Bonus Time With the Grandchildren!

Whenever the opportunity arises and we get the chance to spend a little extra time with the three C's we jump at it. That happened twice in the past couple of weeks giving us much enjoyment.
The first opportunity was very short but during that time Chloe, Claire, Chris and I made a dessert and some dinner for the family. When I arrived Chris' first question was, "Do you have the ingredients, Grandma?" I was super impressed with that big word and I assured him that I did. We made a key lime pie, (easy, easy, easy, but no pictures) and then they made chicken and veggies in a biscuit basket, the same recipe that Claire and Chloe made at our home a few weeks back. The picture below shows Chris and Claire at work on the biscuits. Chloe had taken a break and gone outside following her hard work on the pie. Believe it or not, Chris didn't clobber anyone with the rolling pin but it looks as if we were lucky!

The second opportunity came for Papa and me to stay with Chris during the parent/teacher/student conferences that were scheduled. At Claire and Chloe's school the students attend along with the parents and they are asked to do some goal setting. I am told that Chloe's goal was to do better writing her "N's" and to go to bed on time at night. Claire's goals, I believe, had to do with her math and also her bedtime. They both got excellent report cards but then that didn't surprise me at all.

Papa and I arrived a little before Chris was finished with his nap and so I took some time to walk around the yard and snap a few pictures. These children are so blessed with the surroundings that they have to play in and learn from. Beautiful little flowers were blooming all around the yard and although the yard is still a work in progress it is a very pleasant and lovely setting. Mike has had a couple of articles written about his work with the trillium and other plants that he is cultivating. They have a couple of small ponds as well as a creek on their property and a resident frog actually hopped out to pose for my camera. The chickens are producing plenty of eggs that the kids are very proud to gather. The chicken stories that the children tell are quite funny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Chris woke up we spent some indoor time and some outdoor time with him. One of the latest projects that their family is doing is polishing rocks. We brought a small collection of some rocks that my Dad had collected and polished and Papa and Chris enjoyed looking at them. In amongst the rocks was a claw of some type and an old glass eye that my Dad had lots of fun with many years back. His profession was in the optical field and he had a glass eye or two around. I am told that sometimes he would put it in the bottom of a guest's coffee cup and they would have a good laugh when the guest finally discovered it. I tricked the girls when they got back from school by putting on my sunglasses and telling them I had an eye problem and then I opened up my hand to show the glass eye. I did get them going a bit, but only for a very short time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today the three C's were part of a children's group that sang in our church service. They did a great job and it was fun to see all of them in the sanctuary for a change. Looking forward to a great week with hopefully a little more rain and then some great spring weather. Next week Claire, Chloe, and I plan to participate in  a Walk4Water to raise funds for clean water supplies in Africa. Hoping for a great day and a good learning experience for the girls. 

 



Weekend Fun With Christopher!

Our weekend was filled with fun and laughter as Chris came to spend a couple of days with us. Claire and Chloe have many birthday parties to attend now that they are in school, and yesterday there were two! Given Paula's work schedule, Mike often is the escort to the parties, so allowing Chris to come to our house made it a little easier, hopefully, and it gave us a great opportunity to spend time with and focus on our grandson. Papa and Uncle Superman had already planned a fishing trip on Saturday so Chris and I decided to go along. Friday evening Chris and Papa got a pole and reel ready for Chris to use.

 

 

 Besides working on fishing equipment Chris rode his scooter (where is his helmet?), swung the bat for a long time continually telling himself and me what a great hit he had made, and did some searching for a pesky raccoon that is bothering our plants. He is the happiest little person and he has such an infectious laugh! We had a super time in the beautiful weather.

 

 

 

 

 

Before fishing he packed in a huge breakfast of waffles, eggs, bacon, fruit, and milk. Wow, I couldn't believe it. I asked him if he wanted a little bib to keep his fishing shirt clean and surprisingly, he said he did.

 

 

 

Our first fishing spot didn't yield any fish for our little group or anyone else in the area. Chris, however, intently watched his bobber waiting for a fish to take it under. He had a hard time not reeling it in and even though we all told him to just let it rest it was hard for a three year old to do. There was a lot of "casting" for his pole. The first picture shows him chomping on his deer stick from Uncle Superman's deer but still doing a great job of holding his pole.

 

 

 

 

We eventually moved to another spot to try our luck and he spent some time helping Papa with his pole before he fished on his own again. I love the third picture of them fishing side by side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately for us, it wasn't a good fishing day. Chris had a bit of a meltdown when he realized it was time to go home and we were fish-less. I think Papa and Uncle Superman may have felt like having meltdowns too, but they managed to control themselves. :) Chris promptly fell asleep in the car and slept through a lunch stop all the way home.

 

 

 

He was well rested by the time we reached our house and so he did some outside activity again as well as some art projects.

 





 

 

Paula sent me a couple of pictures from the past week. The kids at the park, as well as one of Claire getting ready to use her certificate for student of the week. I mentioned last week that she had received the award for the virtue "Integrity". We are so proud of her and today I read on the school website that her response and comment to winning was, "My brain tells me to do the right thing". Bless her heart, I trust that will be something her brain continues to tell her for the rest of her life.

 

 

 

Mike sent a couple of pictures from one of the birthday party events yesterday. The girls appear to be having a great time.

 

 

 

One of the funny things of Chris' visit happened Friday night. We often, maybe a couple of times per week, use Facetime to talk on our Ipads. Friday night the girls called Chris to chat and his initial response to them was, "Why are you calling me?" Claire quickly told him that she missed him but he was a little too busy to care. I guess he might have enjoyed the time away from the girls. :) He did tell Papa a couple of times that he was going to stay at our house forever. He quickly forgot that however, when he saw his Daddy this morning. Boy was he happy to see him.

 

Lots of memories for us! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

February Flies By

Paula sent this darling picture of Chris this morning. He is such a charmer and so much fun. Not sure what the occasion was of his "growing" a mustache, but he is all smiles for his Mama's camera.

 

Although we don't get to spend as much time with him as we would like, due to schedules and distance, we so enjoy Face-Timing with him, as well as the girls. Last weekend when we met up with Mike to return Claire and Chloe after they spent the weekend with us, Chris and Papa had a conversation while we were waiting for a few minutes. He is very interested in Papa's cane and often they adjust it so that Chris can walk like Papa.

 

While the girls were at our home Chris and his parents took a hike where he saw a waterfall and he also got a haircut. The report is that after his hair was cut, Chris told the stylist that he loved her. He is so generous with his love and hugs it makes us smile over and over. Below is his new haircut and his happy stylist.

 

 

While Chris enjoyed some extra special attention from his parents we were enjoying Claire and Chloe. The first thing they did after arriving at our house was play on their scooters and gather "flowers". They made a special bouquet for the table and  then began to make bread with Papa. The bread didn't turn out quite like Papa's bread usually does, but they had such a good time making it.

 

 

 

 

They also fixed dinner, making some mini chicken pot pies. They really did a good job following through on all the steps and most importantly they both ate nearly every bite on their plates. It was quite tasty.

 

 

 

 

Chloe decided to load up on necklaces from the fancy box that they have at our house. She was quite proud of the look she had created.

 









The following day the girls attended a great birthday party for their friends Danica and Aubrey. The party included a petting zoo and what they thought was the best part of all, a hay ride. They had a wonderful time and look forward to seeing Danica and Aubrey again soon.

 

 

 

 

 

A little humor from the past week. Mike sent me the following picture of a sign that the girls had posted on their bedroom door. Not sure why they didn't want any Dads in their room, but it makes me think (and smile) of what's ahead for Mike and Paula with these two fun loving, energetic, and smart girls. I was pretty sure which of them had posted the sign and it turns out I was correct. We laughed quite a bit thinking about the sign over the next few days, but really they are only making use of their writing, spelling, and reading accomplishments.

 

 

The last picture is from my time in the classroom on Thursday. It was a rainy day and the teacher was working hard to get some of the wiggles out of the students. It worked quite well, and Chloe and Claire enjoyed it very much. Claire was honored with another "student of the week" award based on the virtue "integrity" and we are so proud of her. Keep up the good work Chloe and Claire! 

 

 

Looking forward to a new week and hoping for some additional rain to bless our area. Enjoy your days, one at a time!