Recycled Toys and Birthdays!

Paula got out some stored toys, books, and a high chair that had been the twins' this past week. Chris was super interested in everything and had so much fun discovering new things. Claire and Chloe weren't as excited to see their belongings recycled to their little brother. It was interesting to observe. Both girls had to take a turn sitting in the high chair to make sure it didn't still serve a purpose for them. It only lasted a minute or so and they both moved on.....

This little Dora car was always one of the favorites of the girls. Thankfully, the batteries aren't still working so we don't have to hear the constant chatter and singing when the buttons are pushed. In all fairness, however, I think we better replace those batteries and give Chris the same thrills the girls had. :):)

Some Papa and Chris time. We are really able to give him lots of attention when the girls are at school during the morning hours.

Uncle Eric and Daddy Mike both had birthdays this week and the family celebrated with a taco dinner on Friday night. On Wednesday Chloe had told her teacher at pre-school that it was her Daddy's birthday so they made him a crown. Pretty special, I would say. Aunt Suzie made a yummy red velvet cake for the occasion, in the shape of a bunny with sparkler candles, for a little extra fun.

Wow, the last week of September is upon us. Can't believe it! Have a great week!

No Dull Moments!

Chris continues to explore and keep us all on our toes. He loves to look for the kitty that lives outside and eats on the deck outside of the kitchen. I'm betting Chris' first word will be "kitty". He also loves to watch the birds that come and go on the deck and since Claire and Chloe know most of the names of the birds, I'm sure he will pick up on that as well.

I don't think I mentioned that when we went to Oregon a couple of weekends ago that we saw and purchased some African frogs in a supposedly "perfect environment" tank. The girls, without hesitating one moment, named them Yoko and Rosie. Yoko and Rosie are doing well and spend most of their time on the kitchen table where they can be observed while eating or passing through the kitchen. Below the girls are having a morning snack, not long after breakfast, I might add, and talking to and about Rosie and Yoko.

Claire fixed her own hair again......

Then spruced it up a bit later.....

Honestly, we don't buy the grand kids a lot of toys, but this week at Papa's urging, we indulged them a bit. We got each of the girls a remote control car that is for their age group. What fun they had on Saturday. Normally, I wouldn't be with them on a weekend day, but Daddy Mike and Papa and a group of their friends went on an outing in the mountains, riding ATVs and Razors. They had a great time, and so did we, playing with the cars. Chris was quite interested and followed the cars and the girls around as they ran them. I was surprised at how well they ran on carpet, hard surface floors, and outside as well.

We are looking forward to celebrating two family members birthdays this week. Our family has much to celebrate--Happy Birthday Eric and Mike!!!

On Grandma's Watch.....

Our time with the grandchildren turned out to be quite eventful last week. You never know what a day will bring!

"Normal day, let me be aware of what what a treasure you are" is a wall plaque that I have in my dining room. Many years ago, my mother-in-law also had the same sentiment in her home and as a young bride I just didn't get it. I looked at that so many times and thought it just didn't make much sense. Now I "get it", after many years of raising a family, being married, and just experiencing life.

Our week started out pretty normal, Papa brought a small bag of Jelly-Bellies for Claire and Chloe and we created a game that allowed each girl to make a choice of one jelly bean for her cup that would then be put up in the cupboard for treats during the week. Below you see them enjoying the game.

Later that day they put Papa in a wig, which, as you can see was quite becoming. :)

We took a fun trip to the park later on and Claire helped by pushing the stroller to our picnic table.

Papa enjoyed pushing the girls on the swings and after we were back in the car one of them asked him when his "bad" arm was going to get better so that he could push them with two hands. He explained to them that it probably wasn't going to get any better, and after a few more questions they seemed satisfied.

If you would like to see a little video of Chris enjoying the swing and being pushed by Claire click here. He also just enjoyed being outside both in the stroller and the swing.

As I have mentioned in previous weeks, there is no stopping Chris' exploring. Here he is under a kitchen chair. He did need a little help getting out of that space but I watched him yesterday crawl in a straight line through two small child size chairs, under a table, and out the other side just like he was going through a tunnel. He acted like he knew exactly what he was planning. And sure enough, he was going after some electrical plugs that fortunately were capped.

On Thursday, early in the morning, my normal day suddenly disappeared. I had just carried Chris into another room and there was a loud sound and then frantic crying. Claire (who was at that moment a "bucking pony") and Chloe had collided and Chloe fell face first on the carpet. They both told the same story, but I didn't see what had happened myself. How she could have hit that hard, I just don't know, but when she got to me she had lots of blood coming from her mouth and she was in pain. I could see that there was a problem with her bottom front teeth and the more she cried the more worried I got. The more she cried, the more Christopher cried, and Claire was broken hearted. I knew Paula and/or Nonie should be coming soon, so I gave Chloe ice to hold against her mouth and prayed that Mommy would get home soon. Sure enough, once Paula checked things out she discovered some broken teeth. Oh my! Thankfully, Nonie arrived soon as well, Paula called the dentist and I took off with Chloe to the dentist where Mike met us. What a trooper Chloe was. She had to have one tooth repaired and one extracted. The third one was loose and is expected to be fine in a few days. She did not cry one tear nor let out one peep during the procedure. She has a wonderful children's specialty dentist and they certainly do a fine job at keeping things calm and manageable. Here is a before the dentist picture.....

And an after the dentist picture.....


We are very thankful that things worked out well and that it wasn't anything more serious. I, however, do not want to have any more accidents on my watch! It certainly wasn't a life or death matter, but there were a few anxious moments for all of us. Some good things did come from this episode. Both Kathy (Nonie) and I totally enjoyed some one on one time with each of the girls. Nonie reported that when Chris went down for a nap that she and Claire accomplished several things together and had a great time. I reported to her that Chloe and I had a great time

singing in the car, having frozen yogurt, and going to the grocery store after the dentist visit to get some soft foods for Chloe to eat. Had it not been for the tooth incident, it would have been a great Chloe and Grandma day. Chloe did mention several times that she missed Claire but possibly we need to arrange some time for them to be apart every once in a while.

Following that eventful week, Papa and I spent a great weekend attending a friend's wedding at Lake Tahoe. What a beautiful setting, a beautiful event, and a great time with great friends. We couldn't have asked for a better way to end our week.

A Visit to Daddy's Work!

Chris can sure entertain us and we decided to play a little game with him one day. We lined up all the balls that we could find, placed Chris across the room, and then waited to see which ball he would crawl to.
Two out of three times he crawled right to the soft blue and white soccer ball. The third time he crawled to a soccer ball about the same size only yellow and blue. The girls got such a kick out of it and were sure that he must know what a soccer ball is.

The highlight of the week was probably our visit to Daddy's workplace. The girls had not been there before and just couldn't imagine what it was going to be like.

Claire and Chloe (in the background) check out the office.....

Claire sits in Daddy's chair.....

We take a walking tour of the nursery.... Chris and Nonie. Chris needed some sun protection so Daddy loaned him a hat.

The girls each got to pick out a plant to take home. Mike said they both have excellent taste in plants given the choices they made. I am always amazed at the plants that both of the girls are familiar with and can name.

Chloe checking things out prior to making her choice of a plant.....

Notice the walking stance of Mike and Claire....very similar.

Chris gets a ride.

We followed up the nursery visit with lunch at McDonald's and some playtime in the indoor play area there. The girls had the place to themselves for the most part, but when a new little girl came in with her Mommy, Claire marched right over and said, "Hi, I'm Claire", and then Chloe said, "I'm Chloe, what is your name?" Claire soon came over and told Nonie and me that the little girl doesn't speak up, but she has a "belle" in part of her name. Clarabelle? Annabelle? Isabelle? We didn't ever find out. :)

Enjoy your Labor Day holiday!

Catching Up!

We have experienced a very busy two weeks and I feel like I am just about to get caught up with life again. The week before last, on one of my days with the grandchildren, Claire, as she often does, insisted on doing her own hair. She always wants multiple things in her hair and this is the evidence of that. I would have stopped at the little plumeria clip (my favorite flower of all time, by the way) but Claire really needed those two head bands as well. She thought it was beautiful and of course I agreed with her whole-heartily after I found that I couldn't convince her otherwise. Nonie arrived a bit later and was not only able to convince her to change to pony-tails but had a great idea for an outing. So off to the little lake we went, exploring the area a bit more. We packed a picnic and spent a short time on the shore of this small PG&E lake. Not really suitable for much, but the girls enjoyed gathering and then throwing sticks and pine cones in the water and watching them float away.

Chris was content to watch the goings on from his stroller for a little while.




Very soon we decided to go to our favorite and familiar park to swing, walk, and climb a bit. This may have been Chris' first time in a park swing, but at any rate, he loved it.









Upon my arrival one morning this beautiful art work welcomed me. Nonie had set up an art studio outside apparently, the day before, and the girls enjoyed painting and creating.





Claire telling me some important news and if you would like to see both of the girls giving me instructions and rules for our trip to Disneyland you can click here. I as usual was the "baby" and they were the parents. They had already rattled all of my do's and don'ts and then I asked them to repeat it.






Chris making the rounds of the playroom. Just in the two days I was there, I rescued him from the walk-in pantry (he was visiting the recyclables), picked up the plant and dirt that he had found and knocked over, and rescued him several times from corners where he crawled after something and then got stuck a bit. He is keeping us busy, busy, busy.

His first and successful attempt at pulling himself up. I was shocked.

Chloe listening to Papa tell her a story.

Papa Norm and I had a great time last weekend in Gold Beach, Oregon. We met our friends, Connie and Wayne, who were traveling home after spending a week or more in Seattle helping with childcare for their granddaughter. We shared a cute little house on the shore for a couple of nights and relaxed and caught up with each other. As I have mentioned before, we love to take the Rogue River jet boat trip and this may have been our sixth time. We have lost count. We always, always, enjoy it and this time we were so fortunate to see bears and quite a bit of other wildlife. This bear just casually walked along the shore and our boat idled and watched him/her for about 10 minutes I would guess. So fascinating!

This week I have been reminded once again how blessed we are with family and friends who support and love us and I am thanking God for each one of them and for good health and good medical care.

September is upon us and I can't believe it!