Cora and Hannah visit over the weekend

Cora's own fashion creation. She wore her apron when she cooked supper Friday evening.

Sewing basket, beads, colorful spangles, and cloth keep the girls occupied for hours on Friday.

Each has a little project they are sewing....

Then we're one girl down....where did Cora go, Hannah?

Hannah busy painting and has no idea where Cora is.

AHA! There she is! She tells me she is rocking in the swing on the deck and pretending she's at the beach. Says the clouds and wind look and sound just like the ocean, and she wishes to live by an ocean someday.

Hannah continues with the watercolors....

and eventually joins her sister at "the ocean."

Carrie, Tony, and the boys headed out of town for a soccer tournament on Friday, so the girls came here Friday evening. On Saturday they went to Grandma Mary's. They told me they would rather be ANYWHERE than a soccer tournament. So I tried to make it fun for them. Cora got our her little home-sewn apron, photographed above, and made mac and cheese (the real kind she calls it with chunks of Velveeta). She likes to cook and I let her have at it. I did have to give her one little instruction though. She thought it was the milk that makes it creamy. Sorry thin little girl. It's that fattening cheese that does that! So she made plenty to go 'round and enough to share with the daycare on Monday. Next, the girls asked for cloth and sewing materials. I found some cloth napkins they could use and got out the sewing basket. "I didn't know you can sew, Grandma." They have two other Grandmas, Tony's Mom and Grandma Mary, who both are very talented seamstresses. So I had to humbly admit that what I can do in that department is attach buttons and make minor repairs. Well, they were ok with that. So they spent almost the whole evening with their sewing as well as working with the beads and spangles that once were part of Paige and Bailey's world. Cora disappeared, and when that happens, I don't really worry. But I instinctively know she has gone to have some kind of little adventure. Sure enough, I found her out on the deck, totally covered up, and enjoying the breezy, balmy evening enough to want to sleep out there. Pretty soon Hannah joined her. They made room for me, and we listened and talked to the wind and moon, and made wishes on the stars. What a great Friday evening.

The soccer boys and Mom and Dad rolled back into town late Sunday evening with the championship trophy. Everyone was happy. Blake scored a couple of goals and played well. The other parents said, "He's not the little guy anymore." The weight room has paid off, and he has grown a little this summer. One of his shots missed the goal and went sailing into the parking lot behind, shattering the side mirror of one of the parent's vehicles. We learned through the years that you never park behind the goal. Guess that fellow won't park there again either. Well anyway, Blake had a good tournament and when I talked with him, I was reminded he really is not Baby Blake anymore.

Carrie said Nolan rather enjoyed being the little top dog kid of the weekend. Other parents were buying him candy and giving him quarters for the video ride that he loved there. Well, apparently he took in some conversation as well. When they all got home, Carrie was putting away things from the van and asked Nolan to take something back to his room. "Do I go Northwest to do that?" Nolan asked. "You can go any direction you want to get there, just get it to your room," Carrie answered. He probably picked up a few other new words and phrases over the weekend that he will be trying out on us. Chris did the same thing when he was a little boy, and we were all so entertained.

Tomorrow promises to be a not so fun day, as I broke off a tooth Saturday evening (while I was flossing--not even chomping on something yummy). Today another little piece broke away when I brushed my teeth, so I suspect the whole thing is going to go sooner or later. So another crown for me, and I hope my dentist can get me in to get the process started. I compared notes with Carolyn about this and found I am lagging way behind...well if you count the three front teeth she had knocked out in the car accident when she was a kid. She has 11 crowns to my 5. Well 6 after this one. I don't know where other siblings stand in this area, but we both are brushers and flossers, and it didn't seem to matter. The teeth genes must not have been as strong as let's say the bone genes. Still no broken bones among the 12 of us I think. That's amazing for all the activities we've all been engaging in throughout our lives. Well I will be asking the Good Lord, "Why did you slack on how you made the teeth?" Surely something more durable was available. Well I have told my family to retrieve all this gold before they store me away someday! :o)