Three Busy Days....

Another whirlwind weekend just flew by and we're sitting here wondering how did we squeeze it all into 3 days LOL!

It all started last Wednesday night (27th) when I took the cakes I baked for Hailee, Hannah and Cade out of the freezer to start decorating. Our DIL and I were going to bring them to school on Thursday morning for the kid's classes to enjoy. I guess I don't have to explain that the cakes were decorated for Easter seeing as this was Easter weekend....but I'll mention it anyway LOL...the theme was Easter!

See....Easter theme LOL!

Cade's first year of school has been a tough one for him and for the first few months he would cry whenever he saw mom, dad, grandparents etc at school.  We weren't quite sure how he would react when we walked in with the cake for his class, but he did very well.  His little mouth was in a kind of forced "smile" and his eyes looked like they were going to over flow at any minute, but he held strong and not a tear was shed :) What a big boy!!

Once the cakes were delivered my DIL and I headed to town...to shop...on Holy Thursday....one of the busiest days of the year for shopping, and there we were doing our best to battle the crowds. Must admit, we did a great job LOL!

Good Friday our DIL's dad was making a fish fry so they invited us over. Our son/DIL had another couple coming over also with their daughter who is Hailee's friend, so it was a fun crowd. I know how much our DIL's dad loves home made rice pudding so I made a double batch and brought it over. I couldn't find my regular recipe and tried a new one, which I wasn't really happy with, but everyone seemed to love it and there wasn't much left for the poor man LOL! After a rousing game of road hockey...oh the memories....it was time to eat, and eat we did. Wow, it was sooooo delicious, and I even got the leftover fish to take home! I eat it like candy, it's that good :)
  

 

 

On Saturday there was a bridal shower for our niece who is getting married at the end of May. The turn out was great and she received beautiful presents....the kind of presents that cost more than wedding presents did way back in my day LOL!
 

Grandpa and grandma :)



Yesterday, Easter Sunday, I woke up early and started cooking...ham, turkey, scalloped potatoes, veggies....I wanted to get as much done ahead of time as I could.

Unfortunately, poor little Cade was not to have a good Easter day :(  He ended up being SO sick that he needed two baths here and mom had to go home to pick up more clothes for him. Poor little guy couldn't even eat. Between all of us we took turns trying to make him feel better and grandpa had a little snooze with him.
  

Hannh wasn't too happy that big sister Hailee

was "squeezing" her right shoulder LOL!

  

He had said earlier in the day that he wanted to have a sleepover last night, but as it turned out only the girls were able to stay.  Another day Cade, another day.  This morning he was quite hot and refusing to drink anything so our son stopped to pick up pedialyte for him before picking up the girls, in the hope that Cade may take a few sips before he gets dehydrated. I just spoke with mom and she said he's sleeping and still hot. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for him.
  
Our widowed neighbor came over for dinner yesterday....we try to invite him over for most holidays as he's alone...and I sent him home with tons of leftovers. He shouldn't have to cook for a few days LOL!
  
Today was supposed to be a day of rest, however I got the itch to start cleaning the kid's room here. They have toys coming out of their ears and it was geting out of hand.  We have three huge dressers to keep their toys in and 3 big drawers in each dresser, so grandma went through it all...organized each drawer so like is with like, and tossed a big trash bag full of 'stuff' LOL! They should have more room to move around in there now.  Tomorrow I'll tackle the bunk beds and store heavy blankets etc away until they are needed.
  
So to say our long Easter weekend was busy, is an understatement! But would grandpa and I have it any other way? Most definitely not!
  
Until next time!
Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Christmas in March LOL.....

As stated in my earlier post, things are not going well for our youngest son Marty and his wife. As the pretence of their relationship has finally come to an end, we were able to visit him and have Christmas in March with our two youngest grandkids. And what fun we had!

Keelan could hardly wait to see the presents carried into the house and immediately wanted to know which ones were his, and if he could help baby sister Aislin open hers....hehehe!
  

  
As it was close to Easter, grandma also made a cake for daddy and the kids....and it didn't take daddy long to get into it LOL! Keelan and I had a great time playing and chasing....I should clarify that, grandma was doing the chasing....hehehe! I guess I don't have to tell everyone how well I slept that night LOL!
  

  
Grandpa had a conference in Toronto the next morning, so we weren't able to stay with them that night, but we told them we'd be back in a couple weeks and spend a couple nights.  We asked Keelan what his favorite restaurant was and that's where we went for supper....and we couldn't forget going to the Mall to pick up a couple more games for the Leap Pad II that we bought him for Christmas. Isn't it amazing how quickly children these days pick up technology! It's like they're born with the knowledge LOL!
    

 

   
Daddy, Keelan and grandma went shopping for a crock pot for daddy so he could prepare good meals without taking up hours in the kitchen, so grandpa and Aislin went mall walking....and the only stores she wanted to go into were the jewellry stores LOL! At 14 months of age, she sure knows which stores she wants to hang out in...hehehe!

All too soon it was time for grandpa and grandma to leave for the hour drive back to Toronto.  Seeing as we were there for 3 days, we had hoped that daddy and the kids would come to the condo hotel grandpa and I were staying in to enjoy the pool on Friday afternoon...and they did! Poor grandpa didn't make it back in time from his meetings to swim or visit with everyone, but grandma did and I enjoyed it completely :) There was no one else in the pool so it was like having our own private pool and hot tub! What fun!!
  

   

When we got back to our room and took the kid's swim suits off them, both kids went running across the living room to the ceiling to floor windows to check out the machines....bare naked LOL!  Aislin was doing just fine, the sat on the floor and a couple minutes later she started to cry.  I went over just as she was getting up and walking towards me when I noticed shiny, wet little footprints following her....hehehe! She had peed while she was sitting on the floor, with her cute little bare bottom LOL! I have a feeling that will be remembered and recalled to her in a few years :)
 
Keelan enjoyed looking out our 28th floor window at the building across the street that was getting taken down. He LOVES construction machines and the big crane they had set up to remove large pieces of concrete was a big hit with him :)  Such a big hit in fact that while we were at the Food Court having lunch, he said he didn't want to go home but wanted to go up to our room again....hehehe! We're sure there will be many more visits and lots of time to spend together from now on Keelan, so don't worry!

   
Until our next visit.....
Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Catching up.....

Oh goodness, grandma has been waaaaaay behind the times. It's been such a busy few weeks that I haven't taken time to sit and put my thoughts down.

Grandpa and grandma have been busy with going to Toronto for conferences, visiting our middle son with the whole gang and back to Toronto again LOL!

Sadly our youngest son and his wife have decided to finally call it quits....long story, but good news for us as we have him back in our family circle once again. It's been a very long 10 years, but we now have two young grandchildren to get to know and that we can enjoy with the rest of the family.

Soooooo it was indeed a very special occasion when we went to our middle son's home...everyone was there (well, except for his wife who was away for the week), but perhaps next time we will all be together. The perfect time for a long over due family picture!
     

   
Snow tubing, playing games, getting to know cousins, great food, hot tubs, LOTS of laughs...a grandma and grandpa couldn't ask for more, and we look forward to our next get together.

I must say, both grandpa and I had seriously thought we would take at least one ride down the snow tubing hills....but after pulling into the parking lot at the ski hill and watching how FAST people were flying down that tubing hill, we both changed our minds. I am not a fan of rides to begin with, and fast rides are beyond the bottom of my bucket list of things to do LOL!
     

  
Everyone else just loved it though, and had a blast.  Poor Hannah went down once and wasn't feeling well....bad cough/fever....so she hung around with our youngest granddaughter Aislin, grandpa and I and the two of them enjoyed being pulled around in the tube by grandpa, and enjoyed the chalet because that's where the food was LOL!
        

 

       
The day after snow tubing was fun too as we drove our oldest son and DIL to Toronto as they were flying out to Cuba early the next morning.  So Uncle Warren drove all of us to their hotel where we enjoyed a couple hours in the pool and a delicious buffet dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant :) How many 4 year olds do you know that will eat a plate full of broccoli at a buffet? LOL!

We weren't quite sure how Cade was going to react to leaving mom and dad at the hotel, but we had him in stitches all the way back to Uncle Warren's place and had no problems with him.  We enjoyed the hot tub that night, and the girls actually had goggles on and were swimming in the hot tub LOL!  Cade even surprised us by going under the water! Something he has never wanted to do, but for some reason felt the hot tub was the place to do it....hehehe!  Led on by all our cheers and clapping hands, he kept going further and further under, and without holding his nose!  What a great time we had! He was so proud of himself and so were we :)
     

  
It didn't take long for all of us to fall asleep that night, and we knew the next day would be even busier!  Uncle Warren drove us by the school where he teaches, then we went to the fire hall where he is a volunteer firefighter. The kids enjoyed a very personalized tour and surprisingly, were very interested in things and asking questions. What surprised grandma the most was just how heavy all that firefighters equipment is! Wow....you really need to be in shape to fight fires with all that stuff on!
   

   

For some reason Hailee was nervous and was positive the big fire trucks were going to tip over :)  It took some convincing to get her inside with all of us together, and when she had enough, she wanted out LOL!

Then an experience for Uncle Warren that he hadn't had before.....Glow in the Dark mini golf....hehehe!  As much fun as it was for the kids, I doubt Uncle Warren will be going back any time soon LOL!  Eighteen holes of chasing balls, telling the kids to not swing until everyone is out of club distance, suggesting they don't swing 'so' hard as the ball would hit the edges of the greens and take off to unknown distances in the dark LOL! Definitely a fun experience, right Uncle Warren?? :) :)
    

   
As we were driving to Mini Golf we passed a huge tropical fish store and said we'd stop after we were done Golfing, and that's what we did!  Wow, talk about interesting fish and they even had sharks in a huge aquarium!  Beautiful creatures when you see them up close and personal.

Cade was taken with the big turtles they had in a pond, and I must admit, so was I.  I had a turtle for 13 years quite a few years ago, and would love to have another but we're just too busy and away too often to have a big aquarium to look after.

It took a while for us to decide where we would go to eat, and it was finally decided that we would go back to our favorite Chinese buffet. Hailee loves that place....well maybe I should say Hailee loves looking at the dessert table at the Chinese buffet LOL!

Before we knew it our few days away with the kids was over and it was time to head home.  Lots of great memories to take with us though :) Until our next trip!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

The Actual Big Day :)

So Sunday was Hannah's actual birthday and the festivites were to begin at 3:00 and end at 6:00.  Hannah wanted grandpa and I to come over early, so that's what we did. We got there around 1:00 after stopping at the dollar store for a gift bag to wrap up the collage blanket we ordered for her. The blanket is a 'story' of sorts with old pictures of mom and dad as they were growing up, right up to their wedding picture and a picture of all 4 grandparents on her 1st birthday :)
  

    
Grandma had forgotten the amount of energy and noise that 10 little girls, plus a younger brother and a couple cousins thrown in for good measure, could make LOL!  The time did go back quickly though between painting little clay pots, melting chocolate, rolling cake pops in the various colors and letting the kids put sprinkles on the chocolate covered cake pops. We had an assembly line formed and it went very well.  Before the girls were leaving to go home we wrapped each clay pot in clear cellophane so they could take it home as a little sovernir :)

  

Then it was time for pizza, ice cream cake, juice, jello and we can't forget gift opening!!
  

Oh what a fun afternoon it was. It did feel kind of strange however that grandma didn't work all morning decorating a huge birthday cake for Hannah. On the other hand though it was actually good that I didn't have too as our side streets were VERY bumpy with the packed/slushy snow. Any cake wouldn't have survived the drive over LOL!

Grandma loves you and is still trying to recuperate from the weekend LOL!
xoxoxoxo

Another year Older!

Wow, I can't believe that our little Hannah had her 7th birthday this past Sunday....and I can't believe that I've been so busy all week that I haven't been able to write about it LOL!

Yes, little Hannah is growing like a weed...but a very beautiful weed :)  Grandpa and I took her out shopping for gifts last Friday night. I never knew a 7 year old could spend so much time in a shoe store, looking at shoes. She must have tried everything on that even slightly resembled what she was looking for....hehehe!

Finally after a half hour she had decided on white highheel sandals :)  As grandpa was paying for them I spotted some cute purses by the check out counter. Hannah spotted me looking at them and just fell in love with a little tan colored purse.  You have to understand that Hannah has a 'thing' for money...and purses....and a thing for not spending her own money, but rather saving it in wallets and purses LOL!  So just as grandpa was grabbing her bagged new high heels, we went over with the purse...which didn't need to be bagged but instead grandma adjusted the long shoulder strap so she could wear it right there and then.

Was that it you may ask? Hardly LOL!  Turning right at the entrance to the shoe store we ventured further down the hallway and stopped at Justice.  Justice is in my day we would call a "hippy" clothing store....hehehe....very popular with young girls today and selling only very vibrant colored and sparkly clothing, accessores, shoes...you name it, they have it to attract the youngsters.
 

Modeling her new purchases.

Notice those high heels  :)



It didn't take her long to decide on which outfit she wanted and as she was trying it on in the change room, she said she would like one more thing....LOL....not clothes grandma, but one more thing. With so many 'things' to look at we thought we would be there for another hour before she decided.  Finally after touching, picking up, inspecting things that caught her pretty brown eyes, those pretty brown eyes looked up and there on some shelves were pillow letters! Yup, fuzzy pink fake fur in the shape of the alphabet! We asked the sales clerk to find an H and off we went.
 

While waiting at the cashier, Hannah spotted some lip gloss....wouldn't you know they purposely put these things at the cash so you are tempted to spend more than you intended.  The girl kindly directed us to another stash of lip glosses that were on sale....3 for $7 something or other.  Quickly Hannah picked the 3 she wanted and could hardly wait to get the wrapping off each of them so she could try each one!  As we went along our merry way to the accessories shop for bracelets, brooches etc, Hannah was sporting bright red lips LOL!

More walking, searching then she saw a few things she wanted...another H was added to her stash in the form of a brightly colored H on a silver chain...along with a head band and wrist covers.

We then decided to look for a belt for her new pants at Wal Mart. Along the way she started sniffing and said "mmmm...that smells good...are we close too....?" Yup, right around the corner is the little meat shop that sells her favorite turkey kielbosa. She had a piece that they put on the counter and I asked if she wanted me to buy some. Her eyes got big and she said yes, can I have some now. So the gentleman was kind enough to cut a few slices for her to munch on along our way to Wal Mart. Her tummy was satisfied for now LOL!

Wal Mart was a bust on belts. Nothing to be found for her size.  Onward and upward to the car so we could drive to the Bulk Barn for candies to layer inbetween her ice cream cake layers. Thankfully it didn't take too long. Grandma needed to stop at the fruit market on the way to the restaurant for her birthday supper, and the birthday girl wasn't happy...hehehe...she asked if she had to go in and I said no, that she and grandpa could wait in the car. I only needed a couple things.

Okay, on to our last stop....our favorite greek restaurant just a few minutes away from home. It was packed but didn't take long for our food to arrive.  A deal was brokered in that I told Hannah she could have an ice cream sandwich back at out place instead of dessert in the restaurant. She happily agreed, and quickly took her boots/coat off at the back door when we came in and wanted her ice cream sandwich :)

Taking only minutes to devour she washed her hands, went into her bedroom and came out modeling all her new purchases....hehehe!  She sure likes to dress up, and everything looks great on her!

Once her new clothes were put away it was time to put together her ice cream cake...she loves ice cream, and jello.  She and grandpa unwrapped all the ice cream sandwiches and she helped me layer them in the casserole plate, then layer with cool whip and smarties, then another layer of ice cream sandwiches. She decorated the top by herself, making sure every inch had at least one candy on it LOL!

  

Okie dokie....time for a bath once the ice cream cake was put into the freezer. She had fun laying around the tub for a good half an hour and it didn't take her long to get sleepy :)

All in all it was a very fun evening and she quickly fell asleep laying between grandpa and I in our king size bed.

The next morning it was swimming lessons at 9:00...and what did she want for her snack after swimming. A couple slices of bread with what else....turkey kielbosa slices LOL!

Can hardly wait to see what next year's birthday shopping will be like :)

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

It Doesn't Take Much.....

No...it certainly doesn't take much for kids to amuse themselves at times.  Our oldest son, wife and the 3 grandkids came over for a visit and supper last night. And before you ask, we had spaghetti LOL!  It's the only food that all 3 kids can agree on....well, actually, it's the only food that I can get Hailee to eat without getting into an argument....hehehe....Hannah and Cade will eat just about anything, so they're easy to feed :)

Anyway, after supper and one of their favorite desserts...jello made with ice cream that gets firm enough to eat with your fingers...they got into play mode.  Downstairs to play library with grandpa, then upstairs to see what they could get into in their bedroom, making cards for mom and dad etc.

While playing we could hear the kids calling out to grandpa...."oh Mr. Bob" and "hey, Bob the builder" LOL!  At one point Cade brought a card out to the living room where Mom, dad and grandma were sitting. He had grandpa help him print out "mom and dad" on the card and was shocked that there was an "o" in mom's name.  He told mom that she didn't have an "o" in her name but she explained that there was indeed an "o" on the word mom, but not in her real name, Angele LOL!

Shortly after that he was playing around with his scissors and came pretty close to hitting dad with them, so dad took the scissors away until Cade apologized. Well, needless to say a good 20 minutes later dad was still waiting for his apology, Cade crying and fussing the whole time....hmmm....stubborn little guy, isn't he LOL!  Cade then announced that he was taking dad's name off the card he made....hehehe!  We had a great laugh at that one!! Thankfully by the time they left, Cade had decided that dad was in his good graces once again and his name could remain on the card LOL!

Once an apology was finally given the kids went on with their play.  In the living room we could hear this giggling coming down the hallway from the kid's bedroom.  First thing you know there came the girls....laughing and almost falling over. Each was stuffed into a leg on a pair of old lounger pants of mine that Hailee found in the closet LOL! 

I have no idea why I even bought the lounger set many years ago...it was big on me back then....but I liked the feel and color. I'm sure I imagined myself being able to relax some evening after soaking in a nice bubble bath...putting my feet up, reading a good book and letting the world pass me by.  Wrong....never did happen LOL!

Now it dawned on me why I had never given the set away, or thrown them out.  In the back of my mind I must have thought "ah ha...one day our grandkids will be able to have fun playing with these pants" LOL!  And fun they had.  Each had to take a turn with the other, being stuffed into the pants....more giggling, laughing and falling over!

What a great picture to have in my mind while I fell asleep last night!  You kids keep surprising grandpa and I with your creativity and love of having a good time. Never stop and never grow up....hehehe! Thanks for coming over!

Grandma love you
xoxoxoxo

What goes up.....

Well I think you know the rest of that sentence :)  Yes, the girls and Cade have taken up skiing and snowboarding....to be precise, the girls are snowboarding and Cade is skiing.

They've been at it for about 3 or 4 weekends now and with the weather being so darn cold I wasn't about to go stand in the subzero temperatures to watch them come down the bunny hill LOL! However, yesterday was the day to venture out. 

They called around 1:15 to let us know they were having lunch then heading to town to the ski hill. It really is surprising how many layers of clothing a person can get on when faced with standing in the cold for a couple hours LOL...but you already know that we grandparents will do just about anything to see a smile on our grandkids little faces :)
  

  Here's the gang, ready for their afternoon of fun!

Don't you just love those little skis that Cade is

learning on? LOL!

 

So off grandpa and I went...not sure if I'd ever be able to sit in the car without popping some piece of clothing LOL!  We arrived and waited until the gang got there a few minutes after us.  The hills were quite busy, especially the bunny hill, but it didn't stop their enthusiasm to get their boards/skis on and hit that hill!

Grandpa had gone once before to watch them and help with Cade, so Cade was in full grandpa mode, wanting Papa to walk up the hill with him, help him get his skis on and then follow him back down the hill to help him back up again LOL!
 

Grandpa and Cade halfway up the hill

getting Cade's skis on :)



 
I must say I was quite impressed and amazed at how quickly they all picked up their new sports of choice!  Very little falling, bruising or complaining....as long as grandpa was there to help Hailee and Cade up the hill....hehehe! 

It was a great afternoon watching the grandkids experience this new activity, and to see their huge smiles as they came swooshing towards grandma, and often, swooshing right on by.

We're really looking forward to the next time...as long as the weather cooperates LOL!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo