Thursday 26 April 2012

Has It Been A Week Already?

Oh my goodness! I know time flies quickly when you're having fun, but when you're at home while the rest of the gang is having fun, I wouldn't think that time would fly that fast. We stayed home, yet it did LOL!

Today is their last day at Disney. They fly into Toronto late tonight, stay over and drive home tomorrow.  I can hardly wait to see their happy little faces...and the big ones too....hehehe!

No doubt we'll be hearing stories for weeks, and I'm looking forward to every last one of them, for however long it takes for them to tell them :)

Twenty four hours and counting LOL!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Friday 20 April 2012

ROFLMAO......

Okay, so it will be a quiet week with the grandkids gone to Disney World, but I couldn't help but share this pictures of Sparkles and our Granddogs after playing in a spring snowfall we had all day long LOL!

I think the pictures speak for themselves....hehehe!  And yes, we've skyped a few times with the gang and all is going really well.  It was only 90 with the humidex at 9:00 this morning at Disney LOL!
 
Sparkles and her snow ball legs LOL!
 
Mylo, Sparkles' brother!
 
We can't forget little sister Ally....hehehe!
 
All in all it was a great Day One with the Granddogs.....even is grandma had to give them all a warm bath to quickly melt those "leg warmers" LOL!

Grandma loves you....the two legged and four legged Grands LOL!
xoxoxoxo

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Sniff....sniff....

Yes, the night before the gang leaves for Disney and grandma is sad.  We went over for supper and to give the GK's some money to buy something that 'they' want while there....hehehe!

I'm not sure if I'm sad mostly because my health won't allow me to go with them, or because I've always really wanted to go again after we had our 3 boys there in the 80's LOL! I think a bit of both, don't you?

I know they'll have a wonderful time and probably come home excited and exhausted :)  We'll see you next week guys, and get ready for a sleepover when you get home!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Sunday 15 April 2012

Sigh.....

We just had a great weekend with 3 of our wonderful grandkids.  I guess I shouldn't be 'sighing'....but I'm kind of sad...yes, even after spending all that time with them...playground time, exploring muddy trails that were full of wild raspberry bushes that picked every time we moved, hehehe, clearing out an area in the backyard between my huge bird brush piles so they could make a cabin, making tons of mud pies with water from the ponds, McD's for supper....all of it was wonderful!  But....and it's a BIG but...these grandkids, mom and dad are leaving for Disney World this coming week.....sigh.
 
Yummy! Food tastes so good when you're eating
outside, especially after a hard morning's work :)
  
Ahhhh....poor daddy worked so hard that he
needs a break too LOL!
     
What better way to celebrate a trip to Disney World
this week than to have Mickey Mouse pancakes!
Not bad if I do say so myself LOL!
  
Grandpa and I had always planned on going with them, but between this grandma's arthritis, fibromyalgia and need for rest every day, there's no way I could go along, and keep going every day for 8 days. The heat alone would be bad enough....my body does not do heat well.  But my arthritic feet are making it difficult to walk for very long, then there's that darn Fibro thing that exhausts me after what a normal person would call just a normal day :(

As I said.....sigh....so sad....sigh :(
 
Working hard on those mud pies!
Grandpa even had them digging in my hosta bed for earth!
  
The kids assured me they would Skype every morning to let us know what's going on, but we all know it's not the same thing as being there to hear the laughter, see the sparkle in their eyes and watch those special facial expressions as they see the wonderful world of Disney.
 
  
  
  
Grandpa and I took their daddy and two uncles to Disney World way back in the day....80's LOL!  In fact we've been spending some time the last few weeks going through the pictures we took of that experience.  Who would have thought that almost 30 years later, our oldest would be taking his own 3 children there?? Certainly not me....not in a million years.

Guess grandma will just have to suck it up and pull up her big girl panties....hehehe.....and be happy that we can enjoy the kids here as often as we like.

I'm sure they'll be full of stories and experiences they will happily be sharing with us when they return. And we can't forget all those pictures. Thank goodness for digital cameras LOL!

Safe travels everyone!  Say hi to Mickey and Minnie for me :)

Grandma Loves You
xoxoxoxo

Monday 9 April 2012

Happy Easter Monday....

Wow, what a busy weekend we had!  Not only was it the long Easter weekend, but our oldest son, Ryan, had his 37th birthday on Easter Saturday!  Can I possibly be old enough to have a 37 year old?  I guess I am LOL!  Thankfully, I don't feel old enough to have a 37 year old....hehehe!
 

We had such fun times with our 3 grandkids that live close to us.  Friday they all came over and we spent hours outside, working in the yard, playing hide n seek,going to the park after supper and most importantly, coloring eggs!!  I decided to give them their main Easter gift on Friday as Easter morning they would be so overwhelmed with all the goodies the Easter Bunny left at home and here, that their gifts would just add to the confusion LOL!
 
Yes, that's Ms. Hannah with her purse always close at hand LOL!
She's such a girlie girl/tom boy mix :)
 

Big sister Hailee is wondering why she can't hang
upside down by her knees without touching the ground
like she used too....hehehe!
  
Cade and grandpa cleaning up the yard!
Cade would stay outside 24/7 if he could LOL!
 
Yes, grandma managed to climb in and out of this "jeep"
without hurting herself LOL!
 
And the best way to color eggs....why with your
hands of course LOL!  Don't worry, it will come
off in the bath :)
      
Little Cade like golf...imagine, 3 1/2 years old and he likes golf already LOL....so we bought him a little golf set. Yes, an actualy golf set, with a golf bag that even has a stand on it. You should see the size of the driver!!  Of course his sisters couldn't resist so they spent some time digging up our dead lawn (we haven't had rain in weeks), trying to perfect their golf swings :)

Sad as it is these days, the name Bench in clothing seems to be the "in" thing, and our young GDs are not immune to the pressure at school to have all the name brands.  Mom has already bought them a few tshirts etc, so while Easter shopping a few weeks ago we came across the cuteset Bench jackets at a specialty clothing store for kids.  This grandma couldn't resist those darn jackets either....hehehe....so Hailee and Hannah each have a Bench jacket....different ones of course. So they're happy and grandma is happy LOL....and grandpa is happy too to see them happy, but he didn't see the bill for them...hehehe!
 

 
 
Saturday grandma and grandpa went over to the gk's house to celebrate daddy's birthday. We had a delicious supper and I made two loaves of bread in the bread machine to bring over. Ryan loves home made bread. My mom (Baba) used to bake bread, cinnamon buns, everything etc from scratch, so the boys developed a love for all things yeasty as they were growing up, and especially while she lived with us for 9 years after my dad passed away...hehehe!  She'd get up at 4:00 in the morning to make sure the buns were ready before the boys went to school :) Great memories.  Thankfully, Ryan doesn't mind bread machine bread, so was almost as happy with it as he used to be with Baba's bread :) He'd better enjoy it because it's the closet thing to scratch bread that he's going to see from me LOL!
 


Poor Hailee gave her slice of bread to grandpa and told him she didn't want to hurt grandma's feelings, but that she didn't really like the bread....hehehe! Too cute :) I only wish I didn't like it!

We weren't having a big Easter dinner celebration like we usually do, so I wasn't too worried about getting dinner ready on Sunday....which was nice for me as I was starting to feel very tired.  Ham, salmon, mashed potatoes with Boursin cheese (yummy), coleslaw and lots of veggies. NO homemade bread LOL!

When the kids arrived I had their Easter pails on the back steps so they could start hunting immediately after taking their shoes off....and it didn't take long for big sister Hailee to start finding candies in all the places the Easter Bunny always leaves them...hehehe! It didn't take long however for Hannah and Cade to get into the act :)

Once "most" of the candies were found it was time to decorate their Easter cake.  I say "most" because grandpa always holds some back and puts them out once the kids are gone so they can continue to find them for weeks and months afterwards.  He loves hearing their enjoyment when a few months after Easter, they come across a chocolate. They'll come running to me saying "grandma, grandma, the Easter bunny left another egg, look." :))  It's the little things that make life worth living :)

Everyone was stuffed after supper and cake. I packed up lots of food for our neighbor to take home and he left happy :)  He loves to eat and I know how difficult it would be for a widower in his 70's to make good meals for himself.  He loves coming here and says it's just like family :)

   
The kids and grandpa went outside for a bit but they didn't stay too long as it was cold....brrrrrr.  Mind you, this was still the nicest weather we've had for an Easter weekend in many years. So what if we needed winter jackets! LOL!

Mom wasn't planning on the kids staying long enough for baths, but thankfully she always comes prepared.  Pjs are always close at hand :)  Around 8:00 they all packed into the van to head home and our neighbor took his food and walked across the street, happy to know he doesn't have to worry about what he's going to eat today :)

This grandma is usually a night owl.  I may go to bed early but I lay there and watch tv.  Last night, I was exhausted and lights were out by 10:45 and I was out cold a few seconds later.  I hate to even say what time I crawled out of bed this morning....hehehe....but suffice it to say it was almost a 12 hour night!  Poor Sparkles was all tuckered out too and hadn't moved a inch all night. She is SO much like me and didn't get up until I did LOL!

Today is a nice quiet day. In fact I'm writing this in mid afternoon and still in my nightie.  Grandpa did a bunch more yard work earlier and my flower beds are starting to look clear.  All we need now is some much needed rain!

All in all, a great long weekend. Family, friends, good food...what more could we ask for :)

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Thursday 5 April 2012

Busy like a Bunny!

Easter Bunny that is LOL!  We've had a few very busy weeks with trips to Southern Ontario for conferences for hubby and visits with our two youngest sons and their wonderful families!
Baby Aislin is growing like a weed and almost 2 1/2 months old now. Before we know it, she'll be crawling LOL!  As I did for our own 3 sons, for the first year of our grandkids lives I bake a little cake to celebrate each month. Just because Keelan and Aislin live hours away, doesn't mean I can't bake a cake and send a pic to them, right? LOL!  And that's what I've been doing for Aislin. 

Their daddy wondered why he never gets to eat any of those cakes, so I said I'd bake one and bring it down with us...hehehe. He asked for Marble cake :)  As you can see, I made an Easter basket and added, what else but lots of candies.
Well when I carried it into the house I couldn't ask for anything better than the look on Keelan's face! He had a smile from ear to ear and ran to the dining table to pull out a chair. He could hardly wait to get at those candies....hehehe!  It was a very special time for grandma and grandpa as we weren't really part of his first couple years of life, so this is the first cake I made that he could enjoy. So as I said, VERY special :))

I'm sure in a couple years Aislin will know
what cake means too LOL!
 
 
Mmmmmmm.....yummy :)

  
Our oldest GD, who by the way just turned 16 a couple weeks ago, has her G1 and is driving now....everyone keep your kids inside LOL!  Last weekend when we stayed overnight on Saturday, Grandpa took her out driving twice.  Not sure who was more nervous....hehehe....and I was the one who taught our 3 sons to drive.  Grandpa seemed to be okay though and was trying to help Brittney not be so....um...what can we say....um....nervous?? LOL!
  
LOL....lock up your kids!!


Happy Sweet 16 Brittney!
Her favorites...Smarties and Kit Kat Bars LOL!
  
We ordered pizza for supper and sat outside by a nice fire in their backyard, trying to stay warm in the cold north wind....but it was sunny, and that's all that counts :) Having Smores made us get closer to the heat, so all was well.
 
There have been a few great sleepovers with the grandkids close by.....pancakes for breakfasts...swimming lessons, dance lessons, playing outside....just lots of fun and doing what grandma and grandpas are supposed to do....enjoy the wee ones!

Today mom and grandma decorated cupcakes for Easter to bring them to school for Hailee and Hannah's classes. We didn't get a chance to watch them enjoy the treats as they were all dressed to go out for lunch recess, but I'm sure they all disappeared LOL!

 
  
  
This long weekend is supposed to be wonderful, weatherwise, so grandpa and grandma are going to take advantage of the sunny, cool weather and do some yardwork.  Once it gets warm and humid outside, this grandma doesn't do much yardwork any more. Those days are long gone!

The gang is coming over tomorrow afternoon to decorate Easter eggs....another tradition that they never seem to forget....hehehe....and I've been told by Cade that he wants to color some his favorite color....ORANGE!

It's hard to believe but our oldest will be turning 37 on Saturday! Yes, I said 37!  Where has the time gone?  We don't feel any older....well let me rephrase that....our minds don't feel any older, our bodies, that's another story LOL!

We still live in the same house that we bought a year after we got married. The bedroom our 37 year old had as a baby, toddler, teenager, adult, is now a sleepover bedroom for his own 3 children....and let's not forget all the toys, games, stuffed animals that have taken over the room :))

Yes, where has the time gone?  We're so lucky to be able to share in our adult children, DIL's and grandchildren's lives. With so many people moving all over the world for work, opportunities etc, we are VERY fortunate to be so close to our son's and their families.

Life doesn't get any better, and it's wonderful going into this Easter weekend, knowing what really counts and so grateful we have it :)

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo