Grandparent's Day

Nicholas and Blake requested our presense at their school last Friday for Grandparent's Day. Blake's was first. I loved seeing him in his room. He is such a sweetheart and is so creative...thinks outside the box.

After listening to lots of talking, Blake was excited to be able to get to read to us from his book box.

Blake took us on a tour of his part of the school. He showed us the places that he wrote his name outside the artroom due to good behavior. Can you see his name? Left center.

It was fun to watch the kids show us grands how they remember the short vowel sounds: short a: stand At your chair; short o: stand On your chair; short u: get Under your chair, etc. So much fun!

PopPop Tom gives Blake a good-bye hug with Grandma Connie looking on. We do love our Blakie! 

Nicholas had his Open House in the afternoon. He had the task of interviewing us about "the old days". Grandma Connie, PopPop Jim and PopPop Tom watch Nicky write down the information. (This could take a while!)

Nicholas, like Blake, got to write his name several times on the ARTtitude board. Such good boys!

After a tour, Nicholas works on the packet of activities that he gets to do with his Grandparents. Such fun!

PopPop Tom and PopPop Jim think they can help but Nicky probably doesn't really need it.

What a small world!!! John and Judy Hart were at Grandparent's Day in the room next to Nicky's! What are the chances??? Here they are with granddaughter Reagan.

The second graders all made this "Read All About Me" poster which hung in the hall. I took this picture of Reagan's poster. Wish I had gotten closer but the hallways were rather crowded. Why is it that all these Grandparents think that THEIR grandchild is so special when I know that MINE are the most special!!!

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!

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.

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!)

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!