Silencing the Yappers!

Seriously . . . I'm beginning to think eviction is definitely in our future. We are running out of excuses to give the neighbors for the behavior of our less than docile grandchildren. Can you be evicted for that? God, I hope not. . .

There have been no recent posts, so too much has happened to catch everyone up to speed in one post but the short, short story is that we are currently raising four grandchildren and a pre-teen son of our own with yet another grandson who has a semi-permanent residence here. Thankfully, I now hold two jobs which keeps us all out of the house during weekdays but the early evenings and weekends are absolute hell on our neighbors. If there isn't a petition to rid the neighborhood of the Sutton Family Mini-destructo Team, honestly, there should be.

Recent incidents have inspired me to take to the keyboard and let everyone know that 'stuff' is STILL happening here at the Sutton household. I know I must keep it condensed to just a few of their antics because you are busy people and the idea is to entertain you - not send you over the edge. Okay, you're right . . . it is my therapy. These posts are for me, an attempt to maintain my sanity more than anything else, they aren't really about you at all. Still, I hope they might be used as a tool to help you to remember - there is always someone who has it worse than you do!

I think I've posted before about the lil' yappers that live at the house behind ours. Never mind that there is a six foot privacy fence between the houses. Their dogs still yap at everything and our grandsons are on a mission to silence them. No matter how many corner standings it may take.

The dogs survived their recent shovel attack. No, we don't leave shovels lying around with these two on the loose but Pops' truck is full of a variety of weapons. I noticed yesterday that a six foot ladder lying low in the bed of the truck was somehow removed by the dynamic duo and so I've come to realize the shovel used in the recent yapper dog attack must have been easily removed. And I digress . . .

These boys are so intent on silencing these little dogs' yapping that they will use any means necessary and suffer any consequence. Just a couple of days ago they took the mop from the kitchen and quickly found their way to the side fence (which is a four foot chain-link) and harpooned it toward the little guys. Our neighbor must be getting wise to them because this time, she kept the mop. They were furious!

Yep! You guessed it. They tattled on the neighbor lady.

"Pops! Pops! They neighbor lady kept Ninny's mop!" they cried. "Why was the mop outside boys?" "Because we threw it at the dogs, Pops." "Why did you throw it at the dogs?" "Because they wouldn't shut up!" "Get in the corner, right now! And later, we're going to apologize and get the mop back!"

The corner it was and sure enough, after they apologized, she gave the mop back. Still, they didn't seem very upset about the whole ordeal. I think the corner time was worth it to them because at least the neighbor lady got into trouble and had to give the mop back. I might find all of this a bit more entertaining myself but I just recently learned that the neighbor lady - is an aunt to one of my bosses! Can you imagine the conversation in their house during the holidays! Oh, to be a fly on the wall! Or maybe not . . . ;)

I Love Me Some "Beesball!"

In the Sutton household, there is baseball. We are baseball fans. Not the kind who paint our faces, slosh beer on people in the stadium and fight strangers if they disagree, but we do enjoy the game. Specifically, we are St. Louis Cardinals fans. We start early with the little ones and we train them up in the way they should go -baseball - so when they're old, like us they won't depart from it. . . . Okay. . .okay . . keep reading. I know that doesn't pertain to baseball, just kidding but truly we do love the game.

Confession? I think I love it more than the rest of the family. Maybe Scott simply tolerates it the way he tolerates all my other quirks but he seems to enjoy it as well. If he didn't, he'd be a baseball widower for sure! Sorry Honey! Daughter Ashley gets it from her momma. We love Albert Pujols (we really do!) and well, I have a secret baseball crush on Yadier Molina. I know, I know - first of all, I'm married to the best husband a woman can have and secondly . . whose fav player is a catcher anyway? Hmm? Told you I was a bit quirky but it's the truth! The man of the hour as far as I'm concerned doesn't have to be the best hitter with the highest averages. He doesn't have to knock out lights or run like lightening. He simply has to be good at what he does, solid, consistent, with good follow through and be there when it counts. Isn't that what every woman wants? Isn't that what Yadi delivers? Of course it is . . .thus, my fav player is the catcher . . 'nuff said.

So, last night, the All-stars game was played at St. Louis. Won't happen again probably as long as I'm alive, so it was an exciting time at our house. Nope, we didn't fight the hours of traffic and the tight security, shoulder to shoulder with thousands of people and paying way too much for tickets. We opted for the family pile in the family room, stuffing our faces with fast food and yelling so loud the neighbors probably thought we were fighting - but we didn't care. We had a good time. No, National League didn't win. AL got it again, but just barely . . .and I do mean barely. That's okay - get'em next year. Great players on either side, no bottom of the batting order on either side, huh? No poor outfielders or slackers far as I could see. . . and I know, we really needed that HR but you have to give credit where credit is due . . . Good Catch Crawford! I'm mean really . . . good catch (too bad it wasn't for the other side).

Anyway, as I said, watching the game is family fun and a family pile. Kids everywhere with adults under them. Sometimes you wonder whether they are paying attention at all (the kids I mean) but I must say, Brody has come to love "Beesball" about as much as his Ninny. If you can't find us, we're off in the bedroom, faces glued to whoever is playing at the moment. Though he is fairly consistent about watching and has quite a wind up with the remote (Oh, God, please don't let him throw it at the television!) I've never really thought he gave that much attention to who was playing. After all, he's only two and a half.

We always talk about the players, their hits, misses and home runs and of course our fav names pop up at least once every five minutes. So, last night as we were watching, I was doing my usual, attempting to get the babies to chant Yadi's name over and over when Brody who is leaned back on his haunches give me his famous all-teeth, cheesy grin and says "No, Ninny . . . Abut Peehoes!" Well, there ya have it! We all agree on baseball, our fav team and even what to eat while watching but as far as fav players . . . well, even the pint-sized fans have their own opinions! I'm jus' sayin' . . .

No Nap For Ninny!

So, today was nice. We had a family BBQ. We do that alot. Scott has a Traeger grill and looks for any excuse to fire her up. The occasion? It was for my baby brother. Some of you Jed, my "baby" brother who happens to be nearly 30 and 6 1/12 feet tall, but my baby brother nonetheless.

The day began rainy so we decided to move everything inside at our house. The food was yummy, the conversation was great and it was nice to have everyone together, though in a really close, careful not to eat too much or we won't be able to slide past each other sort of way. I don't live in the biggest, fanciest house in town. Yeah, I know, that surprises you all but really, it's the truth. We had nearly 35 people and on short notice seating for about 10. And did I mention, I didn't clean the house? Oops!

Oh, well, I think we did fine. It was, as I said, a good time. Still, as with any function where the main goal is to stuff your face as full as you can as fast as you can, when it's over, well, that's good too. Time for a nap. Curl up next to the hubby 'cause we're old like that. That's what we old folks do right? Or not . . .

Oh, no . . the grandkids came today. Well, Josh and Miley I mean. The others were already here. Josh and Mimi haven't been here for a few days though. They kind of wander in and out at will. You know, when they get tired of mom and dad or mom and dad get tired of them - they come to Ninny and Pops. They actually live about twenty miles away and were coming for the cookout today but guess what - come time to go home, I drive twenty miles to drop them off and they're not staying. "I no go home Ninny, I stay wi-choo! I go see Pops! I go to you house." Nearly fifteen minutes of persuasion didn't change his mind. He had decided. He was going home with Ninny.

Was I surprised? Of course not. Were you? Of course not. Not if you are one who has seen a grandchild at work. Something about the mop-headed, grimy-faced little curtain climbers that you simply cannot say no to. I knew it was going down that way. I planned to put up a good fight. I had a good argument. Am I a bad Ninny? No, it's just that tomorrow is Sunday, I'm married to the pastor, I need to be in service not manning the Nursery which seems to be where I log most of my church hours these days. No, I cannot take the children tonight. They need to go home tonight. I'll get them Monday. Monday is good right? Not much goes on on Mondays - good day for grandkids to come and stay.

Okay, whatever, not happening. Why do I try? So, as I write . . .

They are running crazy around the house. They want pizza, they want wah-wah, they want left over cheesecake! Now that should settle them down just fine, don't you think? They have taken turns trying to poke each other's eyes out and Miley, the pint-sized girlie, girl of the bunch is in most instances, the aggressor! They are fighting over the remote and turning over the kitchen chair and yes, peeing in my floor! What is it about this potty-training thing? Do I need to get puppy pads or WHAT! I swear I'm gonna super-glue those diapers on if they don't stop that! Or would it be better just to chain them in the back yard? I don't know, I'll have to ask the grandparenting experts about that one . . . .

Anyway . . at the end of the day, those babies really do bring us joy and we really are pleased to have them here - even when it means missing a much coveted ate too much this afternoon nap. As much as we all sometimes annoy each other we really are a happy little group. At the end of the day, like a pile of puppies we curl up on the couch, in the chair or wherever. Though I really did want that nap this afternoon, I guess I'll have plenty of time for sleeping when they're grown. Right now, I think I'll join the puppy pile in the pic above . . . I'm jus' sayin' . . .