September Birthdays!!

On Tuesday of this past week we had some park time with the grandchildren. Below Chris explores and enjoys the tunnel slide.

We had two family birthdays this week. On Wednesday Uncle Eric celebrated his birthday, and on Friday Daddy Mike celebrated his day. Saturday night the family gathered for a taco dinner.  Our immediate family plus a few extras enjoyed a good time and lots of laughs. Below Cousin Jesse and Chris have some talk time. Chris seems to be thoroughly enjoying the moment.

Uncle Jon lights the candles on the birthday cake for Daddy and Uncle Eric.

Claire and Chloe enjoy the cake and ice cream.

Chris opts for another strawberry. The boy really put away the strawberries and fresh pineapple that we served. Pretty healthy choices!

We heard a funny story this week that I want to include in the blog simply so that someday it will be in the blog book that we make each year. On Labor Day weekend Claire and Chloe spent some time with us. We were invited to our friends' house for a delicious BBQ dinner. Our friend Earnie, the chef, told us this week about a conversation he had with Claire at the BBQ. Earnie had made the girls some little boats out of tin foil so that they could play in the waterfall fountain on the patio. And play they did...what a great time they had. Earnie relayed that he saw Claire wad up some little thing and put it in the boat before putting it in the water. He asked her about it and she replied, "It is baby Moses, but don't worry, I put a life jacket on him." We have sure laughed about that this week.

Can't believe the last week of September is upon us! The best part is that the weather should cool down just a bit. Enjoy your week!

Tuesday, the Best Day of the Week!

Tuesday was the day for seeing the grandkids. So in this case, Tuesday was definitely the highlight of our week.

Claire and Chloe are now in the 'Busy Beavers' class at pre-school and Claire is modeling the official hat she made to announce that she is now a 'Busy Beaver'.
Chloe put her hat on Papa's head so he could feel like a 'Busy Beaver' too. He, however, was a one-eyed version. The girls told us lots about their class and filled us in on all the details of their new friends and the events that have taken place so far. Chris spends lots of time on Papa's lap or snuggled up beside him on the couch. Can't say that Papa minds that at all.

We all took a short outing to the store and stopped for bean burritos on the way home. Chris loved his burrito, and Chloe ate hers entirely, in short order, leaving a small trace on her face.

Claire had opted to try a new kind of burrito and found it to be just a bit too filling for her.

We are looking forward to some fun hours on with the C's Tuesday, coming up this week. Given some of the other appointments scheduled, it will definitely be the highlight of this week too!

Goodbye August, Hello September !

Life has improved for Papa Norm. He is stronger, in way less pain (at times none), and he is able to get around much easier than when first home from the hospital. Last week we offered to stay with the kids for a few hours at their house for the first time in quite a while. We were excited and so were Claire, Chloe, and Chris. There is one thing about going to see them at their home, we are ALWAYS greeted as if we had been gone for a year. It does our hearts good. Here Papa and the joys of his life are posing together.
Claire had lots to tell us.....

Chris continues to smile for the camera...no matter how close....

Sweet Chloe giving me the pleasure of snapping a picture. She is the least interested in posing most of the time. On this day, no problem. :)

Claire, still working on all she had to tell us.....

On Sunday, after Sunday School, we brought Claire and Chloe to our home for a couple of days.

Chris was facing surgery on Tuesday morning so the girls hung out with us until Chris was home on Tuesday afternoon. Among other things, we decided to have a semi-fancy tea party. Claire and Chloe were very excited and we found some old hats for them to wear for the occasion. We got out the lace tablecloth, my grandmother's antique teacups and saucers, and made some tiny fancy sandwiches. We had strawberries, carrots, sandwiches, celery with peanut butter, and tiny cupcakes for dessert. Claire and Chloe had pineapple-orange-guava juice for their "tea" and found it to be quite delicious. We cut flowers from the yard and made a bouquet for the table and then they took it to their Mommy for taking such good care of their brother.

Chloe and Claire got the "pinkie" in position at just the right time for these two pictures.

We had a lovely time at the tea-party which ended a great two days of swimming time, park time, lots of story time, and time to work with the Lincoln logs. Papa read to them from one of my Dad's old, old, old, books called "Billy Whiskers". They were so interested in the story. Papa will have to read more the next time we see them.

The doctors think that Chris' surgery was successful but future tests will tell the tale.

Here, as you can see, he has a sleepy, quiet look. With all the anesthesia and other medications he wasn't exactly himself. He was, however, hilariously funny, at times, looking very wild eyed and being very silly. We sure laughed at him. Hopefully his pain will diminish soon and he will be back to normal. His private nurse/Mommy took wonderful care of him and and as you can see he was happy to be in her arms.

I am reminded, once again, how blessed we are!

Welcome September!