Sunday, October 30, 2011

Celebrate!!!

Our house is small. It seems to be getting smaller but perhaps that's not really the case. It could be the grandkids are getting bigger!!! Yup! That must be it! Thank goodness for a full basement even if it is unfinished! It's finished enough for a swing,  baby buggy,   toy grocery cart, teeter totter, "classroom", places to set up lots of Geo Trax, places to run and run and run, and on and on it goes.

This weekend, the grandkids were here. Nicholas turned 8 TODAY! He CHOSE to come to Goshen to celebrate. As he ages (and wises up) he probably won't make this choice, so we are thrilled that he wanted to come. He brought his Mom and Dad and brother Blake (6 1/2) and sister Lexi (2 1/2). They arrived on Thursday due to Fall Break. We celebrated his birthday on Saturday and Sunday. You can't have too much of a good thing. Layla (7 1/2) and Marley (4 1/2) were here to help celebrate. Let the party begin!!!

Here is the birthday boy! 8 years old!!! (I'm going to run into my scrapbook room right now and look at his 1st year book!!!)

Nicky and his Daddy see which Beyblade (top) spins the longest. "Lexi! Hey...Lexi!!! Is that you changing the channels?????)

"Ohhhh yessss! Just what I wanted!"

"One can't have too many Legos!"

"MOM!!! SEE WHAT NICKY GOT???????"
(BTW: The glasses are "fake" but I'm not sure that Blake knows that. He LOVES wearing them. In fact, he wears his coat most of the day inside because that is what Harry Potter does. (I doubt that he has ever seen Harry Potter other than in a commercial.)  For Halloween, he will tell you that he was "Harry Potter dressed up as Darth Vador".

"We LOVE birthdays!"

Layla gives Nicholas instructions in the use of his new DS (whatever that is) and Blake is in a state of disbelief.

"Ohhhhh! I get it now!"

What's happening??? These kids are growing up as I type this! We need a bigger house....a few days a year anyway!

Alexis is so excited about the balloons!

Got it!!!

Nicky chose McDonalds for his lunch. Marley, Blake, and Layla didn't seem to mind his choice.

Happy Birthday to my favorite 8 year old grandson! I love you more than chocolate!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Happy Halloween!

"Hi everybody. I'm Winnie the Pooh."


"I can't wait to go Trick or Treating."

"I'm Obi Wan Kenobi. Some people call me Nicholas. I'm going to be 8 years old on Sunday. We are having my party with Layla and Marley tomorrow so we celebrated  Halloween tonight."

"I'm Harry Potter dressed as Darth Vader. Some people call me Blake. I love my pretend glasses."

"I'm Layla and I am dressed as a hippie. I love to wear dresses and be a girlie girl so this was the best outfit for me."

"Hi. I'm Marley and I'm a cowgirl. I am so glad that I get to wear a hat and gloves."

KK/Mommy and Uncle Brent/Daddy hid candy around the front yard and we are ready to find it. Get ready...get set...go!!!

The search is on! After the candy is found, it will all be divided equally. (PopPop wants them to pick up leaves as they go. Oh well!)

"Dinner is over and JoJo and PopPop have a Halloween treat for us. Hmmm. Not much candy but wouldn't you know.....underwear and BOOKS!!! Can you tell they were teachers???"

Lexi, Nicholas and Layla settle right in and start reading!!!

"I love my book!!!"

"Can you read to me KK??? What does this say? asks Marley.

What a fun evening!!! Tomorrow Jason/Daddy will come and we will celebrate Nicky's birthday and it will be another big day.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Life is Good!

"Hurrah! PopPop wants to take me outside!"

"I just love to swing with you PopPop!"

"I wonder where my brothers are. They are probably creating something. That's what they do."

Blake loves tiny things. He has great fine motor skills and a tremendous attention span which he puts to good use.

Blake makes "people" without using a pattern. He has an artist's eye. After seeing what I was wearing, I became one of his people.

Being color blind, Nicholas needed a little help from Blake to find out which color was what.

Blake suggests red instead of purple. PopPop can identify with this problem.

These are such wonderful little boys.

Such a gorgeous day! Jason suggested a boat ride! Perfection!

I love that they live on the water. The colors were gorgeous!

"Hi Paula and Ron!" (Having my sister live just 8 houses away from my daughter is such a gift!)

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Perfect Fit!

I (almost) never buy gifts for my grandkids unless it is a birthday or Christmas. Am I a terrible grandma? I hope not. It's not that I don't want to but I would rather give them just "me". I play with them, swing them, read to them, sing and dance and create with them....all those things that you do with your little people. I just don't want them to think that everytime I see them, I'm going to buy them something. Last Thursday, however, I broke my own rule. That's fun once in a while. I wanted to buy the girls an outfit for no good reason. I was in the mood. I was with my friend, Jane. I didn't know exactly what sizes to buy or what style to get. I guessed and took a chance. SUCCESS!!! Perfect sizes and styles! What were the chances???
I LOVED their reactions!!! Layla was so happy to have a vest and can switch from the white top to a black top. The jeggings had sparkles. A girl can't have too many sparkles! Marley was so happy with her long sweater over the cute top and leggings. The buttons matched buttons at the bottom of the leggings. I loved that they were so thrilled with their new clothes and especially loved their reactions to getting presents for 'no good reason'.  Makes me want to go shopping again...for 3 other kids I know.

Marley (4) Layla (7)

Layla poses for the camera

Is this what one calls "hip action"??? Swing it Marley...swing it!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Soooo Proud!

Last Saturday, Alexis was so excited to get to go with her mommy, Kendra, to St. Paul's UMC to speak to a Women's Conference. She was a real star and loved the attention!

After Kendra spoke, people were greeted and Lexi checked everyone out. It was a great day.
Ms. Millie Ferro was responsible for putting the conference together and had asked Kendra to speak 1 1/2 years ago. What a woman!!! Now that's called...planning ahead!

I got to show off my daughter and my granddaughter! Doesn't get better than that!


Aren't they adorable???

Lexi looked so cute in her diva outfit which included black boots!

"Thanks Mommy for saying such sweet things about me," says Lexi.

Besides Kendra, the speakers included Rev. Vicki VanNeval and Magistrate Deborah Domini. Good women!

Brittany Gableman and her mom, Claudia Phipps were a hit when we sang  "Fly Away Medley" as a trio. What a fun experience that was!!!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Leaves! Leaves! Leaves!

Knowing the rain would be coming in soon, Tom spent a couple of days raking and blowing, raking and blowing! With woods on two sides and 30 trees on our relatively small plot, he tries to keep up with the process to keep it from getting out of hand. It is a never ending job to be sure. There is a very bright side to it all though..........Layla and Marley LOVE it!!!

"Hey you guys! Have you seen PopPop???

(I wonder if she can find Tom. Can you?)

"I see you PopPop. Here...let me help you."

"Oh never mind. I need to get the leaves out of my socks."

"Hey girls!!! Get me out of here!"

"In a minute  PopPop. Maybe JoJo will take our picture first."

"I'll help you PopPop" says Layla.

"Ohhhh, I LOVE jumping in the leaves."

"PopPop will haul them into the woods tomorrow. He doesn't care."

"Noooo. He doesn't care" mimicks Marley. "This is fun!"