Christmas Trees And The Princess

My daughter got the brilliant idea to dress Abby as a princess.   Sheis beautiful and adores being a princess.  She looked into the mirror and say, "Pretty!" Abby is a pretty princess!"  Of course my grandson doesn't want to have anything to do with princeses or princesses.  So when Abby told him he was the prince he retorted, "NO, I'M NOT!  I fly airplanes!"  So he is the pilot. Maybe he is the royal pilot.  In any case Abby accepted that and off they went to play trains.

Callie also saw on the "Pioneer Woman" website this cute dessert.  It's strawberries on top of mini brownies covered in chocolate glaze.  The trees are covered in buttercream frosting and decorated like Christmas trees.  There are also Santa Hats.  Very cute.  She wanted to put them on a plate that we were returning to the next door neighbor. She decided she didn't like the glaze because it is too soft.  We are doing another batch tomorrow with a harder glaze.  They look very pretty and dress up nice for gifts.

As you can see Princess Abby was very pleased with her "Christmas Tree". She ate it in like two seconds! Can you tell she stuffed it in her mouth? LOL!!!

Update on Don (and Sue) - Back Home Again

It has been good go be home.  Don is resting peacefully in his own bed.  We have to have the home health nurse come in twice a day and give Don his IV antibiotic.  He will have to do this for two weeks.  Then we go back to Denver to see the Doctors again.  They want to check him out, do another CT scan and make sure that he is healing like he should be.  So we will see.  They may decide to forego the CT scan if he is doing okay since he has had so many already. 

I am cleaning closets and cupboards. The girls are having a garage sale today and then doing it again in three weeks.  That will be the last one.  So I think I have time to find a bunch of junk and get rid of it all.  I am also going to play golf every day.  Really early in the morning so I can spend the rest of the day taking care of Don.  It is also good to see the grandkids again.  Plan on doing a lot with them too.

I went over to Casey's and picked up Sebby to come and see Grandpa.  Abby had already seen him.  Sebby was very interested in Don's 8 inch incision.  He is very careful with grandpa.  "I'll wait till grampa is all well before I jump on him!!"  Good idea.

Summer Fun With My Fabulous Grandkids!

Summer is always fun at Grammy's

These girls have the most beautiful eyes in the world!!!

Kiddy Updates

How is it that we can look at this behind and say it's adorable?  I mean look at those pants!  They're huge.  When I wear underwear like that I get the "I can't believe you would wear that!" from my daughters and husband.  But when she does it we go on and on about how adorable she is and what a cute fanny she has.  And just look at those legs!  Excuse me people, but this is called "fat legs"!  But oh how we love to pinch them and squeeze them and goo and drool over how absolutely sweet they are.  And soft too!  Okay they are cute and adorable and precious and soft.  I goo and drool over them as much as anybody if not more.  But I don't think I will get the same reaction when I put on my bathing suit this summer.  In fact, I think I could clear the beach or pool in 6.25 seconds of taking off my towel.   I hate wearing bathing suits!  Not because I am a naturalist, but because I look freakin' freaky!  So the best thing to do is carry my granddaughter around and let people play with her baby fat legs and pat her cute bottom and hopefully they won't even notice me. 

I have to say that Callie is very creative with the hairstyles she does on Abby.  I wouldn't think a kid would sit still for this intricate braid but Abby does.  Well, Callie has to put on a Beranstien Bears video and while Abby watches it Callie can get this done.  Very creative, don't you think? When we take Abby out to church or to the store or park we always get compliments on how beautiful she is and "who does her hair? It is gorgeous!"

From the beginning of parenthood Callie swore she would never put on one of those head bands that is more like a tourniquet than anything on her babies head. When the top of your kids head is turning purple it is time to opt for life instead of a fashion statement. However, when we went to the Summer Festival at Cole Park one of the vendors had these wide style headbands.  Callie decided it was more like a hat than a tourniquet so she bought one.  Since Cate is pretty much bald putting a wide yellow band and a huge silk rose on her head seems to make up for the lack of hair.  Besides, she is really cute in it.

What can I say.  This cheesy grin says it all.  Hey, it is the beginning of summer and if I can get my grandkids to pick dandlions and get them out of my yard then more power to them.  Besides, don't they look adorable?

Davey on the other hand was having none of it. "I ain't puttin' that smelly thing on my head!  It makes me sneeze!"

God's Garden

                                                                                                                                                                                    








I love having my granddaughters with me.  I love taking them to Sabbath School. They look so pretty in their dresses and Abby's hair all braided cute. It is so fun to see your kids participate and also learn to pray. They are so innocent and willing to do things with you.  I am going to cherish every moment of it.  I mean look at these precious little flowers.  God has a wonderful garden!

Visitng Granddaughters - Hurray!

Looking forward to my daughter coming to visit for the summer.  She has a two year old and a three month old.  Don is flying back to NC to help Andy drive their moving truck out.  Andy is looking for a place to settle somewhere in Montana.  That is much closer to us and we can see our granddaughters more often. 

I plan on taking the kids on a train ride next week.  That is Sebby's favorite thing to do and he really wants to do it with Abby.  We are going to take a short ride to Monte Vista and stop at the Burger Shack for lunch at their little park and then ride back.  I hope we have good weather.

The boys have been playing outside everyday.  I love our big deck as it allows the kids to play in a safe place and I can see them from the kitchen.  They are fun to watch and Davy tries to copy everything that Sebby does.  He doesn't want to be left out. 

I need to get a new plastic pool. The mega winds we had blew the other one to Cleveland.  The kids will have a great time "swimming" on Grammy's deck.  I love summer!  We are already having a blast!

MOPS

This morning I was privileged to speak at a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting.  These women were beautiful mothers and grandmothers that want to raise their kids as best they can in a difficult world.  There were several sweet newborns there.  Children grow up to fast. These Mom's want to do the best they can and meet together to encourage one another, help one another, and find the best resources to help with the big task of raising kids.

I am proud of these ladies getting together.  This is one of those meetings that is totally worth getting into your very busy schedule.  If you get an opportunity to go to MOPS do it.  You won't regret meeting new people, moms and ladies that are in the same situation you are.  It is non-denominational and open to all. 

Cheap Smiles

One of the cheapest ways to get a smile out of my grandkids is to get them a musical card.  They have such cute ones these days.  They even have ones you can record your own voice on and sing their favorite song.  There are card with their favorite Sabbath School song on them like, "This Little Light of Mine".  I also have one with "Your Are My Sunshine." My boys have been amused for hours, months, and one even lasted a year.  They just loved those cards and I loved seeing the smiles when they open and close, open and close.  So why get other toys when you can just get a musical card.

Home Made

Sebby and I decided to try our hand at making crackers.  So many crackers in the store have milk products of some sort in them.  Whew! I didn't realize that going to the grocery store for "vegan" food would be like going to the library.  I really have to read labels. I also need to carry my laptop so I can look up all the funny looking words in the ingredient list like "casein".   It is a protein found in cheese and milk. Now I have to plan my trips instead of just running to the store for a quick shop.

I looked on line for a cracker recipe. The one we did was really simple but I think I need to tweak it before sharing it with you.  I think the key is making sure the dough is rolled thin enough and the crackers are baked long enough but not too long.  I am at high altitude and so I am going to have to mess around with the recipe till I get something good.  Sebby like them when we tasted them.

Davy wasn't so sure about the crackers. He does like graham crackers though.  He also doesn't have to be on the vegan diet, but since Sebby is why not let them both be on it.  Then I don't have to cook so many different things at meal time!

If any of you have ever made crackers before I would love to hear your experiences with them.  Would love the recipes too!

Asthma, Colds, and Making The Most Of It

Poor kids.  Davy has a bad cold and Sebby has a cold that launched his asthma.  Fortunately we know how to deal with the asthma attacks now so that we don't have to take Sebastian to the hospital.  I am really glad because it saves us sooooo much money!  Maybe that is why God never sold my Oxygen and Medical business.  Now it is providing for my family.  The Dr. gave an RX for Sebby and I had immediate delivery of Oxygen.  Casey still has medicine from the last time and the Dr. upped his dosage for the first two days.  We have been giving regular nebulizer treatments and he seems to be doing better.

Unfortunately because they are both sick we can't go outside.  It can get cabin feverish.  The boys decided to play hide and seek.  Sebby got to be off his oxygen for awhile so we played.  They are creative.  Funny how they have to call me when they are hiding so in can find them.  Sebby asked me to put Davy in the hamper with him so they could "hide" together.  Very cute.

A friend suggested we try a vegan diet for awhile and see if that works to reduce the asthma for Seb.  So Casey went out and bought a few things and made a couple of really good recipes.  My first thought about going vegan is, no flavor diet.  But the recipes we tried are really good. We found them online by typing key word Vegan Recipes. I will share them in a future blog.

Hunkering Down and Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's getting colder by the minute.  I think it's going to snow again.  Sigh.  I really am tired of the snow and cold, but the nice thing about it is that I can snuggle with the boys.  Davy came this morning with this darling and very warm hat on.  He looks so cute in it.

Both of the boys have colds. So what's new.  They decided to get on Grammy's fluffy bed and wrap up in blankets to watch cartoons.  Sebby said, "Can I watch cartoons Grammy? That would cheer me up."  How can I refuse. 

We did make cookies today. They came out really good. 


Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Cream together:
1 pound butter softened, (four sticks or two cups)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar firmly packed

Add to creamed butter and sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 Tablespoon vanilla
and beat till fluffy.

Separately  put
4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
in a bowl and stir dry ingredients together. Add spoonful at at time to mixture and beat on low till well blended

Add
1 cup of coarsely chopped walnuts
1 12 oz pkg chocolate chips

Stir till blended.

You don't have to grease the cookie sheet, but I either spray it a little bit or use parchment paper liner. I actually use a small ice cream scoop (about 1.5 inch) to shape the cookies.  They all come out the same size that way. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.
This recipe is good for high altitude cookies.  I live at 7600 feet.

Warm Greetings Fun And Games

I flew into Albuquerque airport and was so excited to see my Sebby and Davy. Don drove up to the passenger pick up and I opened the door and grabbed my Sebby and hugged him tight.  He said, "We are picking up up at the airport!"  He was all smiles and giggles.  After hugging my wonderful husband ( he really missed me!) I slid in between the boys.  I gave Casey a hug and settled back into shear heaven. Davy was asleep in his car seat and I had to wait till he woke up before hugging him.  My heart was really full and I was so happy to be back with my boys.

Casey, Don, and I went out to dinner before heading back home.  Sebby sat by me and hugged my arm and kept saying, "We picked you up at the airport!"  It was exciting for him too.  We had a great dinner and then drove home. Sebby hugged my arm all the way home.

The boys came over the next day for me to babysit while Casey went to work.  We had a ball playing games and running round. Don fixed up a box and pull and put the boys in it and pulled them around the living room.  They both squeeled with delight.

Periodically throughout the day Sebby would say, "We picked you up at the airport!"  I was gone so long that he may have thought I wasn't coming back and he was so thrilled to see that I did!

Today Sebby and I are going to make cookies.  "M&M cookes" per request. Will let you know how it goes.

Last Day With Abby and Cate

Today is the last day I get to spend with Abby and Cate.  We went to the Petting Zoo on the Biltmore Estates.  It was cold but we went and had a nice time. 

After our visit with the animals we went to the Biltmore Square and ate a nice lunch at the Corner Kitchen.  They have good cheese cake there and nice burgers.  It was great to relax and the girls were very good.

They have very nice shops in the square.  We shopped at some kids clothing stores that had beautiful stuff and adorable clothes.  They thought a lot of their clothes and they show it in their prices so we walked out without buying anything.

Later in the evening we went to a Baby Shower that the church and friends gave for Cate.  She got some beautiful clothes, diapers, and wipes, and accessories for babies.  It was fun and very nice of the ladies to do.  Callie is all set for baby things and so is Cate.  Even Abby got a few gifts.  A good evening all around.

First Well Baby Visit

Today was Cate's first "Well Baby" check up.  What trama.  Just think....you have to lay naked on a cold plastic covered table with a piece of paper draped over it. I don't call that very hospitable or comfortable for a naked baby. Then you wait, and wait, and wait.  I wonder if the Doctor is balancing her checkbook or something.  She could be finalizing her summer vacation plans.  Whatever she is doing waiting is getting cold. 

She finally comes in the exam room and poor Cate gets poked, prodded, bent, tapped, and listened to from every angle.  She is weighed, measured, and documented before finally being declared perfect.  We knew she was perfect.  All you had to do was ask.  Would have been so much easier and cheaper.

The Doctor is nice.  She explains things well and has a good way with babies.  But still I think Cate describes her ordeal best in her pictures.  Wow....that was a humiliating and  COLD experience!