Dear Maria, We have a baby on our farm, too. He is a little calf named Prince Philip. We looked out the window and saw him lying in our mountain of mulch we will put in our garden. The electric company has been here cutting away trees that have grown too close to the lines. When they do that they grind it all into mulch. So they dumped it into the garden. It is kind of a big pile. Prince Philip likes to get on top of the pile and take a rest. Isn't he cute?

Labor Day Celebration 2010

Dear Maria,

This is our shrimp boil for Labor Day. It was really yummy!!!

Love ya, Grandma

Petpaloosa

Hi Maria,

Cassie and Grandma volunteer with a group called CERT. Yesterday we went to a pet fair called Petpaloosa. We were passing out emergency information to everyone. We got some great pictures of dogs and met a really nice little girl wearing glitter pink cowgirl boots. I sure wish I could find a pair for you. You would love them. The fluffy poodle got its new look from a groomer. I think it looks like a bee. The huge dog wearing all the patches is a greeter for troops coming home from foreign service. He wears patches for every soldier he met at DFW airport. Quite impressive!!!

Morning on Grandma's Farm

Look at the mess the cows made in Grandma's garden. We took the fence away so they could find something to eat when we were having a drought. They knocked over our chairs and had a good old time. Now weren't those some naughty cows. Evenone knows you have to pick up what you knock over. Right Maria?

This is a story for you Maria. It is called Morning on Grandma's Farm.

Morning on Grandma's Farm

The rooster crows Cock-a-doodle-doo! It is time to get up. It is morning on Grandma's farm.

Grandma throws the covers back and gets out of bed. It is still dark outside.

She combs her hair. She puts on her overalls, and pulls on her boots.

It is chore time on the farm. The door creaks as Grandma goes outside, and all the animals know it is feeding time on Grandma's farm.

The donkeys are waiting. Moaning Myrtle and Baby start braying. Hurry up Grandma!

The cows are waiting. Fiona and Sir Poopsalot start mooing. Hurry up Grandma!

The horses are waiting. Thunder Hooves tosses his head and whineys. Hurry up Grandma!

The chickens are waiting. Cluck, cluck, cluck. Hurry up Grandma!

Grandma gets busy feeding all the animals and finally everyone is happy.

There is only the sound of animals eating.

Now, it is time to go inside and feed Grandma!

I hope you like my story Maria. I love you so, so, so much.

Dear Maria (Note #5)

Tomorrow is September 10th. You were born on May 10th. That means you are 4 months old. I can't believe it. It just seems that you were born yesterday. You are going to do so many things in the next little while like start eating rice cereal and other baby food. Please remind your mommy and daddy to keep that camera going because Grandma doesn't want to miss out on all of the cute stuff you do. I will be thinking about you on this important day. Be sweet. Love you, Grandma

Dear Maria (Note #4)

I have a special garden right next to the house. It is a place where magic happens. One of the critters that lives there is my red hat gnome. He is gathering mushrooms. When you come to my house, I know you two will have fun looking at him. Here is his picture. I miss you. Love, Grandma

Dear Maria, (Note#3)

I want to tell you what a brave person your Aunt Cassie is. You two have not met yet, but I know you will like each other when you do. This is the story of Cassie and the snake. I was baby sitting you one day at your house, and Cassie was home taking care of the cows and horses. She opened the door to go outside. Suddenly she noticed a snake between the screen door and the back door. It was starting to come inside the house. She slammed the door shut, but too late. The snake was half in and half out. Her cat came to her rescue, but she was afraid he might get hurt. She had to think quickly. She ran to the fireplace and pulled the shovel out of the fireplace tools. She tried to do battle with it using the shovel, but it was too flimsy. Then she tried to find something else. On the shelf, she saw my tulip bulb tool. Again, they did battle. Mighty Cassie finally won. She placed a feed bucket over the snake and weighted it down. Don't you think she was brave? I do. She saved the cat and the house from the snake. I miss you. Love, Grandma

Dear Maria, (Note #2)

Your Aunt Cassie and I love Harry Potter. We've read all of the books. We've seen all of the movies. And we want to go the the new theme park in Florida as soon as we can. So, as I was using the internet to find stuff, I ran into a recipe for butterbeer--the kind they have at the new theme park. Cassie and I wanted to try it out, and we did. It was yummy. I took Cassie's picture so you could see how much fun we had. I think we will try the recipe for pumpkin juice next. I miss you. Love, Grandma

Dear Maria (Note#1)

Two dragon flies flew into my car while I was closing the gate today. They couldn't get out because all of the other doors and windows were closed. They bzzzzzzed angrily because they didn't know why they couldn't get out. So, I walked around opening all of the doors until they found the way out. I thought about you and the way you like it when your daddy plays with the bumble bee toy. They sounded just like that. I miss you. Love, Grandma