Grandma's Last Day

Today is my last day.  At church, the kids were called forward for a sermon for them.  Since Kevin is not at church regularly, he is sometimes shy, but he was not today.  He was right up there with the others!

It was "family day," so the kids stayed for the whole service.  I am not sure how much of the sermon sunk in, but it was a good one for the kids to hear too.  The pastor talked quite a bit about how important it is for children to obey their parents.  Today was also Communion Sunday.  Kevin has not been in a Communion service before, and I didn't have time to explain to him.  Since they did not offer gluten-free bread, I was not going to go forward, but Kevin wanted to!  So I took him up, and he had his first Communion with me watching!  Later he commented on the bread and wine, "That was a good combination."  And he is right.  It is a good combination, I thought so myself as a child.  I liked grape juice with Saltines (as the Baptists do it) as a snack, but my mother warned me to not pretend I was taking Communion.

Laura is probably Kevin's best friend at that church.  Her Mommy was also a close friend of Karin's.  They were having fun together, so I wanted their picture.  Then they turned shy.  ha!  Laura isn't really that tall.  She was wearing wedge shoes!  Quite the little lady.

After church, we met Heather and baby Tristan at Goodberry's, a frozen custard stand.  We had "healthy" sundaes:  strawberries and coconut on pineapple custard.   Yum! 

Then we stopped at Mommy's grave to leave some flowers for her.  Her marker still is away for repair. 

Busy Saturday

Our errands of the day included books and flowers.  Kevin's books are too young for him now.  He has some to grow into which were his step-brothers'.  Mommy is encouraging him to read every day, but it is drudgery for him.  Reading should never be unpleasant.  Grandma thinks he has the wrong reading materials.  First, we sorted through Kevin's books for him to chose ones we can ship to Kien.  Then we went shopping at Barnes & Noble.  We picked out a few novels and a J. K. Rowling biography which are at his reading level and will be enjoyable reads for him.  He wanted a Harry Potter Lego book.  Each page is a different character from the stories with information on the character and how to build it with Legos.  Since we could not buy the specialized Lego pieces, this book seemed like a $20 waste to Grandma.  But he really wanted it.  Guess what book kept him reading for hours the rest of the day! 

The second errand was to buy flowers for Mommy's grave.  Kevin helped pick the flowers and arrange them.  We tied them with a ribbon there, and had a store employee cut the wired stems to the right size. 

Mommy and Daddy went out tonight, leaving Kevin and I to make our own dinner and play games. 

Daddy's Birthday

I taught Kevin to play my favorite game this week -- "3 to 13."  He is very good and beat me each time we played the first few times!  And I wasn't "letting" him win; he had better cards.  After playing this morning, he was creative with the cards.

 Then he got creative with photography.

Today was Daddy's birthday!  We spent the afternoon shopping for a cake and birthday cards. We were looking for cards at Target.  The card writers of their cards are just gross/crass.  But we eventually found satisfactory ones.  Kinga finally called the bakery in her subdivsion and they had what she wanted!

Kevin and I taught Mommy and Daddy to play "3 to 13" last night, and they liked it too.  Mommy was the big winner last night.  So tonight all of us taught Stefan to play and he WON!  Not fair! 

End of the Easter Eggs

Today, we wanted to clean up the rest of the Easter Eggs.  Mommy was unfamiliar with Deviled Eggs.  Kevin helped me make them.  Kevin is shaking Parsley Flakes on them. 

Daddy LOVED eating Kevin's eggs.  After dinner, he gobbled the remaining ones making all of us laugh. 

Adventures at the NC Botanical Garden

I took Kevin to the local botanical garden with my membership+one card.  We looked at the displays around the main building and spotted a birdwatching area.  Kevin saw a Cardinal and I saw a Downy Woodpecker.  Then we spied a gate into a forested area with trails, so we left the garden and went "hiking."  We heard an Eastern Towhee (drink your ~tea~), Chickadees and saw a Turkey Vulture.

We saw this flower in the woods.  It looked like a Trillium to me, so I Googled "trillum red," and that is what it is!  Later we saw a section of the garden with hundreds of them.  We also saw a Pitcher plant.

We came across a bridge and you can't keep boys out of water!!!

I sat for a LONG time while he waded.  He even saw some little fish. 
We finally went back into the garden to see the treasures there.  They have a section of carnivorous plants, so we went looking for that.  Next we ran across this amazing chess set.  The pieces were all in disarray.  Kevin put them all in order, then played a game against himself until he was stuck in checkmate on one side and won on the other!  He reset the chessmen.  As we were walking away a family came along and started playing.

We were privileged to find an anole eating a fly!!!  A garden worker told us what kind of lizard he was. 

She told us about other things in that area including a Bloodroot plant, showing us the roots which have a red liquid looking like blood!

We stopped at Karin's grave to leave an Easter lily! 

(The marker has been sent away for repair)

 After church, there was an Egg Hunt for the kids!

The big boys had never hunted for their baskets before, so this was a fun adventure for everyone.

I spotted Kevin snuggled on Stefan's lap.  Sweet!

The Day Before Easter

 Grandma came with an Easter craft for the boy to do which I found on Today's Christian Women e-zine (I think).  I printed out the butterfly designs for Kevin to glue to backing paper.  He cut out the butterflies, bent the wings, then hot glued mini clothespins to the back.

Easter Eve and time to color eggs!!!

Kevin asked me today why my hands are crinkled.   LOL  

Two years ago, Kevin, in silliness, called everything "Mr. Potato Head."  Last summer everything was "chicken-butt." This year, "banana" is the word to describe everything.  Oh, my . . .   Crazy kid. . .  But adorable.  :) 

Grandma Arrives!

The boy is being his silly self.  :)  That is Grandma's hair pick in his hair. 

 Step Grandson Stefan is loving Pebbles. 

Great Uncle Gary & Great Aunt Ruth Come to Visit

My brother, Gary, and his wife, Ruth, came to visit for 10 days.  We took them to Texas Roadhouse.  The boys liked meeting their Great Uncle!!

Babysitting Gabe

I babysat with Gabe this morning while Mom and Kien had other things to do. 

 We had fun playing ball!!  He was surprising good at the game! 

Teenage Grandson!

It is so nice to have a teenage grandson for Grandma to play with!!!  :)    He went ice skating with me today.  

He has helped me move my stuff from the garage to the attic, and he has humored me by playing the card game "3 - 13" with me, and says he enjoys it!  :) 

My Birthday

I am one blessed Grandma to receive such sweet, homemade cards from my kids!!!

Christmas Day 2012

The boys were a little excited on Christmas morning!!!  What could be better?!

 Grandma brought the fixings for making a Happy Birthday Baby Jesus Cake for our breakfast:  an angelfood cake frosted with whipped cream and topped with fresh strawberries.   

Later, everyone came to Grandma's house for Christmas dinner.  Texas had a WHITE Christmas this year! 

Love Living Close!!

When I arrive at their house, the little boys do a dance exclaiming, "It's Grandma!"  Sometimes instead of a dance, they get down on all fours and pretend they are dogs.  That is what they did a couple of days ago when I needed to stop in.   Then the two little doggies started roughousing and I observed this cute play:

Today is Greg's birthday!  To help out a bit and see my birthday boy early, I offered to pick up donuts and bring to the house before leaving for church.   Our family's tradition, when the kids were little, was to stop at a donut shop on the way to church.  Grant said we needed that time to settle down and prepare for church.  The truth is, he was never around when I got the kids ready for the day except on Sundays.  He was oblivious to the daily trauma of getting kids ready for school on time!  It stressed him out to have to constantly be on top of them to get them out the door.  It was HE who needed the donut and coffee break before church.  Anyway, Greg tries to continue that tradition, but, instead of eating the donuts in the shop, he brings them home. 

So I arrived with donuts, and set the table.  In the process, Gabe bumped into me.  His Mom told him to say, "Excuse me!"  He replied, "It's only Grandma." 

When all were seated with the boys in their Sunday finest, I was closest to the cabinets.  Cathi said, "Get me a bib please."  Cracked me up as it sounded like she wanted it for herself.  

I gave Greg his birthday gift from me at breakfast as did Jeremy as he leaves for his Dad's today over the holidays.  Jeremy presented him with a wrapped gift with 2 giant Hershey bars taped to the top.  Greg immediately said, "A case of Mountain Dew."  Jeremy said, "How did you know?"  Greg said, "Am I right?  I just said that because it looked the right size!"  He peeked in the end to see it really was Mountain Dew.  Then he said to Jeremy, "Well, you owed it to me for drinking my last can."  Jeremy retorted, "I didn't feel guilty because, I knew I had more for you." 

Jeremy's Christmas Concert

Tonight was Jeremy's high school band concert.  He had a solo part in "In the Bleak Mid-Winter."  He said he was nervous, but he played beautifully!!!  

Between sections of the concert, he played in a clarinet quartet.  They also performed flawlessly.  Grandma was very impressed with the quality of the performance! 

With a buddy.

I became a (step) Great Grandmother!!!

Born December 14, 2012 - Ivy Mae Christopher

We drove to OK on December 16 to meet Ivy Mae.  Just 2 days old.  I am careful to call myself a STEP Great Grandmother!  ha! 

Grandpa loving his granddaughter!

 Grandma thinks she is precious.

The Children's Christmas Program

The Children's Christmas Program at their Baptist Church

Near the beginning, Gabe (in red sweater) and his class walked across the stage.  Gabe is carrying his sheep head.

 Gabe is on the far right wearing his sheep head with Kien in the center of the stage -- the angel on the right. 

Kien was the angel Michael.  He had a large speaking part quoting, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you:  you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn." 

 He received thunderous applause for his speech!  The only child in the program who received his own ovation! 

At the closing of the program, when all the participants came back on stage, Kien and Gabe stood together in the very center of the state.  Gabe was now playing a tambourine. 

Grandma Babysits

I saw a balloon reindeer being situated as I drove to the boys' house.  I asked if they wanted to come see a giant reindeer, so they got on their bikes and off we went!

Once we were there, I remembered Cathi has told me Kien is frightened of people dressed up in costumes.  Neither of them wanted to get off their bikes and go closer!   But no one cried or seemed overly frightened. 

On the way home, I asked Gabe to repeat what he did for me yesterday when I babysat.  I didn't have my camera then -- but here he is climbing a vertical stone wall all the way to the top!!!!!   :-0    Oh, my. . .

 Of course, Kien can handily climb to the top AND jump off from the top, landing on two feet.  Gabe walks down the sloped wall to a more comfortable place for jumping.  Still too high for Grandma's taste! 

I was there to "babysit" Gabe and Jeremy while Mom and Dad went to Greg's work Christmas party.  Kien was also out at his sleepover at a friend's house.

Grandma brought supplies to make dinner for the three of us:   mac and cheese for the boys and gluten-free mac and cheese for myself plus green beans and Christmas cookies from the exchange.

Tonight is the first time Gabe has been eager to read stories with me.  He kept bringing me book after book!  :)   And we played toss with a small ball again.

Jeremy "treated" Grandma to a movie after Gabe was in bed -- "Red Dawn."  Oh, my.  Talk about violence!!!!  So I fell asleep.  When it was over I "tortured" him with playing 3 to 13 with me.  Unfortunately, my cards were phenomenal, and I won 0 to 110, though we didn't finish the game before Mom and Dad walked in.   I kept telling him I wasn't trying to win, because I want him to like the game.  ha!  But he said he did like the game.