~~ODNEAL FAMILY BLOG~~Port of Readlyn, Iowa

This is a very nice picture of my Mother & Father In Law, and Brother In Law Louie. It was taken at the party last Saturday along the river. I always think Bruce looks so much like his Dad, but I think from this picture that Bruce, Louie, and JR look so much alike. And doesn't Joey look great. It is so nice to have her feeling better again and enjoying spending time with all of us doing "river" things. And there are ALWAYS so many "river" things to do! Happy Hump Day!

I have these flowers that are some type of lilly around the house. But I hate the fact that there are like 7-10 on each stem and they don't bloom at the same time. So we just have to enjoy looking at them while they look nice, or waste a bunch of the blooms by cutting them to enjoy a flower or two in a vase. I also snapped some of my fern and other greenery (foilage as Helen calls it) around the foundation. I just love summer and having flowers blooming all around the yard. I wish we lived where we could enjoy it year round. But I guess then we would miss the snow and all that shoveling and snow blowing, right? I think not . Definitely think we are going to retire where it is warm in the winter. At least I hope!

Yep, I'm sure everyone would ask why I am happy on a Monday on this blog. Well, we had an absolutely GREAT weekend, and on our Saturday houseboat ride with great friends for over 3 hours I snapped this picture of the Lansing Bridge . I'm thinking minus the intruder in the picture I just might have to have something done with this picture. And yes, I am happy this Monday because we are after Thursday OFFICIALLY ON VACATION FOR 10 DAYS!!!!!! I am so ready and excited. We love the Mississippi River and our houseboat, and cannot wait to get there and spend time together relaxing and enjoying our friends and family! Everyone have a great week! I know we will even though it will be crazy busy getting ready! Totally worth it.

Thursday night we were all outside-me messing with garden stuff, Kyle & Taylor hangin' out, Bruce deciding to go back to the shop to work or not, and then Cole showed up. Well, sometimes when he shows up we just all have to hang around and listen to him because it usually is entertaining if nothing else. These are a few pictures I (and we-Kyle) snapped of our beloved cats tonight. Gadget & the big bunny were actually a few feet apart when I snapped the bunny. Good thing that Gadget only likes to "eat" baby bunnies. Tonight Kyle called her over to show him one she had in her mouth and she let it down to show him, and "yes" it ran away like crazy. Wouldn't you? Yay baby bunny! I hate it that she gets so many every year, but I'm sure seriously that my garden actually loves it! I guess maybe we should get more cats????? Because Gizmo is no killer and I really hate when the rabbits eat my stuff!!!!!!!! Although I really never will get used...

Here is some more proof that my SIL Sharon is an awesome photographer. On Easter we had her take some family pictures for us (as usual), and she did this collage of us Odneal's, and a great family picture she put together also. Oh, and she made a note pad out of the family picture photo, but I don't think that I can use the notepad. It is just too nice! I think I definitely owe my SIL once again for always being willing to take pics for us and doing an awesome job. You can all (yep all 4 of you here daily) contact her through my sidebar blog list digitalmom, and her photography website is also there-Romantic Images. She is great and always open for ideas and fun! Obviously if your aren't in the area she wouldn't do you much good! Everyone have a great weekend as usual. You know where we will be. And Kyle & Taylor are coming for the weekend since they can't come the 4th. They are coming to a "cocktail party" with us at a house right on the river (our g...

Here are Ashley & Tyler's Birthday cheesecakes that I made for each of them. I didn't get a picture of Ash with hers as I delivered it to her fridge since she gets home late from work and I wanted her to have a piece when she got there if she wanted. Tyler ended up going upstairs to bed on his birthday night without wanting a piece, so we did it on Tuesday night shortly after supper. It was yummy! I'm glad that my kids are out of wanting a frosted cake and all are very happy with a box cheesecake made by Mom. They taste great and are made with love, and hey I even put fresh strawberries on the top! And once again a heads up for people. Name brand box cheesecake almost $4, Aldi's cheesecakes $1.49, and they have the fresh strawberries there very reasonable. And you cannot tell the difference I swear. And my kids will too! Yep, I am a bargain seeker and finder. And not ashamed of it I must say! Oh, and Tyler ended up having a pretty good birthday for only being his 1...

Friday night we all went out for pizza in Lansing and it was excellent as usual. Here is a picture that I had the waitress take for me of all of us at the table. I have some other good ones of Louie being "funny", but I'll save those for maybe another post another day. Everyone have a good hump day !

Here are just some snapshots of last weekend out on the sandbar and on a houseboat ride. As you can see we had some serious ladder golf tournaments going on. Yep, it was couples and Bruce and I didn't get very far. But we all had a lot of fun and that is what it's all about, right? The having fun part never seems to be a problem with this group of people. We pretty much have it totally mastered!

Yep so my last baby boy turns "15" today 6/21/10. What an awesome kid he has been. I just wish he enjoyed spending more time with his folks at the river because we enjoy the crap out of him. As do our friends, but I understand that us "old" people aren't that much fun for young guys! But me and dad love you like crazy and I hope that you have a great day with me (Mom) and don't break my checkbook too bad. But hey, let's go out and have fun whatever the cost! That is what your Grandma & Grandpa Caley would have done if only they were still here and you could remember them. Let's just say that they are watching over you in everything that you do and are very proud just like all of us here! Love you my "BABY"!

Yep I am the bad mother in law. Knew it was her birthday and even asked Cole what kind of pie/cake to make Wednesday night. Well, then I got in river mode and totally forgot to wish my very favorite daughter in law "VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to you. We love you like you were our own that we never had, and I can't wait to spoil my grandchildren like totally crazy! And thank you so much for your kind words tonight about our "great family" that you really think is awesome. I am so glad that you feel that way. Yep, we all love each other unconditionally and I am so happy that you see the love in this family and know that we are ALWAYS a phone call/text away! We love you girl! And I am so glad that you found Cole! Let's get you guys to the river a little more frequent and I will show you how to totally have a great time with this family. Love You! And really am so sorry that I messed up on the date. But had a great time with you and Cole at our house. T...

Father's Day is here. Red roses grow in heaven, Lord pick a bunch for me, place them in my daddy's arm, and tell him they're from me. Tell him that I love & miss him, and when he turns to smile, place a kiss upon his cheek & hold him for awhile. Because remembering him is ... easy, I do it every day. There's an ache in my heart that will never go away. I miss and love you Dad. ♥ Happy Father's Day to the love of my life Bruce (you are the best father!), and to my father in law that I love like my own father, and to my own Daddy that I miss most every day of my life! I cannot believe I've been without my father for 11 years now. It is not fair for sure, but I thank the Lord everyday for my father in law and husband. They are both GREAT fathers!!!!! Love you guys! Hope you both have an enjoyable day with ME!!!!! Let's go fishing or something!!!!!!! Well of course if the forecast was wrong and it is sunny and warm instead of pouring rain, okay?

And hopefully the sun is shining wherever you are. This was my lame attempt last weekend of trying to take a photo myself by extending my arm out and snapping. We decided my arms definitely are NOT long enough. I think I will try to perfect this again this weekend. If nothing else I will drive my SIL Hildegard (aka Helen) crazy just trying. As long as I make her a bloody mary every morning she will forgive me. I promise!!!!!!! May wherever you are be just as sunny and happy as us houseboaters. Say a prayer for sunshine for all!!!!

So I took some pictures on our houseboat ride last weekend for my SIL Helen as she forgot her camera and wants a new picture to blow up and put on the wall of her houseboat. Well, I uploaded them and sent them to Louie and then deleted them off my card like always. The next day or two I received an email that he couldn't blow them up with what I sent and to not delete them off my card. Well, too late. Now we just have to take another ride to snap some more and I promise I won't delete them right away! Gosh, you know how Bruce and I just hate to have an excuse for a good long boat ride. Everyone have a great weekend!!!!

So here are just a few shots of what goes on when we all get there on Friday night at the marina. People gather and we have a few cocktails or sodas (whatever the preference) and we all mingle and have a great time. Why would anyone not want to be a part of this? Houseboating is the greatest. And we happen to have a great group of people on Dock #1 (well most of them!) Happy Thursday All! And I'm pretty sure Bruce isn't picking his nose in the one shot that I got. I've trained him way better than that. I never was very good at taking shots at the right time!!!

Everyone click on "Digital Mom" link on my sidebar so Sharon can win a contest. Because you all know Kyle's picture is the best! So if anyone that falls upon my blog (those very few that can link it like I couldn't!) please help out! Sharon is awesome and that picture of Kyle is one of my favorites EVER!!!!!!!!! Thank you all 3 that visit my blog daily!

Bruce caught some bluegills and perch off of the houseboat Sunday and he cleaned them with Kevin supervising. So he cooked them up tonight for supper while I grilled burgers and it was awesome. He said that he didn't get the fish done/crispy enough, but we all thought it was great and there wasn't any leftovers! I tried to call Cole to have him come eat with us also, but he didn't answer and therefore missed out big time! Everyone have a great Wednesday! I'm planning on helping Bruce catch some more of those this coming weekend so we can do this again very soon!

We do not take our cats to the houseboat with us on the weekends, but our neighbors and friends have animals that seem to like to visit us and hang out on our boat. Here is Penny the dog who lives beside our boat, and Tom the cat that lives directly across the dock from us. We love all the neighbors pets and don't mind at all that they are comfortable "visiting" us and hanging out. Bruce always says that we aren't dog people, but we sure seem to attract them to our boat. I'll take Phoebe, Bear, Duke, Lizzie, Ronnie, and Penny any time they want to visit. And the only one that isn't very friendly is Tom. He reminds us of our Gadget. Just look at me because I don't want to be petted !!!! And I say there are attitudes when the kids visit. I think the animals show their attitudes far more and get away with it easier!!

What?????? "I'm On A Boat"? This shirt completely fits my SIL Helen. And the fact that she actually posed for me with that shirt on????? PRICELESS !!!!! Enough said. And yes she is on MY BOAT !!!!! Have a great week everyone!

So we get home from the river tonight and these two just can't help themselves from wrestling around the living room and terrorizing each other. Man I love these boys, but they really need to quit throwing each other around because they are both now too strong and give Mom a little heart attack when they say they are "just messing around". Can't they find a better way to "play" without scaring ME?????? Everyone have a great Monday. And I can happily report that no ER visit was necessary after their romp in the living room!

My peonies only had three (3) flowers on it this year. What the heck? I am so depressed. I didn't take a picture until I went to throw them away off of the counter tonight. But they did smell awesome and I love when I walk into the house and smell flowers. MY FLOWERS! I think I need to plant more blooming perennials so that I can enjoy my own flowers in a vase all summer long. Think I'll have to talk to my gardener SIL Helen and figure all this out. Guess I know what we will be doing when it is pouring rain all weekend in Lansing! At least I know that we won't get bored. There are lots of flowers to be planned and then planted! And I happen to have an expert in the family. Lucky me!

So the first hummingbird picture of the year and Bruce captured it for me while I was busy inside. I just love hummingbirds and wish we could see more all the time! I wish they could figure out a feeder that doesn't allow the ants and other bugs inside it though. You can obviously see all the crap floating in my feeder. Oh well, as long as the beautiful little hummingbirds still love it I'm good with that. Everyone have a great Friday and weekend. I think we will even if it rains again all weekend long at the houseboat. At least we found out where we need to do some more caulking!!!!!!! Have a good one!

So Bruce picked up this mower from Mom & Dad O's this afternoon (Tuesday) to try and sell it for them since he found it for them to buy and apparently Jr. didn't like mowing with it so found himself a used John Deere instead. (breathe) Well during Bruce's road trip with the boys to Wally World, he of course picked up paint to spruce it up with. And he took some pictures of it to email to a guy at work that is interested in it. He said they didn't have to be blog worthy, but come on. Pretty much anything that goes on around here makes the blog. Especially if it doesn't happen at the river! So here are pictures of the Snapper lawn mower. And I will tell you that I found out tonight that Bruce can do awesome wheelies on pretty much anything, and Kyle......well, not so much!!! ***On another note look how close he parked my new bike to the wet paint! UGGHHHHH!!! And apparently it is okay to spray paint with my car in the garage! GGGRRRRRRR!!! And now we have a red ...

So Bruce decided to go along with the boys to Waverly tonight to get some stuff at Wally World, and when they got home he said they had something that I needed to help them unload. I knew something was up but I had no idea that it would be something cool for me. I figured they had something crazy or gross and wanted to freak me out. Well, to my pleasant surprise Bruce bought me a new bike. I love to go for a ride sometimes instead of walking and I wanted him to fix the old one and he hadn't. So what a sweet thing for him to do. I guess he gets some "atta boys" for a while. Never mind the fact that he told me the real reason he bought it for me was so that he didn't have to fix mine! Gee and I thought it was just because "he loves me, he really loves me"!!!!!!! Bruce snapped this one in the garage after I took my little tool around town (never mind all the crap in our garage). But Jillian was on so I only went for a few minutes. I'll make sure and get a ...

Bruce took these pictures this weekend when it was pouring rain outside because he said that everyone always asks what the inside of the boat is like. Well, if I was the one taking the photos it would be spotless and nothing sitting out, but since he took the shots I guess these look like the lived in look of when we are there for the weekend. I guess most people don't realize that it really is like a cabin or house, it just floats and is in a marina. So for anyone that didn't have a clue what the inside is like here is a look into our little weekend paradise!

Here are some pictures that I snapped of my outside flower pots around the house and shop. They aren't real full and colorful yet, but I just get a smile on my face every day when I get home from work and walk by them all. I just wish my garden looked as good. My poor tomato plants need some miracle gro I think! I will have to pick some of that up and use it not only in the garden, but for these lovely flowers also! Everyone have a great week!

This is a baby leatherback turtle that Bruce caught on the sandbar Saturday. Yes, more Memorial Day weekend pictures. But believe me I didn't take as many as normal as I was quite under the weather as they say all day Sunday. And it wasn't from alcohol for all of you thinking that! I have a nasty cold! Anyways, this little turtle was so cute. And Bruce does have big hands, but my gosh this thing was little. This weekend he and the kids caught all kinds of critters right on the beach. Crawdads, Willow Cat, Turtles, and Minnows. As far as fishing goes this past weekend, not so much! We had fish fly hatches on the river and the fish weren't biting much of what we had for them to eat on poles when they had all they wanted on top of the water. And oh my goodness the stench each morning when the dead fish flies were just piled up along the sandbar. Let's just say "yuck" and it totally is a smell you never forget!!!! But I guess when you spend your weekends on the...

My Jazzercise instructor/owner sent this to all of us that go to classes in Denver or CF/Wloo and asked that we pass it on. Thought I'd post it on the blog for anyone that has no clue when I talk about Jazzercise class what it actually is. And it is a cute video and for a good cause!

Friday night our houseboat was the only one that stayed overnight on the beach so we of course had a fire so that we could have s'mores with our Colorado family that were visiting for the holiday weekend, and just because of course we always have a bonfire when we stay out on the sandbar. When the moon started rising behind the trees and bluff it was just an awesome sight. I took many pictures to try to catch it before, during, and after all while the barge was coming up river. These are the ones that came out the best. It was a much more beautiful sight than my photography skills could capture, but I just had to share. We enjoy sights like these regularly when at the river. I guess that is why we look forward to summers so much and spending relaxing weekends on the sandbar with family and friends. Hope everyone had a very enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. And glad that we got to share campfires with our family members from Colorado that we do not see often enough. Emily & Vicent...