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

 So Saturday I had the joy of going with Miss Ava and her Momma out to lunch and then to Sharon's for her nine month pictures.  Let me just say that she was an angel at the restaurant and smiles at everybody that walks by!  She also did pretty good taking her pictures even though she was tired.  I haven't seen them all yet but the ones I did see are awesome.  This is a photo I snapped during the photo shoot.  It is just so cute and she is laughing and looks like she is driving somewhere.  Enjoy your babies and your grandbabies everyone because they grow up so fast.  Cannot believe she will be one year already in a few months.  Have a great week!

So here is Ava's new "ride" as I call it.  Ashley got it for a shower gift and they don't have bikes yet, so Sunday morning Uncle Kyle put it together and he and Grandpa attached it to my bike.  She wasn't feeling good and had a fever Sunday afternoon so we didn't get to try it out yet.  But we will hopefully this weekend.  And Kyle came in and told me they hooked it up so that if I wipe out or fall over Ava's "ride" will stay upright.  Thanks for the confidence guys!  I am pretty coordinated and don't plan on getting piled up before taking her on a ride or anything.  But I guess it is nice to know that ANYONE can take her for a ride and not make her fall over.  Right Bruce?  Everyone have a great Friday and weekend!  

The daffodils are blooming like crazy and yes it is only March.  Not sure what that means for my hostas, lilac bushes, rose bush, etc., but I'll take it.  We have never had our whole yard raked and cleaned up this early.  And it is.  Loving this early Iowa spring.  And the rain we got tonight was much needed even though our sump pump is now running overtime.  I guess that is better than not running.  Hoping that our houseboat is safe tonight as they had some severe weather with straight line winds that direction tonight.  I'm hoping we would have gotten a call by now if it was bad in Lansing.  Everyone have a great day.  And "happy spring" to all!  Bring on house boating season.  We are ready!  

 Not much to say other than love you to the moon and back.  Hope you have a very happy birthday and get to do something you enjoy!  These are the most recent photos that I could come across without digging too far.  One is from Thanksgiving at my house, and the other is you being your usual "chef" tending to dinner for our Odneal Christmas dinner.  Which was awesome by the way.  And bro you are awesome to me.  I hope you know how much I love you and would and will do anything that I can for you!  That is what family is all about.  And I mean it when I say you and Sharon need to come visit us more often at the houseboat this summer.  We would love it!  Have a great birthday brother Bart.  Love you!

 Believe it or not my SIL Sharon, these photos are the ones we took together last Sunday and they are SOTC (straight outta the camera) which is unbelievable since I was asking what setting I should use and I think the first and prettiest picture on the left is the ISO setting that I have no clue about.  But boy is it sure pretty.  Anyway these are shots of the crocus in my yard.  And yes now my daffodils are not only up but some are blooming.  It is too EARLY but I have to love it.  The last three days I have spent on the yard and raking, cleaning the garage and B's shop, etc.  I am ready for spring and summer but we never really had a winter and that means that the bugs will be horrible this year since we really never had any HARD freezes.  I don't like or do well with bug bites.  Could be an interesting summer.  On a happy note Ty went to get his tux for prom tonight and with his discount coupon and his good sense he got one for $70....

 Look at you the construction working CDL man having fun at your latest profession.  I snapped this picture one night you were over right after work.  I am very proud of the man that you have become (even though we all know that we all have stupid moments now and again-it happens), and so very happy that you have made a wonderful life for your beautiful wife and our awesome granddaughter.  We are so delighted as you know to have her around.  And thank you for trusting Dad & I to be the first to get to keep her overnight.  You don't even know what that meant to us.  Now I know that she can come to the river and stay on our houseboat with us any weekend!  Next time she gets to sleep with Grandpa though and not me.  She is not a fun bed partner!  Anyway love you to the moon as always, and continue to make good decisions for you and your family and you will always do great.  I hope that you have a great birt...

Let this happy photo collage of Miss Ava with her tutu make your Wednesday happy face. Her crafty/talented Momma made it for her after checking out the prices on Etsy and other sites. It only cost her about 4 dollars I think to make and online they are asking around $40. I'd say it makes a lot of sense to make your own! Ava is on the move now all the time so when we have her this weekend overnight we will definitely have to be on our toes. I never "baby proofed" our house for our own kids and now I find myself with a list of "Ava Proofing" things to get before the weekend. I guess we feel we need to be more careful for our grandbaby than we did for our own kids. You know what? I probably just need to relax because our own kids survived and we keep a much closer eye on Ava than we EVER did our own kids. Sad to say but very true! Everyone have a happy hump day. My eyes will be buried in numbers and spreadsheets and I am NOT looking forward to it. Oh well at least ...

So here is our friendly neighborhood squirrel having a bite to eat today. I could watch the squirrels and birds all day long I think. Yep easily amused for sure. But the feeders happen to be right outside my kitchen window where I am at ALL THE TIME so how can I not be entertained watching them? Anyways we had a great weekend and a fun night last night venturing out for dinner. We both figured out why we tend to prefer to stay home on the weekends as neither one of us felt very good today. There is a reason that I should only have cocktails at home! But the legion in G'ville looks great and Bruce did an excellent job on the countertops. The dinner was for all that helped with the renovation and remodel. Food was okay (the steaks were WAY overdone) and had a great time talking to friends both old and new. This chick feels like I gained a hundred pounds this weekend even though I know that cannot be even possible. Maybe that is because of the scotcharoos that I made this afternoon an...

I think we have ourselves a future little cheerleader. Her Uncle Josh got Ava this cute cheer outfit with leggings. Her and her Momma came over last Sunday by stroller. We loved seeing her as always. And boy is she getting around good. But she doesn't want to go too far yet. Soon I will turn around and she will be nowhere in sight I am sure. I've figured out that there is nothing like the feeling of being a parent but being a grandparent is right up there with it. She is a very special and loved little girl. And not spoiled at all I'm sure you can gather since this should now be called "the Ava blog" according to someone! More snow for us tomorrow but the forecast started out saying 8 inches and now I think it is down to under 2 for our area. I swear the grass is turning green already from all of this mild weather we have had. I'm certainly not complaining one bit. Now that March is here I'm getting anxious for houseboating season. It will be here very so...