Happy New Year Everyone!

   

   

My gosh, it's been a month since I've last posted, but what a month it's been....wow!!  I tried to get all my Christmas baking, shopping, wrapping, decorating finished before the 1st as our oldest son, DIL and 3 grandkids were moving in for a week.  They had purchased a larger home needed somewhere to stay while painting, packing etc were finished. 
 

Ms. Hannah's new bedroom.

Don't you just LOVE the pink?

  

   We can't forget big sister Hailee's room.

She's been into the color Blue lately!
  

And last, but definitely not least, little brother

Cade's new room. Go Patriots LOL!

  

Well, the week turned into 9 days LOL....and as much as we loved having everyone here, by the end of 9 days it was taking it toll on this poor grandma's body. Having some health issues to begin with, my body was quickly giving out and the week after they left, my body gave out and I was sick/exhausted and soooo happy I'd done my Christmas preps ahead of time LOL!

Our little Ms. Hannah wasn't happy however and said that 9 days wasn't very long....hehehe!  But even the 3 GK's were wanting to be with mom and dad on a full time basis by that time, and were anxious to see their own bedrooms all painted and done up.

We can't forget the girl's Christmas concerts at school.  They were both happy as we originally supposed to be gone for a few days when the concert was being held. Luckily, plans changed and grandpa and I were there with flying colors :)  The little ones are so darn cute....hehehe....and as much as Hannah could hardly wait to find us in the crowd and wave to us as soon as she got on the stage, she would NOT look at us for the rest of the concert LOL!  We couldn't get a picture of her face. When asked afterwards why she didn't look at us when they started singing, she politely told us that the teacher told them they had to pay attention and look at her, no one else LOL!
  

That's her in the Santa hat and Christmas Plaid dress.
Like I said...toooo cute :)

   
And what's Christmas without a Gingerbread House?  It's not Christmas, that's what LOL!  Each year since Hailee was born, I've...um we've....been decorating Gingerbread Houses. Don't get excited, no, I do not bake it from scratch. I did that once when our sons were younger, and realized that the kids don't care what they're decorating, as long as they have icing and candies, lots and lots of candies, in bowls in front of them LOL!  So, Costco houses it will be from now on!
 

      
  

Oh goodness, we almost forgot to mention the dozen

Gingerbread men cookies we decorated. Thanks for

buying them grandpa :)

   

It's become tradition to break the house after Christmas dinner, so that's what we did. Only this year grandma also bought a Gingerbread train so the 'boys' would have something special to decorate and break as well :)
 
We were lucky enough to be able to visit our two other sons and their families the weekend before Christmas....again, adding more fatigue to my already exhausted body, but it was WELL worth it :)) 
  
Our youngest grandson Keelan was so much fun to play with.  Gpa and I bought him a motorized police car (our son is a policeman) and he loved driving that thing, even in the snow, back and forth to the horse barn, and in the barn itself. Cement floors make it a great place to drive....hehehe! Keelan is rather excited too as he's going to have a baby sister in a few weeks :)  And the family continues to grow, which grandpa and I both LOVE!
 

 Move out of the way everyone,

Keelan is on his way to catch the bad guys LOL!

  

     
      
Christmas Eve brought a whole gang over like it has for decades, and as for decades, everyone left stuffed LOL!  I promised next year to not make so much food....sure...uh huh LOL!
We had two gift openings on Christmas morning.  Our middle son and wife were with us for a few days and our step grandkids are older than our others, so they opened their gifts before the younger ones even arrived here.  It was so nice to sleep in late though...thanks Brittney & Austin LOL!  Just as they finished opening their gifts, and got their new laptops hooked up and going, the phone rang and the others were on their way. 
     

Just a wee bit excited when they all opened the Kobo E-readers LOL!

  

We were all quick to pick up wrapping paper, straighten up the living room and start placing the other gifts out!  There was almost not enough room LOL!
 
Our two GD's Hailee (7) and Hannah (almost 6) really, really, really wanted iPod Touches for Christmas.  I think they were worried they wouldn't get them after opening mom and dad's gifts at home, their other grandparent's gifts (they live in an inlaw suite in the new house) and many other gifts they received.   
I'm sure they were thinking on the drive over that we were their last hope...hehehe!  And of course, they would not be disappointed :)  We did make them open all their other gifts first, and then the iPod, but it was worth the look on their faces.
 

     
A little while later Hailee came to give me a hug/kiss and snuggle. She said "thank you for my iPod grandma...I knew you'd get it for me" :)  Does it get any better?? I think not.
 
One of the things we bought for their little brother Cade was a Cars phone.  On their way out after breakfast, Hailee asked if she could see it and he said "no...you already have iPhone, you can't have mine" LOL!! Out of the words of babes :)
 
As we have for the past 7 years, we have our Hailee, Hannah and Cade spend New Years Eve.  It started with Hailee when she was born, then as Hannah and Cade arrived, they also spent the evening with us.  And as per tradition, we had a pizza picnic and lots of junk.  We were very surprised that none of them had sore bellies overnight, and thankful LOL! There was lots of good fruit and water inbetween junk sessions though, so it kind of made up for it :)
  
It felt great to sleep in until 8:15 this morning!  That's a real treat when they're all here, but I think they got tired out yesterday with all our playing, painting, and in particular painting our kitchen door. Yup, you read right. The girls painted our kitchen door LOL!  Cade tried to start but as with most 3 year olds he wasn't up to his sister's standards, so I got the new squirrel feeder I bought a few weeks ago up from the basement and let him have his painting way with it.  The squirrels will be thrilled to know they have the only feeder like it LOL!
   

Special pancakes for a special morning!  Cade decided on orange pancakes and as last year grandma made the year in pancake numbers :)
 

WOW, great job girls!!
The door has never looked better :)

  

We'll have the best decorated squirrel feeder

in the neighborhood Cade. Thanks!

  

Special pancakes, special memories, special traditions...it all makes us into who we are, and there's no better way to do build them than with family :)

HAPPY  NEW  YEAR  EVERYONE!!

    

Grandma Loves you
xoxoxoxo

Let the Fun Begin.....

It's been a busy few weeks, and it's all been leading up to today!  Our oldest son, DIL and 3 grandkids sold their house a couple weeks ago, and are moving into another larger home next week.  However, after having cable, phone etc cancelled as of today, the end of the month, and having things mostly packed up for the move, they are moving in with grandma and grandpa for the week! As I said, let the fun begin...hehehe!

Cade, was here bright and early this morning as mom and dad went to run errands and see the lawyer. There's not much I can say except he's wired LOL!  Wow, to have even half that energy again!  Tomorrow mom will be starting the cleaning of the kitchen and bathrooms at the new place, and the painters are starting various rooms. Smart to have it all done before moving in....so we'll be busy with the kids while they clean and start moving little things in. The movers will take the furniture appliances next Thursday. All that should need doing that day is to set up the beds.

We have enough things to keep them busy on the weekend like decorating gingerbread houses and trains, hopefully going to see Santa as well as the usual painting, crafts etc.

Not sure how sleeping arrangements will work out tonight as when the kids are here by themselves we have set places for everyone...hehehe....with mom and dad, it may be different!  At least the girls will be in school, so it shouldn't be that tiring.  Hannah apparently has been talking about this for days and can hardly wait to "move in" with us :)

So as I said, the last few weeks have been busy. All Christmas presents are bought, wrapped and somewhat hidden LOL!  All the baking is done for ourselves as well as our 3 sons/families.  Can't let the holidays go by without some of their favorites :)

Beds are changed and ready for little feet to climb in tonight.  Grandpa and grandma are sleeping downstairs, although Cade wasn't too sure about that one when we told him today...hehehe! He usually sleeps with Grandpa on the bottom bunk....so we'll see what happens :)

This is going to be tiring, but lots of fun!  Can hardly wait for the hurricanes to get home from school LOL! 

Can`t say that I`m not a tiny bit sad for them though. This will be the last time the school bus drops them off at this home where they were born and raised to this point.  Last night was the last night they got to sleep in this home. Maybe grandma is just too sentimental :)  It will be onward and upward to bigger and better things!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

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