Is it Christmas yet?

Wow, this grandma doesn't know where the time has gone the last few weeks, but it's hard to believe that a week from today, Christmas Day will be coming to an end!  On a brighter note at least we didn't miss it LOL!

I won't bore you with the details, but between this darn foot of mine (yes, it's still causing me grief...but I'm going for an MRI on Dec 23, 11pm), a bout of bronchitis, a couple days with the flu and numerous trips to Toronto, Niagara Falls etc, the big day has slowly been creeping up to me!

Thankfully all the gifts have been bought and wrapped, and I'm not worrying about doing any baking this year. We don't need it and don't want it hanging around the house.  We have managed to keep up with some traditions however, and that's much more important :)

A couple weeks ago, as I was starting to recover from the bronchitis, grandpa and I took the kids after school for a few hours on a Friday and we delved into a new craft. Dough ornaments!  Yup, we took the leap and with everyone's hands in the mix we came up with a few different colors....3 shades of red/pink green and Cade's favorite, orange....hehehe!
 

Getting the dough ready :)

 

Notice little brother is nowhere to be seen LOL!

He said he was not going to get his hands sticky...hehehe!

   

What fun we had...kneading, rolling, cutting with cookie cutters, coming up with different ideas as to how to decorate each ornament :)  I must admit the recipe made a really great playdough...much better than the bought kind...and I think grandma is going to make a batch the next time the kids feel like playing with dough :)
 

Mixing in their colors!

  

Their little creative minds took hold and before long we had two cookie sheets covered with beautiful Christmas ornaments.  They were a wee bit 'thicker' than they should have been by the time they added all the extra dough balls, ropes etc, and after baking for 4 hours in a low oven, it took an extra week to dry completely LOL!  We still have to add some Mod Podge and sparkles to them, but that's what we have planned for this coming Friday when we have them again :)
 

Baking...baking....baking.....

  
The following day it was Gingerbread House and Gingerbread Train day!  They did such a great job that grandpa told them he was going to get each of them a house to decorate by themselves next Christmas!  They sure were excited about that little tidbit....hehehe!

  Grandpa did a wonderful job with the icing. I think

he's been watching grandma doing all those cakes over the decades LOL!

 

Unfortunately we couldn't keep them overnight either night because I was still trying to recover from all that coughing I had been doing, and by the time grandpa left to bring them home, I was ready to crawl into bed LOL!

This past weekend, on our way home from a conference in the Falls, we stopped at our middle son's home to celebrate an early Christmas with he, his wonderful wife and our two step grandkids. The kids are spending this Christmas with their dad, so they won't be here to celebrate with us.

Friday night we took them out to a favorite Japanese restaurant....can we say stuffed?? LOL!  Oh my, that food is good....too good. Thankfully we don't have one of those restaurants near us....hehehe!

Over dinner we debated back and forth as to just when we should open gifts.  Worse than a little kid, I was all for opening them as soon as we got back from supper. The other adults all voted for the following night...both kids wanted that night just like me. Sooooo we got our way LOL!
 

   Brittney received her digital camera from us....she's in a student exchange program and will be heading to Germany in the spring, so needed a better camera for all that travelling.  We bought Austin a new lense for his new hobby, photography. He has a really good camera but had been wanting this new lense.  Along with a bunch of other goodies, they made out pretty good LOL! It sure will be a lot quieter this Christmas morning without them here though.

Grandpa and I received a GPS!  Holy smokes. Now grandpa has two women in the car telling him where to go and how to go there LOL!

Yesterday the girls and Cade came over for a visit with mom and dad.  I had been baking bacon to get it ready for the freezer for Christmas breakfast, but they all got into it and Grandpa had to go to the store to buy a few more pounds LOL! I must admit, it really was yummy :)

So, as we count down the final days leading up to the 25th, my list doesn't seem to be getting any shorter as I try to precook foods, or at least get them partially ready.  But, as with every year, everything gets done, everyone has a great time and everyone leaves stuffed on Christmas Eve. What more can we ask for :)

So probably until next week, have a wonderful Christmas everyone and please realize just how blessed you are :)

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Happy Tears :)

You know how some days are just your regular days with normal routines, see the same people, shop the same shops?  Well, this past weekend was anything but regular.

Our youngest son, his wife and our two youngest grandkids came up for a visit. Their very first visit here. Long story...won't bore you with the details...but it's been a long time coming to this point.
 

   
They came here Friday evening for supper and we had a couple hours to enjoy the grandkids before they headed back to the hotel, then on Saturday we all went to grandpa's parents for another family supper. We were lucky enough that our oldest son, his wife, the girls and Cade were able to come for a couple hours too....as well as one of grandpa's sisters, Aunt Carole, and her GD Dakota.
  

 Four generations!

 

Such a special time for great grandma and grandpa to see their great grandkids playing together and getting to know each other. Great grandpa has lung cancer....he's doing very well...but at 87 years of age, who knows if he will ever get the chance to see his great grandkids together again. So yes, it was a special time.

We had a great time and hope it can happen again...soon!

Not too many days before the big guy gets here. Hope everyone is as excited as this grandma and grandpa are LOL!

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Where has it gone?

The last few weeks I mean. Where has it all gone?  We're less than a month away from the BIG day, and panic is starting to set in.

I must admit that I've decided there are some things that just will not get done for this Christmas.  Mainly, baking. Nope.  Don't need it, no one else needs it or wants it and the last few months of being laid up with my darn foot, has made it impossible to stand and actually bake for more than a few minutes at a time.  It's hard enough to keep my weight stable while not being able to walk, exercise, swim.

Sooooooo...we'll be much "lighter" come January 1st next year....hehehe.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it :)

Grandpa and I have been away a lot the last few weeks also....3-4 days each week. So it takes me until the next business to gain some energy back....vicious cycle....but I do love to stay in hotels, even if I still have to keep my feet up :)

This past Saturday GD Hailee was going to the movies with a friend, mom and dad had been invited out for dinner, so Hannah and Cade were bugging mom to bring them here for a visit.  We're not used to going for a week at a time without seeing any of the grandkids, so grandpa and I needed our fix as well :)

There are the usual 'things' that need doing when they come in....especially at this time of year with their Christmas decorations just waiting to be moved around and played with. Not to mention taking the photo ornaments off our Family Tree so they could be photocopied....who knows why, they just love doing it LOL!

Cade came out of the bedroom/playroom at one point and said "we going to Pizza Hut for supper Mama".....I guess he and Hannah had discussed this matter, and he was voted to come tell me LOL!  When the time came to head out the door I used my grandmother's wisdom and told them they had to pee before we went or we wouldn't be able to go.

Cade was having none of it.  He said he didn't have to go and if he did he could go at the restaurant.  Well...here comes the wisdom part....I told him that he didn't want to do that because restaurant washrooms are dirty. Remember that :)

He did close the bathroom door and came back out a couple minutes later with his pants all crooked, so I'm assuming he did try. Hands washed, coats/hats/boots on we headed out to Pizza Hut.

In their discussions they must have decided that we would go to the local ice cream shop for dessert, but as luck had it at this time of year....brrrrrrrr.....the little shop was closed.  The next best thing would be Dairy Queen which is right along the way home.

Sundaes ordered, lots of napkins on the table, everyone getting a taste of everyone else's sundaes and there was happiness :)  About halfway through my Sundae I had to get up and headed to the little girl's room.  About 15' from the table I could hear Cade yell out something, but I didn't quite catch what he said.  I looked back and grandpa and Hannah were laughing their heads off.

Yup....remember what I wrote above about not using restaurant washrooms?  Well.....when I got back to the table I asked what Cade had said to get them laughing and grandpa told me that after I said I was going to the washroom, Cade decided to yell at me "the washrooms here are dirty Mama" LOL!

Thank goodness the place wasn't busy and one of the girls that works there who was having something to eat just a couple tables from us, had her ipod earphones in, so I'm hoping she hadn't heard Cade....hehehe! 

Yup....grandma's wisdom and out of the mouths of babes!  Sometimes these two things do not go together :)

The gang is coming over on Thursday for supper....we had to make a date because everyone is so busy all the time.  So this grandma is going back to gift wrapping.  See you guys in a few days.

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Ring, ring, ring.....

Yup...that was the ever familiar sound of the phone yesterday morning when our DIL called to see if we were busy :)  Hailee has two dance classes on Saturday morning and the whole gang was going to go in and then do some shopping.  Well, little sister Hannah and little brother Cade did not want to go....so what's the next best thing....hehehe...call grandma and grandpa to see if they could come over :)

They were dropped off around 10:30 and the fun began.  I was wondering how to keep them busy when it dawned on me...they could help grandma decorate for Christmas!!  And that's what we did. Two excited kids hurrying down the stairs, with grandma following, to the secret room under the stairs (sorry, no Harry Potter living under my stairs LOL).

The boxes kept coming and coming and coming....calling for grandpa to help carry the heavy ones upstairs to the living room....huffing and puffing as Cade would help grandpa by holding one end of each box as he backed up the stairs...hehehe....and Hannah proudly showing me how she could carry one all by herself because "it's not heavy grandma...I can do it by myself." And she did! Great job guys :)

Of course their little minds are like an elephants...they never forget LOL! So that means they knew exactly what they were looking for when it came to decorations. "Grandma, remember this....grandma remember that?"  And so it began.  Tops flew off the boxes and the search started for the Santa that climbs up the ladder. They had the ladder but where was that darn Santa grandma?? LOL

As another top flew off a box, and another, and another, all in search of that Santa, the living room began looking like a Christmas bomb exploded....hehehe!  Grandma tried to 'control' the number of decorations that were being put here, there and everywhere....when their attention would focus on something else they saw in another box.

Then pay dirt! They found the box containing 'their' decorations. Yes, the box of all boxes....the holy grail. Their decorations....little nativity people, lots of musical decorations with those little people that "skate" on the mirrored surfaces, the two story Christmas house whose front opened to music, lights and little things turning in circles inside.....it was all there. But where can we put them?  The little white cupboard that is home to these decorations at Christmas time was nowhere in sight. Grandpa came to the rescue...yipeeee! He knew exactly where it was. All was well with the world again :)

As soon as it was set up, Hannah started organizing...her favorite thing to do LOL...and they were all in place within a few minutes. Of course the 6 or so musical decorations that Cade had on the ottoman weren't enough and he let us know after seeing Hannah's set up...."I don't have any decorations" was his battle cry as he made a move to the white cupboard....hehehe!  Luckily we stopped him in his tracks and the focus was back on Santa....remember? The Santa that climbs up that red ladder...hehehe!

Back downstairs for another box and sure enough, there he was. Santa, just laying on the top of the decorations when we took the top off. Hurry up grandma and get him on the ladder.  Cade being a boy, knew all there was to know about hanging the lights up with Santa and turning the button on the attached sleigh to magically send Santa on his way up the ladder, and back down again.

So the fun continued and I told both kids that we wouldn't open any more boxes right then. We did have to leave some for big sister Hailee after all :)  Plus, next Sunday will be tree decorating time when all 3 kids do our main tree...yeah!

What's that? The phone was ringing again.  It was mom. She wanted to know if grandpa and I would like to go to the movies with all of you.  Grandma's back has been bothering her the last week or so and there's no way I could sit for a couple hours in a movie theatre. So the next best thing, grandpa was going to drive Hannah and Cade to the edge of town to meet daddy while mom and Hailee finishe shopping at Costco.

Well...Cade decided he didn't want to go to the movie....no way was he going to be talked into it either. He was determined to stay here with grandma, and grandpa when he got back home from dropping off Hannah.  So that's what he did.  After a couple bowls of roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy and carrots, we went to lay down on our big bed....grandma was hoping he would fall asleep as he'd been yawning a lot, but he didn't. We watched tv until grandpa came back.

They played for a bit and then Cade wanted more beef again...hehehe! Only difference being, after this bowl, he laid on the couch saying he was really tired, and within seconds he was out cold :)  Mom and dad called after the movie saying daddy would drop the 'girls' at home then come here to get Cade.

Cade was not happy....hehehe...he wanted grandpa to drive him home, and he started pouting when we said that daddy was coming to pick him up. As normal, the grandkids rule the roost, and Cade got his way. Grandma called daddy to tell him to stay home....grandpa was on his way LOL!

So, another surprise visit, and a productive one as well. Thanks for helping with the decorations guys!  There will be more to come next weekend.

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Booooooooo......

Yes, it's that time of year again where not only do the ghosts and goblins make an eerie appearance at our doors, but so do the frankensteins, princesses, clowns, firefighters and everything else that we can think of, follow in pursuit of the goodies which people hand out on all Hallow's Eve :)

I have to admit with the weather we've been having from the remnants of Hurricane Sandy, grandpa and I weren't sure if we should even put any effort into decorating the driveway this year. When the rain seemed to stop around 1:00 yesterday afternoon we decided to make a start to see if we'd get rained on. Surely once we started bringing everything out of the garage, if it were going to rain on us this Halloween, then that would be the time, right? LOL! Wrong!

Grandma can't say it was a nice day, but at least the rain, snow and very strong winds held off for a few hours.  A couple hours later, grandpa and I were done with the driveway, and even though it didn't extend all the way down the driveway as I've been known to do...hehehe...it still looked great! Yes indeed, this grandma couldn't disappoint the neighborhood kids....this had to be done LOL!

The only thing we weren't too impressed with was the temperature. It was c-c-cold this year. In all my 61 years I can't remember it being that cold....brrrrrrr...on a Halloween night. Even the ever loved fog machine was having a hard time staying warm enough to spit out the fog. It's actually a good thing that there weren't as many kids as we had hoped for, because it gave the fog machine some time inbetween to get warmed up :) Grandma even wrapped it in a towel to help it warm up quicker LOL!

Having prepared for over 70+ treaters, and only getting 37, there is a lot of goodies left...all bagged up and nowhere to go. Well, nowhere to go except in a big trash bag and into the big freezer downstairs. Now I'm not saying it will all make it until next halloween....I mean that's a whole year away you know....and a girl (guy) sometimes need a little something sweet/salty to nible on, right? LOL!  At least all those calories are not sitting on the kitchen table where access was way too easy for us, and there will have to be a really good excuse to walk downstairs to the freezer to open that trash bag and root around for what we want and risk breaking a tooth on the frozen treasures :)

Grandma came inside just before 7:30 to warm up, and the phone rang. Perfect timing :)  It was Ryan....he was asking if we still planned on coming over to see the kids. I suggested we wait until today to head over as it was getting late and the kids were tired.  When he asked the kids there was a unanimous 'noooooo'.....they wanted us there then...well, at least they wanted the goodies they know grandma always buys for halloween...hehehe!

I went outside to tell grandpa that we were heading over to see the kids, and we did something we have NEVER done before in our lives....we left all the decorations, lights, and two big bowls of goodies all set up!  The question in both our minds was "will everything be okay, and will one kid come along and take all the goodies?" LOL!

We were pleasantly surprised when we pulled back into our driveway about an hour later. Everything was still where we left it, and the big bowls of goodies had a little less in them, but just a little.  Whomever came along while we weren't home only took what they expected to be given, and left the rest for anyone coming behind.

With a sigh of relief I started to think why we had such distrust in the neighborhood kids. Is it because we only hear bad stories on the news about young people these days?  Whatever the reason, we were very happy the our neighborhood seems to still be "okay" :)

We started taking the decorations down and a teen girl came up the driveway but was going to turn around and leave when she saw us dismantling everything.  Grandpa told her to come back and gave her a bag of candies...and she was the one who was pleasantly surprised.

I do have to say that when we drove over to the kids we were quite surprised ourselves at just how few people even had pumpkins outside to welcome the wee ones to their door.  Even on our own street there were very few lights on, and even those that were on had no decorations at their door. Maybe it's just the kid in me....hehehe....I love to see the reaction of the kids when they walk through the lights and fog. And even more surprising, there was only one young boy who was afraid to walk up the driveway this year. The poor kid didn't think he would get any candy and was surprised when grandpa told him to wait while he brought him a bag of candy and a bag of chips.

All in all it was an uneventful Halloween....thankfully....with the bright spot of the evening being spending a bit of time with the Girls and Cade :)

 
Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Where has the time gone?

Grandma is running a little late with her posts lately.  This week was a big day for our grandson Cade....some may say it's the major step, going from a "baby" to a little boy. This grandma has to agree I'm afraid LOL!

Not only did he start school this September, but he turned FOUR this week! Yup...4 years old. No more baby close by....he's a big boy now....and was he excited LOL!

When grandpa and I drove up to their street we saw the kids at the playground two doors up from their house. Daddy was with them and they all came runnin up to the car. Cade got so excited that he started running home to beat us...hehehe....and as we pulled into the driveway we could hear him at the front door of the house yelling "mama and buppa are here" LOL!

He was chatty, happy and running around on pure adrenaline I think....hehehe!  He wanted to take it all in, and was SO good when it came to not touching his corner of presents until it was time to sit and actually open them :)
  

 

The Birthday Boy!

 

Grandma had worked on his cake, trying to incorporate everything he wanted...Spiderman, Mater, Lightning McQueen. This cake had to incorporate it all...and I think I succeeded :)  I even tried making spider webs from royal icing....and it worked. Although Cade felt kind of bad when he tried showing me the exact spot on the chocolate house roof that was going to be his...hehehe...and one of the webs shattered. It didn't matter at that point....pictures had been taken, and he was able to munch on the pieces of web, so everything was okay with the world :)
  

   
Mom had made a delicious spaghetti/ceaser salad dinner for everyone and we all dug in. Then....drum roll please...it was time for the cake. And not surprisingly, the kids all wanted the chocolate house and tree!  Hmmm...I think I have to rethink all these big cakes I've been making if the important people only want chocolate LOL!

And our little Hannah isn't the only 6 year old who doesn't like cake....two other kids at the party do not like cake! Imagine that! Hannah has already put in her order for her next birthday....a big chocolate house and a tree LOL...no cake!

All in all it was a very fun evening. Sad in one respect that our "baby" was no longer that, but happy to see what the next stage of his little life will hold.

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo

Another Yawn......

Thank goodness yawning keeps you awake LOL!  Grandpa and I had a great 24 hours with Hailee, Hannah, Cade and even daddy!  Yes, Mom had a girl's party yesterday afternoon, so the gang moved in for the day and a sleepover.

Unfortunately the big guy, who has been on antibiotics for Croop for a week, ended up getting sick with a high fever/vomiting.  He looked so pitiful :(  You know Cade is sick when he refuses to eat spaghetti, or popsicles.  We have no idea what's going on, especially since he's on AB's already.

The girls were a little upset thinking it would stop us from going out for supper, but daddy graciously said he'd stay home with a sleeping Cade on the couch, so grandpa and grandma could take the girls out to eat....but not without asking if we could get a couple pounds of wings for him!

Hailee kept going on and on saying she was hungry and when could we go to eat. Truth be told, all she was in a hurry to get to the restaurant for was the ice cream they serve with kid's meals for dessert....hehehe...and they even put both caramel and chocolate syrup on hers!  Yummy!!

Cade did have a bit of joy before getting sick though. Grandpa had ordered him a school desk and chair just like the ones they have in school.  We have one for each of the girls, and poor Cade was feeling left out by having to sit at a princess table and chair to "work" LOL!  He was so excited when he came in and kept telling daddy to come look, come look.

Grandma took Hailee to dance for a couple hours and while we were gone Grandpa took Hannah and Cade to the Dollar Store....Cade had to get some school supplies for his desk, and Hannah went just because she loves the Dollar Store...of course, not coming out empty handed LOL!

Mom decided to come over to sleep as well so daddy went to pick her up and Cade wanted to sleep with her in the bottom bunk.  I had picked up some Advil for him before we went out for supper, but his fever was still acting up during the night :(  Hannah wanted to sleep with daddy downstairs because she never gets too, and Hailee slept on the foam mats beside the bottom bunk.  Grandpa smiled at me and said "I think we got the better of this deal" LOL!
 
At 5:30 this morning I heard the pitter patter of little feet come into our bedroom and a cute little voice saying "hi Mama"! What a great way to be woken up :) He put his juice on the nightstand and I slowly lifted him up to the heights of our new bed LOL...no easy chore. We don't call him Tank for nothing...hehehe! I swear, I'm going to need a ladder before long to get up on our new bed LOL!

After snuggling in for a couple minutes he sat up, looked around and asked where Buppa was. I told him he was downstairs exercising so he asked for his juice cup and slid off the bed, going to find Buppa, but not without grandma following close behind to make sure the lights on the back stairs were on. The last thing the poor guy needed was to fall on top of everything else :)
 
This morning he didn't want mom out of his sight, so daddy took Hailee to Mass with her papers that she needed to work on for her 1st communion that she will be making in the Spring...after we had green pancakes for breakfast that is...hehehe!

So it was a busy 24 hours, and grandma is still yawning...hehehe!  But I wouldn't trade it for the world :)

Grandma loves you
xoxoxoxo