Introduction-March 31, 2105

Please allow me to introduce you to Hannah's soft mew-mews. She has recently taken to calling them kitty cats so we are making progress.

L-R: Smokey, Snowball, Blackie, Stinky and Derrick.

Hannah named them all.

 

These cute little stuffed creatures were a gift from Jerry's sister, Judy. Hannah had 5 mew-mews before then, but as soon as she got these she pushed the others aside as they are "old" and these are soft. She still plays with the old ones, but these make the trip to our home every single time. Then she has to feed them and cover them up for a nap. We enjoy having them visit. They are not a problem.  

Pots and pans-March 29, 2015

While the girls were here yesterday we got out some pots and pans and spoons so Zoey could make noise with them. It must have brought back memories for Hannah because she grabbed the boiler and put it on her head. Zoey was really fascinated by that. Perhaps we were, too. We didn't realize she would remember how much she banged spoons on boilers when she was Zoey's age. It's just fun to watch. It does not take expensive toys to have fun with little ones. But the toys are great fun, too!

 

 

 

Zoey has hit that age where she wipes the smile off her face every time you try to take a picture. I'll keep trying. She is a funny little character, too. What a joy it is to have these little creatures as part of our lives. It's a blessing, too.

 

We will be dyeing Easter eggs one day this week. I can hardly wait to see what kind of trouble we can get into with that project. You know I will try to get pictures.

 

 

 



 

 

Today's fun-March 27, 2015

We picked up both girls this morning. Hannah is getting over a virus and Zoey now has it. The doctor said it is a children's virus and that may be correct as none of the adults have had it, yet. Hannah ate well today so we know she is on the road to recovery. Zoey did not eat. She drank some milk and threw the bottle down when I tried to give her water. She is normally very loud but today she was quiet.

This was today's project. She did well until we got to the fifth

letter when she became tired. I convinced her to finish and then

we quickly taped it to the wall. She pronounced that this was HER room.

 

You can tell our chubby little grandbaby does not feel well.

She never cried or fussed. She just wasn't herself.

 

We will watch both girls again tomorrow for only a couple of hours. I don't have to have a project for such a short length of time. If Hannah really wants to do something we can always bake some goodies.

 

 

On a completely different note, I am asking for prayers for a 4 year old girl named Kensington in Seattle. She was playing with her 2 year old brother and accidentally fell out of a second story window at a house that was under construction. She was badly injured and has had brain surgery today. She is in a medically induced coma. I am asking that you please pray for this little girl. I will endeavor to keep you posted.  

Disappointment-March 25, 2015

I'm not sure why, but for some reason we looked at the Easter candy we bought for Hannah's basket. It was made in Mexico. I am talking about major US name brands such as Reese's peanut butter cups, Starburst jelly beans, M&Ms, etc. The only ones not made in Mexico are Lindt which are made in Germany. What a disappointment. I discovered years ago that my toothpaste and lipstick were both made in Mexico. Now our candy. I grabbed my shampoo. It is still made in the US, but I bet not for long. I don't know about you, but I really don't want my candy to be made in Mexico.

We have been very conscious of the toys we have bought for Hannah and a few for Zoey. We found a company that makes great toys in Canada and a strictly American company that makes many of the old wooden toys from when we were little. So we try to buy only from those two companies. We feel like the items from China have too much lead in the paint especially the red paint. So we are trying to be careful with toys, but we missed the boat on Easter candy. I just wanted to share this with you so you can start checking labels, too.

We have had a rain/snow mixture all day today except for about 10 minutes this afternoon when the sun tried to come out. The north wind was the problem. It was terrible. There was a track meet across the street and we felt so sorry for those kids. They were wet and cold and there was no place to get warm. It lasted until dark, so I bet those people were really happy to get on the bus or in their cars and go home.

Hannah has had a virus this whole week so we were kept away. My how we have missed that little girl. They are projecting that she will be well by Friday so we can babysit both of them Friday and Saturday. We will be so happy to see Hannah and I'll make you a bet she will be happy to see us. Zoey knows our faces but doesn't understand we are her grandparents. Not yet anyway.

Hope you are having nice weather. Maybe the moisture will make the green start showing in the grass. The trees are still dormant so we will have to wait a while for them to bloom. Same for flowers.

Enjoy your week.

Menards-March 21, 2015

Yesterday we made our second trip to Menards in Cheyenne. We still have not walked the entire store. We have been to two others, one in Kansas and one in South Dakota, and they were the same size as this one. They have so many items in the store inventory has to be a dreadful undertaking. We needed only a few things. Derrick needed many. We left early so we could have lunch at Steamboats Steak and Smokehouse. It was excellent and we are glad we stopped. We spent a couple of hours walking Menards and filling up a huge cart and a flatbed type cart (not sure what they are officially called). It was a miracle it all fit in the Cute Red Vehicle. I will repeat what I have said in the past-if you have the opportunity to shop at a Menards, do it. Just put on your walking shoes and take a bottle of water with you. It's a fabulous store. The next time we go I will try to remember to wear my pedometer.

To people living here or near here, these pictures won't be interesting. But to my Southern followers they are different.

Longs Peak aka Twin Sisters Peak seen as we were getting on the

interstate near Loveland to go north. That's a lot of snow.

And it's really pretty because it is so clean and fresh.

 

Same mountain as seen from Cheyenne. The air was not as clean

and the sky was not as blue, but the mountain still looks majestic.

 

I babysat both girls today while Jerry and Derrick worked on Derrick's sprinkler system. I'm unsure which one of us is the most exhausted tonight. The challenge is trying to get both of them to nap at the same time. I managed that today for a short while. Neither of us will have any trouble sleeping tonight!

Update-March 16, 2014

Hope you are having a wonderful St Patrick's Day. We went out to eat for lunch and had Reuben Calzones. They were extremely good. Unfortunately they were so large we will have to eat the leftovers tonight. I cooked a St Patrick's meal including Irish Soda Bread on Sunday so the Hoffmans could have a holiday meal with the Hoffmans. During the week and especially today was just too busy for us to get together. Hannah liked the corned beef but not the cabbage. We like it all! The Soda Bread was so interesting and I am glad I tried it.

Friday night we said we would keep both girls so the parents could have an evening out. Before they got here they all went to a home and garden show. Poor Hannah missed her nap and had to walk the entire show. Zoey got to ride, of course. She was just about a zombie when she got here but she loves to play. She made it until about 7 PM and she looked at us and said "Can I go to sleep?". Of course. She beat me to the bed, climbed in and covered herself up. She barely rolled over until she was sound asleep. So, without planning she spent the night with us for the first time. I could not go to sleep because I was concerned she would be upset when she woke up in a different place. She woke up at 3:00 AM, found her way out of her room and down the hallway to our room. She said quietly, "Grammy, I'm hungry". So we got up and fed her. That gave her energy so she (and we) stayed up until 7:00. Then we all went back to bed and slept til 9:30. It was one of the most exhausting nights we have ever had, but when we took her home at noon we knew we would happily do it again. We went shopping today so we are better prepared for an overnight toddler guest.

Yesterday that sweet little girl referred to our living room as her home. There's no need for me to comment on what that means to us.

Yesterday was 82 degrees. Today the high will be about 49. In spite of that we are still so happy we stayed to enjoy this precious time with Hannah.

Again, Happy St Patrick's Day!

Where does the time go?-March 12, 2015

I was shocked when I saw how long it had been since I posted on this blog. We are both to the point we do not know what day it is and when one finds out we have to remind the other one. We have been warned that summer will be busier. We are not sure we can handle that. If we babysit both girls for a full day it takes us the next day to recuperate. We did not get that break over the weekend. We kept them both last Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, again on Tuesday and today also. We will have them for a short time, hopefully, tomorrow night. After that we are praying for a break. Last weekend we also fit in a little time to wash the Cute Red Vehicle which was no discernible shade of red from all the mag chloride that covered it.

If there is a puddle anywhere around, Hannah will be in it.

She loves puddles, especially mud puddles, more than any little

girl I have ever known. She does not mind wet muddy clothes at all.

 

Today the television was on almost full blast. Hannah was trying to talk over that and Zoey's shouting. Both little voices were as loud as jet engines and as ear piercing as a dentist's drill. I was trying to bring calm to the situation when I looked over and realized Jerry was sleeping through it! Hannah said "Granddaddy's asleep". I agreed. How when you have all of that noise going on in closed quarters can any human sleep? I was close to going insane and he was sleeping through it. It must be nice. For the record, the girls were not fighting. They were merely communicating with each other. Zoey has incredible volume but still is not talking. Hannah can talk endlessly. If Hannah does not pay attention to Zoey, you would not believe the noise that comes out of Zoey until she gets Hannah to notice her. I'm trying not to interfere. I want them to be their own little beings but it is a great test of patience sometimes. At least we are here to enjoy all of this.........when we are awake!

Noodle day-March 4, 2015

The sun was shining today but it barely climbed to 21 degrees. It was way too cold to go anywhere, so Hannah and I decided to make noodles for lunch. It ended up taking all three of us so we remarked about teamwork, the mantra of the Wonder Pets on Nick Jr. I put my hand over Hannah's and then put her hand on top of mine to show her how to knead the dough. She turned the crank on the noodle maker while I fed the dough into it and Jerry caught the finished product. We all hung the noodles on the drying rack. Then I cooked them and we had them for lunch. They were delicious and I am not bragging. It's simple to know if noodles are good or bad. This was a great recipe.

See our lunch!

 

Today was another of those treasured days that I hope one day down the road will mean as much to Hannah as it did to me. It was such a joy to let her help with this fun project.

The Z-March 3, 2015

It is seldom we can get a half way decent picture of Zoey. Today Jerry lucked out with a hilarious shot.

We have laughed so hard at this we cannot make a written comment.

It is hard to get her to smile for the camera. We know that she was

actually having a fun time putting things on top of her head though

she looks a bit annoyed here. Today was also a day of her mimicking

every sound we made and trying to copy our funny faces.

 

We had both girls today all day long. Tomorrow we will have Hannah most of the day as Zoey has a routine check up at the doctor's office.

It is snowing cats and dogs outside. And it is so cold. We hope the snow stops soon so we won't have problems going to get Hannah in the morning. It has been so many years since we drove on snow and ice and it is really hard for us to adjust. If it weren't for these cute girls, Las Vegas would have been our winter haven again this year.

A camera-March 1, 2015

We kept both girls Friday night. It was just supposed to be for a few hours but it ended up being a long time and we were all completely exhausted. But before we got to that point Jerry told Hannah he wanted to take pictures of her. She immediately ran to her play room and grabbed some Lego blocks. Then she made her own camera so she could take pictures of Granddaddy taking pictures of her.

Here she is demonstrating how her camera works.

 

Here she is taking her pictures. Once she took the picture she

then handed it to me. I had to put pictures of Jerry in my right pocket.

Pictures of me went in my left pocket. This was all her doing.

 

I will add that you must overlook the mess in the background. When they come to see us we have no rules for cleaning up until we are done playing. We just let things fall where they may. Life is just too short to fuss over a temporary mess.

 

It was cloudy today so we were happy we got to see the sun yesterday. Only a light snow is predicted tonight into tomorrow. It's raining in Las Vegas. The rain there is delightful as long as you stay off the streets. We miss the rain. We don't get that kind of rain here. We wish Spring was close but it isn't.