My Invisible Grandchildren

I saw a website that had the best children's hide-n-seek hiding places. There were pictures of kids behind curtains where their legs aren't covered, and there was even a kid standing behind a skinny pole. Young kids think that if their eyes are covered and they can't see you, that you in turn can't see them.

My Grandkid's ages are one and three, and here are their best hiding attempts. First, our one year old granddaughter. She has no concept of hiding past peek-a-boo. The first picture is her hiding in plain sight. She can't see us, so of course we cannot see her.

This second picture was her first attempt to hide inside something. Unfortunately she does not understand that the hiding place would be better if it had sides, lol. Not bad for a one year old though. It also doesn't help that once she was successful getting in her hiding place she would scream with excitement.

Now, our three year old grandson has the right idea to hid behind something, but needs to be a little more thoughtful on what you hide behind. I think his thought process in this first picture was if you hide behind something and close your eyes then you are invisible to everyone else.

In this next picture he was getting a little better at hiding most of his body. Once his head was under the chair he must have thought he then became invisible.

I love this next picture where he put his face right up against the table leg. He couldn't see me, so of course I couldn't see him. The best part was that when I showed him the picture he said,"Meemaw, I can still see part of my eye!" He didn't notice the rest of his body showing, or that his little hand is on the outside of the table leg for all to see. So, if I can't see his eyes, he is invisible. Right?

This last picture is by far my favorite. He had the right idea this time. He is completely covered on all sides, but there is just one small problem, the storage bin is clear. How cute is that boy?

A Summer Trip to the Dallas Arboretum

It was a beautiful Texas July day with the temperature predicted to hit 100 degrees. Not the best day to be outside at the Dallas Arboretum, but we went anyway. We arrived as they were opening, and wanted to stay for an hour or so to get some Summer pictures. We had visited the Arboretum in the late Fall, so we were excited to see all the summer colors. The temp was in the high 80s when we arrived, so we knew it would be a short trip.

The Arboretum was not very busy, but I was surprised at the number of people that paid the admission cost to run around playing Pokemon Go. It was sad to me that they were not even enjoying the beauty of the grounds, just staring at their phones the whole time.

Here are some of the pictures we took that morning:

This statue is one of my favorites in the park.

The water features are everywhere and beautiful. The running water sounds are awesome.

Another great water feature!

There are many different types of Elephant Ear plants.

The walkways are stunning! 

These water lilies are in pots in the bottom of the Koi pond.

Beautiful Lily pads in this pond.

Lily pads up close.

One of the many gardens.

Infinity pool that looks out to the White Rock Lake.

Close up picture of the Crape Myrtle canopy.

Outside of the Crape Myrtle Canopy and the section of the park where they grow the plants.

Inside of the Crape Myrtle Canopy. There is a kids spray area at the end.

The Arboretum is a must stop if you are ever in Dallas!

The Maligned Cargo Shorts

When my sons were in their teens they gave my husband a hard time about wearing jean shorts (jorts). They had him start wearing khaki cargo shorts. That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship between my husband and cargo shorts.

Then several years ago our kids started giving him a hard time about wearing cargo shorts. The push now is the flat or pleated front above the knee shorts. So, we bought the new shorts to add to his "Kid Approved" wardrobe, but the cargo shorts stayed.

My husbands closet shelf of shorts. The top two and bottom right stacks are all cargo shorts.

Last August we received an email from our daughter. The Subject: Just say no. The body of the email said: For dad, from (name of our youngest son). I am not sure if that was true, or if she was just blaming it on her little brother. Attached to the email was the link to an article on BuzzFeed, by Pablo Valdvia titled: " Dear Men, Please Stop Wearing Cargo Shorts." The article showed pictures of men in cargo shorts and how it was a disease taking over the world. Then the article went on to show pictures of men in "regular" shorts as a way to show cargo short loving men the light, and a way to better fashion.

"Regular" shorts

This did not sway my husband away from his beloved cargo shorts. Now he does wear "regular" shorts most of the time, but there are days and events when nothing can replace a good pair of cargo shorts.

Then last week a Wall Street Journal writer named Nicole Hong wrote a humorous article that probably got more attention than she anticipated. The article printed on Aug 1st was titled: "Nice Cargo Shorts! You're Sleeping on the Sofa." The article was about the men who love their cargo shorts and the women who hate them, (the shorts, not the men).

My husband sent the article to all our kids with the the Subject: Long live cargo shorts!

My daughter responded with, " Cargo shorts can stay as long as we promise not to bring back cargo pants."

Then on Friday Aug 5, Nicole Hong had a follow up article on all the controversy surrounding her first article on the 1st. This one was titled: "What Happened After I Wrote That Cargo Short Story." I found this article hilarious.  Hong wrote the following paragraph, "Since the story published on the Wall Street Journal's website Monday afternoon, it has devoured all the attention that was previously fixated on the election. The story has dominated the Journal's web traffic for most of the week."  She had no idea what she was messing with when she took on men and their cargo shorts. These are both fun articles that you should check out.

New email to the kids from my husband with Aug 5th article attached, Subject: The cargo shorts debate rages on!

On the same day, Aug 5th, an article was published in the Washington Post covering the now ever popular subject of cargo shorts. This article written by Christopher Ingraham was titled: "Map: Real American Men Don't Wear Cargo Shorts". The article covers the debate between cargo shorts and jorts by geographical locations. The map in the article is titled: "The Great Short Divide". This article is very funny and the maps show by state the preference of either cargo shorts or jorts.  I also recommend that you check out this article. Although, I will tell you that Mr. Ingraham was surprised that his Twitter followers overwhelmingly preferred cargo shorts to jorts.

I have always stayed out of the cargo shorts debate in our family, but have decided to end my silence. First a little background. I have lived my life as an adult woman carrying a purse. When my kids were young it was a purse and a diaper bag. I referred to myself as the family pack mule. When the diaper bag went away, the purse got bigger, and at times the purse was a backpack. When the kids were all grown up I tried to downsize, but I always ended up carrying my husband's items in my purse. Sunglasses case, inhaler, wallet, tissues, ............ Then like a ship out of the night.....Cargo Shorts! Pockets for all his stuff! No more pack mule. Yippee!!!!

So, my grateful back and shoulders are happy for the weight reduction in my purse. Fashion may have taken a back seat in our Kid's eyes, but I agree with my husband.

LONG LIVE CARGO SHORTS!!!!!!!!

Decorating a Texas Size Fireplace

When we bought our house in Texas it came with a Texas size stone fireplace. The only thing I knew for sure about decorating the fireplace was that I was going to hang a picture on it that I brought with us from Virginia. The picture is very modern and the colors were perfect in the room. The rest of the room is very eclectic and a great mix of modern, traditional and earthy (for lack of another word). For months the picture was hung on the fireplace, but the only other items on the hearth were two large plants, one on each side.

The picture was our starting point.

The colors of the family room are red, orange, a muted lime green, and a dark brown. All these colors were in the fabric that I updated our drapes with, that also matched one of our chairs. Now, I wanted to bring those colors into the decorations on the fireplace.

This is the colorful chair that now matches our drapes.

This fireplace has two small ledges on each side of the hanging picture and then a large mantel. The hearth is a large ledge and is about two feet off the ground. I thought at first that on the small ledges I would get some faux topiaries, but I could not find any I liked. I did find some faux plants in textured tan and brown pots at Home Goods. They were just the right height too!

The pots are a nice texture and color and  the size of the plant is perfect.

While I was at Home Goods I found a large Mexican bottle/vase that was a beautiful mixture of brown, red and orange, and a wicker basket with an interesting design and handles. These will dress up the hearth. In the basket I draped a knit throw and added a pillow that has my childhood home address on it. The pillow was a wonderful gift from my sisters.

The colors on this jar matches the room perfectly.

I received this pillow from my sisters after their visit. The numbers are the house numbers of our childhood home. It had to be displayed prominently in my house. 

My last purchase at Home Goods was a modern orange birdcage. It is not easy to find items in the perfect shade of orange, so this was a great find for my mantel.

 I love the kind of modern and Asian look.

On a trip to Hobby Lobby I found two wood birdhouses and both had a star on them that reminds me of Texas. These houses will go perfectly on the mantel.

For some reason in this house I am using birdcages and birdhouses. They are something new to me and I really like them. Which is funny because I hate birds, thanks to Alfred Hitchcock.

My last purchase was a colorful wood bird wearing a hat that I purchased at a local antique shop while shopping with my visiting sisters. This bird was the perfect complement to the orange birdcage, and put some fun into the grouping for the mantel.

Too bad all birds can't look this cute and non-threatening. 

The change in the fireplace is dramatic. I truly love the mixture of color and styles. The modern and earthy eclectic decor mix works well together.

 I never tire of looking at my fireplace, and it always makes me smile!