Ring, Ring....

Yup, the phone rang, but it was me who did the calling this morning.  I wanted to see if our granddog Mylo could come out to play with Sparkles LOL!  Our DIL whispered if it would be okay to bring the kids for a visit....the girls didn't have school today, and they were bored at home...hehehe! They wanted to come to grandma's house. They're in the middle of moving, so most of the fun things to play with, or do crafts with, are already packed.

So they came over for a couple hours and had some fun making Christmas wreaths out of some plastic discs that grandpa had laying around. We also had to keep them from the spare room downstairs....they love to play in there, but all of Mom & Dad's gifts are waiting to be wrapped tonight, so we had to keep a close eye on them :)

After some chicken noodle soup for lunch, away they went.  Cade made sure that the girls were going home too, and not just him....but not before he told mom to go home without them LOL!

Gotta love these days! 

Grandma loves you.
xoxoxoxo

The Season Officially Begins......

A few days ago our little guy Cade, came over for a couple hours and was so excited to see grandma had started to decorate for Christmas!  He went slowly from one thing to another, a huge smile on his face, and wanting to play anything and everything that was musical.  Ahhhhh...such joy in a child's young face :)

He soon figured out which were his favorites and could hardly wait for grandpa to come home so he could show grandpa all the Christmas wonders....as if grandpa had never seen them before :) It was so cute.

We found out yesterday that the Santa Claus Parade was on today, so our DIL asked if we wanted to go with them.  The forecast originally called for rain, but even though the overcast skies threatened all day long, we were only sprinkled on for about 5 minutes before the parade began.
  

Hmmm...wonder who is more excited, grandma &

grandpa or the grandkids? LOL!

   

It was a chilly, but dry evening and the crowds were thick!  We arrived an hour early to find the perfect spot, in front row seats (lawn chairs LOL), and settled in with warm blankets, hot chocolate and lots of anticipation.

  

  

     

I must say, this year's parade was a tad long and about 3/4 of the way through, the kids were all asking when Santa was going to appear.  Even the free candies that were handed out throughout the parade, didn't make it any easier for the kids to sit still.
 

  
Finally, the big guy appeared and all the wee ones eagerly cheered and called to Santa to look their way.  All in all, a very nice evening. It's always great to spend time with the grandkids, but a special occassion like this, to see the wonder in their eyes as all the twinkle lights reflected in them, is as special as it can get.  Hopefully we're around for many, many more Santa Claus parades :)
  

   
Thank you guys for letting us share this wonderful time!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Dribble.....

Oh the memories of young children in sports!  Good?  Bad?  Funny? Laughable? All of the previous adjectives will apply at one time or another LOL!  Tonight was our night to have an hour of thos adjectives....hehehe...while watching Hannah (5) at her basketball "camp".

Now don't laugh!! I'm sure we can all remember those hot summer days when we went to watch our own kids playing soccer for the very first time.  You know what I mean....the times when at least one kid was sitting at one end of the soccer field playing with blades of grass, while the remainder of their team and the opposing team were all crowded around the ball at the other end of the field LOL!
  

Action shot LOL!

Their team is sponsered by Dairy Queen,

and apparently, they will be going there

next week.  Excitement, joy!  No talk about

actually playing basketball though LOL!

    

Hannah loved the drills and stretching part of the whole thing.  Then it was game time!  She strolled around the middle of the court, one hand on a hip and the other hand up at her mouth, playing with her second loose tooth....hehehe!
 

What makes it a lot more fun is that Hannah's

cousin Isabella (who is 3 days older than Hannah)

also plays on the same team. Yeah!!!

   

Grandpa and I had a great time watching however. Must admit, we haven't laughed that hard in a long time.  Thanks for the chuckles Hannah.

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Vroooom....vrooooom......

This past weekend our Son, DIL and the 3 grandkids went to visit her brother/SIL/kids about 7 hours away.  So as quiet as our weekend was LOL, we did manage to get a few things done.

The phone rang at 8:30 this morning and everything was back to normal :)  Our DIL called and said she was going to town, so I figured I'd go along with her.  I really didn't need anything, but at this time of year, one never knows what you can come across....buy one more present for this one, then that means one each for the other two as well....hehehe!

Cade didn't want to sit in the shopping cart when we got to Toys R Us. What normal 3 year old would want to sit in a shopping cart when in the castle of all toy stores? Not any that I know!

Everything we walked past was "Mama...can you buy me this?" in the sweetest little boy voice any grandma would fall for :)  As mom went one way, Cade and I went another.  Suddenly he yelled "mama, mama....come here for a minute"!  His excitement was evident in the way he was urging me towards him with his hand.

When I started his way, he ran down an isle to the back of the store.  I knew exactly what he was going for LOL....the battery operated cars/trucks.  He does have a great jeep at home already, so he sure didn't need another, but he enjoyed a few minutes of getting into each one, steering, checking out the dashboards then moving on to the next.

I had my camera in my purse so took a picture of him in the first one.  Then I put it back in my purse.  Well, that wouldn't do.  As he got into each one he said "take picture mama" LOL!  So here's Cade, "shopping" :))

  

     
Grandma loves you
xoxoxo

That time of Year......

It sure is hard to believe we're less than two months away from the 'big' day. Although when around wee ones, we do keep getting reminded every few minutes...hehehe!

This past Saturday we were lucky to have Hailee and her little brother Cade for a sleepover. Hannah was at her other grandmothers.  Neither of them wanted to drive to town to hit Chapters and go out for dinner, so we ended up staying close to home, visiting our little Mall, riding on all the Mall rides and eating at the restaurant that's there.
  

Now, you tell me that Play Dough Pizza that Hailee
is working on so diligently, doesn't look good enough
to eat....hehehe!

    

LOL....no matter how hard Hailee tried, Cade

was NOT going to try the pizza!

  

Hailee had decided beforehand that we would go to Dairy Queen for dinner, and of course, ice cream for dessert, but after walking/shopping in the mall, she decided she wanted to stop and eat....now...at the restaurant.

I have to say it was a great meal.  I think it's the very first time grandpa and I didn't have to urge her to eat her chicken fingers LOL!  She ate them all, no fuss!  Somehow I think the lure of ice cream for dessert that goes with all kid's meals, may have had something to do with it :)

Hailee had chocolate and Cade had pink ice cream.  Shopping is hard work. Hailee had a hard time deciding what to buy and after much indecision, figured she would go for the Play Dough...which grandma had run out of quite a few months ago :)  Cade was happy with two little Dinky cars, so I told him to pick another. He was so excited LOL!

Of course with our infinite grandparent wisdom, we forgot that it was the night to set our clocks back. Yup....that definitely meant an early morning on Sunday LOL! And nothing new for breakfast....regular old crepes....blue this time :)
  

  

      
Dad, mom and Hannah came over around 10:30 so I thought I should take advantage of the situation and get our Christmas tree decorated. A tradition we started when Hailee was old enough to put decorations on the tree :) They really do a great job! Now we have Hannah and Cade who are also both more than happy to oblige grandma and her traditions LOL!
 
  

Hannah putting Daddy's Red Wings ornament

on the tree!  That ornament has been a fixture of

all our trees for decades :)

Unfortunately that scratch on Hannah's left cheek

is remnants of a "skirmish" with little brother Cade!
   

       Cade and grandpa. Great job guys!
  

Then there was the little fact about the silver Christmas tree that we keep in the bedroom where the grandkids play and sleep.  I bought that little silver tree a few years ago, especially for the grandkids so they could have their own special tree, for all the special occasions...Christmas, Easter, Valentine Day etc.  Yup....I buy all the decorations at the Dollar Store and they have a ball setting up their own tree. 

    
   

Once lunch was done and we played a bit, we all decided to go for a walk around the block.  Hannah had Sparkles on a leash and Hailee had Mylo on a leash.  They walked ahead with mom and dad, then grandpa, Cade and I came up behind.  What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
  

     
I forgot to mention that the gang had to stick around until after 4:00....oh my, what a hardship LOL! They bought a new house and had viewings of their home on Sunday afternoon.  The new house is a little further away, so it will seem strange not to have them only 5 minutes away....it seems like it will be on the other side of the world.  We are SO lucky to have them so close though.  I really feel for the grandparents and grandkids who only see each other perhaps once a year or so because of distance. 

The gang is going away this Friday for the weekend, so we get to have Mylo with us.  It will sure be a quiet weekend, but maybe the Christmas gifts will get wrapped without prying eyes popping in LOL!

Have a great trip.
Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Grandma, grandma....

Were the words I heard as I walked down the isles of a local fruit market this morning. And around the corner came our little grandson Cade running towards me, chomping on a slice of baloney from the Deli....hehehe!  Our DIL had tried calling me a few times on my cell phone, but I was pressing the wrong key to answer, so never got to talk to her LOL! She knew I was in town and wanted to see if I would go for lunch. Silly question...hehehe!

Anyway, after we shopped we went for lunch at a favorite local restaurant.  I called grandpa on the way from town and he met us there also.  A fun way to spend a couple hours on a rainy, wet Fall day :) Thanks guys!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Eeeeeerrrrrrrriiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee.......

Yes, that night has finally arrived and all the neighborhood ghosts, goblins, monsters and vampires were out in abundance.  It had rained for a couple days before and today was no exception.  Hubby and I managed to get a few decorations up in the driveway yesterday, and we finished today inbetween rain showers.
 

  

  
Keeping the faith and our fingers crossed, it did stop raining around 5:00...yeah!  Although everything was soaked, it still meant the kids wouldn't get soaked while going house to house....and....my new fog machine was able to get a good workout!!  Money well spent!

The last check on lights, placement of "scary" props, scary music ready to go and making sure the fog machine was full, and we were set.  Sadly, Trick or Treating in our neighborhood isn't what it used to be.  Gone are the days of over 100 kids knocking on our door. For some reason I still find the need to buy for over 80....just in case :)  I'd hate to run out on any given year because I didn't buy enough! So this year I didn't buy any chocolate....I can't resist, and I don't need it....so now hubby can nibble at the big bags of Doritos that are left LOL!
 

  
Of course Halloween night wouldn't be Halloween night without a visit from the grandkids!  They looked so great in their costumes, and Hailee's best friend Olyvia came along for the ride. The kids have dinner with Olyvia and her family each Halloween night, and then they all go out for treats.  After visiting here they go back their for hot chocolate. A nice way to end a nice evening.
 

The girls, their friend Olyvia and our fireman Cade!

   

Cade was so darn cute in his Fireman costume...hehehe!  He even wanted to share his stash with grandpa and I.  He came up to each of us with a bag of goodies that he had collected and was so proud to be able to share :)) What a sweetie. And no, we didn't keep the bags LOL!

The girls were so excited and came running up the driveway looking at the creatures, lights and fog! Hailee was yelling "it's just like a haunted house grandma"!  What more could I ask for? 

There were a few kids during the evening who were even too scared to come up the driveway and I had to bring the goodies to them...hehehe. A few were saying they love coming here each year to see what I have up. Yes, even in my senior years I still have it when it comes to Halloween decorating :)

Our DIL asked the girls if they wanted a Halloween party next year....and that grandma could decorate.  The response was a loud and unanimous "Yeah"!!

So until next Halloween....

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo