Posted by Picasa

Monday, October 17, 2005

Coon Huntin'

Popaw Stalker told a story about going “Coon Huntin” with Homer Adkins and Bear Justice.

Popaw and Homer had been bragging all week about what good shots they were and what good coon dogs they had. Homer would point his finger like a gun and say “Bang, thump, (Varmit hitting the ground after each shot) Bang, thump, that’s how it’s going to be.”

The dogs treed a big coon and they started shooting at it. They shot 27 times but still hadn’t even wounded it. When they gave up and stopped shooting (or ran out of ammo I suspect), the coon jumped down out of the tree and attacked their dogs (Walker and Snider) biting and clawing them till they were bloody all over. It would have killed both of them if Bear hadn’t hit it in the head with a stick. They had to just come on home and patch up the dogs.


Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Guess Who ?



It's time to play another game of
"GUESS WHO ?"


Can you identify this glamor girl?

Enter your guess in a comment below and come back in a day or two to see what you may have won.


<--- CLICK on the photo for a larger view.

Thursday, September 08, 2005


A Small Reunion in Laurel County


A couple of weekends ago we had a small gathering down here in Laurel County.

Shawn and Melissa came for a few hours and Mamaw and Papaw Stalker came for a stay.

We had a wonderful time.




Melissa loved looking at Shawn’s birthday picture on the StalkerClan. ( He has not shared that website address with her. )


Mamaw Stalker enjoyed sitting on the lumber and bossing Jim and Oliver as they finished up on the deck.



Papaw Stalker took a chair on the deck and from his perch every few minute would holler, “Someone needs to help Oliver work.” So I took a picture of Papaw Stalker helping Oliver work.


Meaner kept in constant contact wanting to know how we liked our gifts she had sent us.
(She must of called 6 times in 4 hours. )




For Shawn, he got several razors and refill kits. (Shawn don’t have that many hairs on his face this should last him for decades )



And for me I got a box full of stockings and a calender to count down to Christmas. (Now that I am building a deck and building I have no money for Christmas. )

All went well and a good time was had by most!

Oh, by the way Shawn, you need to call your mother!


Posted by Michelle

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Blair and Caitlyn

Jeffery and Randy have a couple of new grand children.

Here are a few photos: (Click on the photos to view full sized.)







This is Caitlyn,
Amber and Jevon's new little girl....













Here is Blair,
Mindy's new little boy...

Here they are together...


Another shot of the two cousins.



Amber with Caitlyn...


and Jevon with his little girl...


Tuesday, July 12, 2005

AUSTIN HAS A BIRTHDAY

He Is Now Six Years Old



Amber called and TOLD that she was coming out and bringing several small children to celebrate Austin's sixth birthday. She tries so hard to make sure their birthdays are something special.

When she and I went shopping earlier in the week, I could not find anything I though he might like, so I gave Amber the money and told her to get him something. She took him shopping at Wally World and he called me from the store to thank me for the super sonic squirt gun he was getting with the money I had given him for his birthday. I knew right then it was going to be a very wet birthday party.

Amber arrived while I was still at work on Sat. The kids all hit the lop-sided pool full force. I don't know who purchased them, but someone had bought a full pack of giant squirt guns. Each child had a loaded squirt gun by the time I got home. The had a blast in the pool with their guns. Of course Austin had his mega super blaster and everyone was jealous of his big gun. Unlike most children tho Austin shared his gun with all the other boys. I thought this was a very admirable trait for a small child.

But then again Austin is not your typical child. He is more like an adult in a child's body. He never fell to give me lots of loving when he come out. He is truly a sweet soul. I really enjoy having him in our family.

Well, after several hours of laughing, giggling, fishing, wresting, eating, bathing, jumping on the trampoline, and a nap or two, here and there, Amber informs me that they are all spending the night.

"Is that okay?" she asks.

"Of course," I answer.

Then she proceeds to tell me about how many of them still wet the bed.(but no one is allowed to wear night time pants. They are all big boys and they do not wear such things) Oh dear. What is a grandma to do? My brain goes into overdrive. All boys will sleep on the floor with six blankets and lots of plastic liners under them. This should fix the problem. (NOT)

All night long, Randy and I take turns getting up to check and see who has rolled off the blankets. I do believe Grandad's warrior boys were fighting battles all night in their sleep. But I am glad to report that no warrior boy wet his pants on this particular night. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that Aunt Amber watched them like a prison warden and would not let them have even a sip of water after seven o'clock. She is always on top of the game. GO AMBER! GOOD JOB!

Now as we are going to bed the kids all remember that they had not been able to hit the piƱata (Sponge Bob), because of the rain that keep them running in and out all day. So Amber promised them that they could get up early and take care of Sponge Bob. Early is right. Seven o"clock came and Amber was up and ready to go. She had to go torture, I mean visit, Jevon's Mom for the day. She was in a major hurry.


She threw Sponge Bob up on the hook over the swing on the porch

and told the boys to take turns pulling the strings on the bottom of Old Sponge Bob.

They took their turn. Each being very cautious about the string they pulled. They got down to the last string and Austin pulled very hard, but Sponge Bob did not give up the goods.

Amber went into full swing and busted Old Sponge Bob's butt.







All the candy hit the floor and so did the boys. Poor Emily was lucky to get one piece of candy.


Old Sponge will never be the same. ( Neither will Grandma)


Posted by Jeff

Saturday, June 11, 2005

THE JAWS FESTIVAL

Sherry spent the week following the working with Lucille in Mount Sterling. They went the Aquarium in Newport while she was there. Sherry loved the birds, turtles, penguins and sharks.

Ted looks like he has just discovered the meaning of the work WILK.
Surrounded by Birds.

Comparing jaws with the shark.

Looking at the bridges to Ohio.