60? Already?

I know I've said many time how time flies...especially when you're not looking. But wow, on Friday, Sept 16th I turned 60.....already! Where did all those years go? I can remember it all like it was yesterday. Can I possibly have three grown sons, grandchildren and still feel like I'm "much" younger? LOL!
After telling hubby and our DIL for weeks that I did NOT, repeat NOT want a birthday party, I have to admit that I had loads of fun and it will be a weekend to remember. It was perfect, absolutely perfect. So a great big thank you to our dear Angele for putting so much time, planning, energy and love into making my birthday weekend just that....perfect :)
 

 
Great family, friends and food....who can complain about that? Our DIL's parents did a fish fry...yummy!  I LOVE fish and they worked hard, frying up 80 fillets which disappeared in record time I believe. Thanks SO much Sue & Eddie. It was very much appreciated!

All the kids were excited because any birthday is a big deal to them, let alone grandma's 60th...hehehe!  Balloons, cake, playing, laughing...what more can anyone ask for :)
   

This was too funny! As I was lifting Cade onto my

lap for pictures, his left foot ended up in the cake LOL! 

  A very special gift made by Hailee (grey sweatshirt).

A lovely card and an empty pudding cup container(washed LOL)

with beautiful flower stickers placed perfectly around it,

 and wrapped just so.

Gifts from the heart that grandma will treasure forever!

Something a little funny, and frightening at the same time....

the gift bag that Hailee had her gift in, had somehow been placed

in the trash bag.  Yikes....we had to go over to their place on Sunday to

dig through the gift wrapping trash to find the gift!  I would have

been SO heart broken had it been destroyed....and so would of Hailee!

 

Getting comfy and star gazing around the fire with Hannah after

all the festivites were over with. Yes, that is a winter jacket

I have on.  It was a beautiful sunny day, but it was cold!

Hannah ended up falling asleep in her chair and had to

be carried to bed by Uncle Warren!

 

Grandma & Grandpa, after a very fun day!

Believe it or not, Hailee took this picture. I think

she has a future in her hands!!

  

So after all my complaining and saying NO party, I have to admit it was a wonderful time. I received lovely, heart felt gifts that I will treasure for a lifetime....and by gifts, I don't mean just the kind a person can open. Thanks to my family and friends for making my 60th so very, very special :)

P.S. As an added bonus, we had the 3 grandkids the day after my party.  Hannah had her very first loose tooth and it was bothering her to no end.  She finally let me look at it. I knew it HAD to come out or it would ruin her whole day.  I quickly flicked it a couple times and out it came. Just as quickly she ran to the bathroom for water and more water as she didn't like the taste of blood LOL! 

Her very first tooth fairy visit! How special!

  

Grandma loves you

xoxoxoxo

 

Swimming, Swimming.....

....in my swimming pool!

Ms. Hannah learning how to take a flip

 into the pool! Well done Hannah!     

Yes, it's Thursday night and swimming lesson time.  I was able to snap a few quick pics before I was told that NO picture taking was allowed :(  Times have changed.
 

Our Ms. Hailee was so afraid of the water a couple

years ago. She has since turned into a fish LOL!

Great job Hailee!

You'll notice that I'm playing catch up with my posts.  It was a very busy week/weekend, and I have no idea how to change the date on my posts, so everything is happening today LOL!

Grandma Loves You
xoxoxoxo

Teddy Bears, Bunnies & puppies....

All stuffed of course LOL!  This is what I played "catch" with this morning when I drove over to pick up our DIL and her friends to bring them golfing for the day.  The GK's were at the top of the stairs and could hardly wait to show me their bounty from the Family Day at a local church yesterday.  Everything at the Family Day is free, including hotdogs/juice etc for the wee ones. The games are "rigged" LOL and make sure everyone wins a ticket, then the ticket can be exchanged for the stuffed teddy bears, bunnies and puppies LOL!

So the three GK's stood at the top of the back stairs by their back door and started throwing their 'Prizes' down to me and I would throw them back up the stairs. Lots of laughs, lots of teasing that I was going to bring the prizes all home with me...hehehe!

After dropping the girls off at golfing I stopped to quickly say "Hi" to the GK's and once again they came running down the hallway with their "bounty" to play our game of catch.  Daddy was getting them ready to head to town to do some errands and of course, none of them wanted to go...pleading to come home with me.  I couldn't stand listening to their little (okay, loud) voices asking if they could come with me, so this grandma does what she always does, and said "let's go" LOL!

A couple hours later as we were having lunch, daddy called and said he was on his way home....again, as usual, there was a big groan, and 'can we play just for 5 more minutes grandma?' :)  Once dad came in they packed up to go to another Fun Day at the local mall...face painting, cotton candy...everything that makes a child's day.  Grandpa also went up with them and about half an hour later Grandpa came in with little Cade. It was hot, Cade was tired, and hungry LOL!  He still isn't feeling up to par...but that's another post later in the week when he sees the pediatrician!!

Something to eat, something to drink, some cuddle time on the couch and daddy and his sisters came in. But how can these be our GD's that just came in the door??  My goodness, a big blue butterly and a big pink butterfly were looking up at us with sparkles on their wings.  Gotta love face painting...hehehe!

 

Our little Ms. Hannah decided to use a laundry

basket as her new puppy's (prize bounty) cage LOL!

                                                                               

A bit more play time then the lure of Dairy Queen was all it took for them to drop what they were doing, get their shoes on and away they went for their cool, creamy treat! Oh to have such energy once again!

Have a great week kids!

Grandma loves you

xoxoxoxo

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting.....

It's been a long few days since getting the news of Cade's abnormal bloodwork. The pain in his leg is still there and he seems to be getting weaker and weaker, and more tired....listless.

After the bloodwork results they sent him for a Bone Scan on Tuesday...more waiting...anxiety....stress. Yesterday the results came in and weren't good.  They said an MRI had to be done to make sure they know what they're dealing with and if there's much damage to the bone (from the right knee down to the ankle).
   

 Sleeping it off after the Bone Scan!

Wake up little guy, wake up!
 

The poor little guy was admitted last night and awaken this morning at 6:00 to have the IV inserted for the MRI. He should be having the MRI as I type this. He was not happy :)  I'm sure the fact that he couldn't eat had something to do with it too...hehehe!

I must admit we did have a bit of relief from the stress when he woke up from the bone scan. He was a happy little "drunk" LOL!  He was swaying back and forth, humming, singing, just being silly and totally relaxed. Everyone was in stitches...hehehe! 

So, we sit here doing more waiting, waiting, waiting....and hopefully the MRI results won't take too long and the doctors will know how to treat him.  They think it's osteomyelitis....fancy name for bone infection...and that would mean staying in the hospital for a few days on IV antibiotics.  Hopefully they are dealing with a bone infection and nothing worse, that there is no damage to the leg bone and that it hasn't gone to his blood.

Only time will tell, and in the meantime we are waiting, waiting, waiting :)

On a happier note, Hailee and Hannah got to spend the night with us while mom and dad were at the hospital with Cade.  The girls had swimming lessons last night so we brought them there and a nice surprise was that mom, dad and Cade were able to come watch for a while.  Cade was able to get a pass for a few hours to leave the hospital...yeah!

This morning was a whirlwind getting the girls ready for school. I forgot how much "fun" it was to make lunches again LOL!  Grandpa drove them to their place to catch the school bus....they didn't want to get a ride to school, but wanted to see their friends on the bus :)

Counting down the minutes til the phone rings!

A couple hours later and just heard from our dear DIL.  It took Cade an hour to fall asleep after being sedated for the MRI. He just fought it.  Then she had to crawl into the machine with him when he woke up before it was done. Little stinker LOL! We should have results within the hour! Good thoughts please :)

Unbelievable!  This afternoon around 3:00 little Cade was discharged by a Medical Student....saying all the tests came back "okay". How can that be? What about the limp? What about the pain, the fatigue, the falling?? How can they say there's a blur near his ankle on the MRI, yet say it's due to him moving...and not check it out further?  Sigh.......

Our son and DIL are NOT happy. They let the staff know and were told one of the Peds will call them. So many questions, and no answers.  Can we blame it on hurried staff who wanted to just get home on a beautiful Friday afternoon, not giving the MRI results a second glance?

Hopefully they are right and whatever was bothering the little guy, is gone...for good!

Grandma Loves You
xoxoxoxo

School Days, School Days.....

Good old golden rules days.....Okay, okay, so I'm dating myself with that little jingle LOL, but all these decades later it is still appropriate. Although I'm not sure if they still have any Golden Rules now a days.

A cold, overcast Fall morning with frost in the air and two beautiful granddaughters dressed in their special "first day" outfits, filled with excitement for what this day, and year, will bring...old friends, new friends, new teachers, new classroom, new things to learn...it all adds up to growing up way too quickly :)

When our second GD, Hannah, was contemplating about not going to school a couple weeks ago I asked her that if she didn't go to school how would she learn all the things she needs to learn in life.  She looked at me with her innocent beautiful brown eyes and said "from you grandma". Plain and simple....she could learn everything she needs to know in life from me...grandma!  Everything is so simple in a child's eyes.

 

Okay folks....as you can see in the first picture, the

girls look cold...that's because it was cold. Back into

the house for warmer jackets!
  

I have to admit that when our three sons were young and in school I hated, yes hated, Labor Day weekend. I loved having our kids at home all summer and the thought of having to send them back to school in September made me very sad. Maybe it's the control freak in me....hehehe...but Labor Day weekends for me were full of hidden tears, no sleep, anxiety, restlessness...you name a negative response and I felt it all on those weekends. It's not quite as bad with the grandkids thank goodnes :)

Of course once a few days passed and we got back into the routine of lunches, homework, sports, earlier bedtimes, earlier wake times Labor Day weekend became a faint memory until the following year when it started all over again LOL!

Added to the anxiety of this weekend for me was a phone call last night saying our Grandson was in the ER waiting to see a doctor about some problems he's had the last few days....swollen knee, spiking fever, paleness and falling because his right leg would give out. I bet any parent or grandparent reading this is letting their mind race to exactly where mine has been racing too all night.  Sigh.....

After many hours and many tests the verdict is he has to see the Pediatrician this afternoon as a couple abnormalities showed up in his blood work showing inflammation. I'm trying to be positive and hopefully it's something as simple as an infection that can be taken care of with medication. If it's something more serious we will deal with it as families do...with lots of love and support.

Our DIL dropped him off this morning while she ran some errands and he came running up to me at the back door, the biggest smile on his face, and all I did was worry that his leg may give out and he could fall in the driveway :(  Stop it brain, stop it!
 

Our little guy doing one of his most
favorite things....Eating!

   

Another favorite thing to do....

fill up grandpa's jar with tea bags!

He's gone to the dump with grandpa at the moment to unload a bunch of junk we cleared from the garage over the weekend....second trip LOL!  Hopefully in the next decade we will get our two car garage cleared of all the junk that hubby was asking himself all weekend..."why on earth did I save this for all these years?" LOL!

Time to bake the pizza-pan oatmeal cookie that has become a tradition for the GD's first day of school. Cade wants to help so he can add the flour/oatmeal and then sprinkle the mini chocolate chips around the edge of the "cookie". The little bum said that grandpa and I couldn't have any when we bring it over...hehehe!
 

"Cheese"
Or should we say "chocolate chips" LOL!
It all tastes better with a little help from little hands! 
  

When can we have a piece?

   

 

Hey, we can't forget little brother....after all
he did help make it!

 

Oh, by the way...Cade did change his mind

about grandma and grandpa having a piece of cookie LOL!

    
We have two things to look forward to this afternoon....seeing the girls after school to hear all about their first day, and anxiously waiting to hear what the Ped says about Cade. Wish us luck!

Update:  Just got off the phone with our DIL. Cade is going for a bone scan tomorrow morning. The Ped feels it may be a bone infection as the fever he had last week had no other symptoms, and he is limping a bit. She said his femur above his right knee is very tender. So, keeping our fingers crossed that all turns out well :)

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Happy Half Birthday To You....

Happy Half Birthday to you,
Happy Half Birthday dear Hannah,
Happy Half Birthday to you :)

Yes, another tradition this grandma started when our first granddaughter Hailee was born.  We just HAVE to celebrate their half birthdays. I mean really...does anyone need another excuse to have more cake? LOL!

I usually make just half a cake for these "special" occasions and decorate it, however in this instance, it's a Jello "Cake"...hehehe!  Hannah is really not into cake, if you can believe a five year old not liking cake, but she really loves jello.
 

Just look at that smile!
Someone is growing up waaaaay too
fast for my liking! 

       

Not only is she at her halfway mark between being five and six today....and most definitely needed to have it celebrated with green jello and the half birthday song....but she is going into Kindergarten on Tuesday! As I said....growing up way too fast.  Hopefully she will always love to celebrate her half birthday though for many years to come :)

I must say, it didn't last long once we all got into it, and as you can see, Hannah made sure every last bit was gone LOL!
  

    Can we say yummy?

  
As it was raining today....rain on Labor Day weekend, imagine that LOL....and both our little Sparkles and her brother Mylo (who owns our son/DIL/GK's) were in the backyard playing during our visit, they were completely soaked/muddy from top to bottom...hehehe...kind of cute actually. They looked like they'd been living on the streets for months.

We have a "wild" back corner of the yard that has huge brush piles/trees and has been left to go wild for bird/small animals. There's a path all around the wild area that is just dark earth which equals mud when it rains.  We're going to get some wood chips soon to lay down in the hopes of keeping both dogs and kids clean!
 

Bare earth, running dogs, add a bit

of rain and it equals a big mess!

Hopefully the woodchips will be coming soon!
 

Anyway, I couldn't see sending Mylo home the way he was and Sparkles most certainly was NOT coming into the house looking like she did, so I thew both muddy little dogs in the tub and scrubbed/bathed/rinsed/conditioned each until they sparkled! Nothing smells as good as a dog freshly washed with Pantene shampoo LOL!

Once dry the little family packed up dog, kids and off they all went for various sleepovers tonight. One going to a friends, the other having a couple friends in for a sleepover...all such fun at that age.  This grandma and grandpa can now have a nice quiet evening :)  Well, not before grandma has a shower. Those dogs really do get a person wet while bathing them LOL!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Shhhh....what's that I hear?

What? Nothing you say?  I hear nothing?  Yup LOL, that's exactly what I hear right now.  We did have a whirlwind weekend with two of the GK's, Hannah and Cade.  Big sister Hailee spent Thursday and overnight with us, then we switched over for the other two while Hailee went to her BFF's for the weekend, and is on her way as I type, to a friend's birthday party :)

We didn't really have anything planned for the weekend but we sure managed to keep busy. Between riding bikes, playing dress up with old Halloween costumes, stripping down and playing in the dog's pool...again LOL, watching movies, eating and sleeping, the time just flew.
  

 

Mooooo....this Halloween costume has been
around a very long time and has been put to
good use...not only on October 31st of each year!
 

It's getting harder and harder for the girls
to fit into this Unicorn costume...but they
keep figuring out ways to do it LOL!
     

In between all the regular stuff we managed to get to a local conservation park and went through 3 loaves of bread...whole wheat of course....while feeding the ducks, geese, the gulls, and even the odd slice being munched on by the two legged human kids LOL!
   

Watch those fingers Hannah LOL!

  

Can I have a piece Grandma?

That question is why we always buy fresh

whole wheat bread to feed the ducks LOL!

Don't lean over too far!!
 

We had a ball and both kids were right into it. Our brave Hannah even fed a few Canadian Geese right from her hand. Not without being warned beforehand to make sure the pieces of bread she was offering them were much longer than normal size LOL!  Cade got ohhhhhhh so close, but ended up dropping the bread and pulling his little hand back...hehehe...much preferring to throw the bread away from him :)
    

A visit to feed the ducks is not complete unless they get

to play at the playground on the grounds!

 

 

As usual, pancakes were on the menu for breakfast yesterday....blue pancakes this time...and grandma finally got smart this weekend and made enough so I wouldn't have to make more from scratch this morning!  Just removed the extra from the fridge and heated in the microwave.  See, there is an advantage to getting "old" and wiser :)

Don't worry mom, it's only a butter knife :)

   

  Hey, where's my knife??
 

Grandpa packed up the bikes, suitcases, dog and drove them home around 12:30 so all is quiet. Seems strange somehow that I can still hear their chattering in the bedroom and their giggles as even the silliest little thing makes them laugh...and makes us laugh too :)

If any grandparents (or parents) out there want to get something great

for a small grandchild that will greatly help when they start riding

a two wheel bike....get the Strider bike! It's the next best thing

since sliced bread....geez, I'm sounding like my mother with that

statement LOL!  But really, there are no wheels, the child just pushes

themselves along and eventually can coast with both feet up.

They get total balance control and won't need training wheels when

moved up to a regular two wheel bike!

Cade won't be 3 til the end of October, yet he can keep up with
his sisters as he pushes and coasts on his Strider!

Five year old Hannah will not be showed up. She

gave up her training wheels a couple weeks ago

and has quickly become a pro with her bike!

You go girl!!

   

One more week to go before school starts, then our visits will be fewer and further between. However, they do start swimming lessons again this Thursday, so grandma and grandpa will be there with the usual sandwich/snacks/drinks to watch, wave, smile and just plain enjoy more great memory making time.

Grandma loves you

xoxoxoxo