This is Gonna Be FUN!

I've started a new tradition in the family and Y'all have been elected to help us out. I don't want to vote because I know who did what so, Y'all will vote on these whenever they pop up. What are they?

Ok, every time I get just the right picture of one of the grandloves (we're still waiting on the arrival of Baby R), the rest of the fam has to meme the shot. Once they do, I'll put them up on the blog and Y'all vote for the best one.

What does the winner get? Why to win, of course! And lord it over the rest of them until someone else wins. Becuase that's what families do. Well, that's what this one does. Muahahahaha!

The family member with the most votes at Christmas gets a Christmas surprise! WooHoo!

Here's the first meme contest (we're short this time so a few people are already going to be behind.

Meme It, Part 1:

1.

2.

3.

4. 

You can probably tell the ones who are concerned with having to change a poopy diaper. Good grief. 

Anyway, there they are. Next time, everyone should weigh in. Especially when they decide they could have done better than these because-- competition. 

Just tell us in the comment section who wins the first Make Your Own Meme Contest at Empty Nest. Thanks for your help!

Have a great weekend, Y'all!

Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles

and feel free to FAVORITE the shop
or buy something! 😁💓

How Do You Play?

Play takes on many forms during our lifetime. When we're growing up we were probably played with instead of playing. Babies are such fun to play with and the interaction is a vital part of their learning process. We enter the toddler phase and we begin to play by ourselves and with our parents and others close to us, there's probably still more adult interaction than kid-to-kid until we enter the preschool years wherein we learn to play with others. Our play time goes from all day long play to recess when we enter school unless you're the class clown that is. We grow and grow and maybe we decide to play sports or play an instrument but we're still active as long as we don't spend all our free time in front of the television playing video games. It seems our teenage and college play turn to what we view as more sophisticated and it's called partying. We get older and have kids and we play with them and the cycle continues.

I remember playing with other kids when I was still in the single digits fondly. Playing freeze tag in the backyard, riding bikes down a dead-end side street, sledding down one of the steepest hills when it snowed, hide-and-seek, pickle, baseball, football...goodness how we played and played and played. It was a great time to be a kid. We weren't as concerned with 'stranger danger' maybe because it was a small town or maybe because people just didn't do those things to kids as much as they do now. Anyway...

I have entered the very best phase of playtime. It's called being a grandmother and I love it. I am one of the lucky ones who get to spend every weekday with my granddaughter and we spend hours playing.

We play with stuffed animals, puzzles, blocks, balls, toys, and we read books. We play peek-a-boo and chase. We sing and play the xylophone. We play Baby M climbs on everything while Grandma has a heart attack. We play in the baby pool and we play with bubbles. We play reorganize Grandma's kitchen cabinets. We play and play and play all day long. And it's fun!

This weekend (yesterday) Baby M had her first birthday (y'all can see the video HERE). I can't believe how quickly the year flew by. I'm just so grateful to live close enough to take care of her while her parents work. Because playtime is just the best when you're a grandmother.

This post is linked to Five Minute Friday where we write for five minutes about the prompt without stopping. Well, not really linked. I'm leaving the link for y'all in case you want to head over there and join in the party. But I'm just writing because I can't seem to stop after 5 minutes and no one really comes over to read here. I am not complaining at all. It's a fun idea and I love trying to write something about the prompts. I also like trying to stop at 5 minutes but I can't. Yes, I write like I talk. Ha!

The prompt this week is PLAY. And below is the button/link:

Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles
and feel free to FAVORITE the shop
or buy something! :)

Someone Has A Birthday Today

It's birthday time for someone very special!

I'm just gonna leave this right here:

Oh, and in case you missed this on Instagram or Facebook, she walked for the first time last Friday.

Here's that one:

This week, she's practically running and has not crawled at all. What's more than exhausted? That's what I am. But I'm loving it!

Happy Birthday my sweet girl! Grandma loves you!

Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles
and feel free to FAVORITE the shop
or buy something! :)

Stinker Face

Because, why not?

Y'all, this kid is going to be one year old in a little less than 3 months. She is ALWAYS busy. ALWAYS. I think she's even busy in her sleep.

She's also clever. We couldn't figure out why this toy had a button. She did. She pushes it on and off any time she wants to. We have yet to be able to turn it on or off.

You can certainly see the stinker in her eyes in this next one. And that little grin? That comes from my granddaddy and Baby M's mommy.

Her auntie and I decided to try and have a photo shoot but you can't get Baby M to be still EVER so here's what we got---

Never once did she look at the camera. And she was still enough for two whole pictures. Still cute though.

So we decided to follow her around and snap whatever we could. The faces of Baby M:

No photo shoot would be complete without a shot of pants on the baby. When you don't sit still long enough for people to put your pants back on after a diaper change, the people do the best they can. I'm going to put together a book one day called, Pants on the Baby filled with all the pictures we have of Baby M 'wearing' her pants in all sorts of ways. 😄

She's 9 months old, y'all and she is my heart.


Have a wonderful day!

Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles!
There's a special running through the month of April!
$10.00 OFF your purchase of $30.00 or more! 

Embracing the Moments

I've been following Katie at Heading Home for a while now because of my curiosity about Five Minute Friday and I LOVE her last name. I have no idea whether I pronounce it correctly or not but it's a cool last name. Yes, I know my mind errs on the side of lunacy.

Anyway... Five Minute Friday seems like fun. Katie gives a prompt, you set a timer and write on the prompt for 5 minutes. The reason I've been so hesitant to join in is because some of the participants write beautifully and I did that comparison thing and fell short as I always do when I compare myself which is why I should never do that and just be happy with what I do. You can find a link to Five Minute Friday on the right sidebar over there. →

This week's prompt is: EMBRACE

Here we go:

Every single moment that passes does so at warp speed. My girls were born and then, the next day, they were all grown up and out on their own.

I feel I failed to EMBRACE those moments.

Or maybe I just couldn't keep up with the warp speed.

Or maybe that's just the way life is.

Now, I'm trying my best to EMBRACE each moment with this little bug.

Who is already changing and growing at warp speed.

No longer a baby but looking more like a little girl.

In a week or so, I'll be looking back at my time with her as a little bitty thing while sitting at her college graduation.

EMBRACE each moment because they don't last longer than a nanosecond.

But the journey, however fast, is well worth it.

Remember, y'all, there's a giveaway of NuNaturals stevia!
FOUR lucky winners will each get THESE:

So, here's the deal:

• There will be FOUR winners
• Each winner will receive one bottle of Vanilla NuStevia Liquid, one bottle of New Sugarfree cocoa syrup, a package of new cocoa powder, and a 50 packet box of the NuStevia no-carbs Stevia Packets, PLUS a FREE BONUS item. 
• Winner's will receive package directly from NuNaturals.
• Giveaway is open worldwide.
•  They cannot ship to PO BOXES.
• If you want to purchase from NuNaturals you can get a 15% discount by entering BLG0617 through June 30, 2017. Also, shipping is free when orders exceeding $35 (this is just to CONTINENTAL US)

 All y'all have to do is leave a comment here, on my FB page, Instagram, or Twitter that you would like to be entered to win! IF I see a comment on my social media, I'll give you 5 extra entries per comment. AND you can comment every single day if you'd like!

Now, if you'd like TEN extra entries, go and 'LIKE' NuNatruals FB page. Please let me know if you do this so I can give the 10 extra entries! FYI: They have tons of recipes over there.

I'll keep this giveaway open through next Thursday (March 30) and announce the winners on Friday, March 31.

Please visit my Etsy Shop!

All items are HANDMADE with love! 

Why Grandma Smiles and Needs Hair Color

Happy Friday, y'all! It's been a whirlwind week around here. Baby M's mommy and daddy bought a house and this is moving week. The movers come tomorrow but they've been busy in between Baby M and their full-time jobs taking boxes over and getting things like the kitchen and the aquariums set up.

How do you get out of...er, I mean, how do you help your daughter's family move into their first home? You offer to take care of the baby. 😀

I haven't included the pictures of why my hair is graying quickly these days. Those would be the pictures of Baby M climbing on all things unstable. But I don't have those pictures becasue I am in catcher mode and can't catch the baby and snap a photo at the same time. I'm good, but not that good. Ha!

Here's a peek into my week:

It's always difficult to get the pants back on the baby. So, I do what I can. Technically, the pants are ON the baby.2 

Baby M is still pulling up on EVERYTHING and letting go because she forgets SHE CAN'T WALK YET.

Which doesn't slow her down one bit. And yes, she thinks it's funny. 

Just in case y'all thought she was always smiling...

She only does this when she's fighting a nap (and she wins the award for fighting naps) or Grandma is moving too slow.

Most of the time she's like this as she really is a happy baby.

There's a reason Grandma wears old clothes and her hair up when Baby M is here.

She's working hard on that pincer grasp. 

Even with a spoon in her hand. 

Sippy cups are brilliant these days. Remember how the water or juice went everywhere when our kids were little? Well, no more! When it hits the floor, the water stays in the cup. I love it!

Teething biscuits have changed, too. And they claim, right on the box, NO MESS. They lie. We still had a mess. Though not as bad as the Zwieback toast of old. 

Sippy cups and Puffs. A magical combo. 

The reason for Grandma's smile, her gray hair, and her heart full of joy. 




Remember, y'all, there's a giveaway of NuNaturals stevia!
FOUR lucky winners will each get THESE:

So, here's the deal:

• There will be FOUR winners
• Each winner will receive one bottle of Vanilla NuStevia Liquid, one bottle of New Sugarfree cocoa syrup, a package of new cocoa powder, and a 50 packet box of the NuStevia no-carbs Stevia Packets, PLUS a FREE BONUS item. 
• Winner's will receive package directly from NuNaturals.
• Giveaway is open worldwide.
•  They cannot ship to PO BOXES.
• If you want to purchase from NuNaturals you can get a 15% discount by entering BLG0617 through June 30, 2017. Also, shipping is free when orders exceeding $35 (this is just to CONTINENTAL US)

 All y'all have to do is leave a comment here, on my FB page, Instagram, or Twitter that you would like to be entered to win! IF I see a comment on my social media, I'll give you 5 extra entries per comment. AND you can comment every single day if you'd like!

Now, if you'd like TEN extra entries, go and 'LIKE' NuNatruals FB page. Please let me know if you do this so I can give the 10 extra entries! FYI: They have tons of recipes over there.

I'll keep this giveaway open through next Thursday (March 30) and announce the winners on Friday, March 31.

Please visit my Etsy Shop!

All items are HANDMADE with love!