An Adventurous Day with Carissa

I loved it in Missouri, but as we crossed back into Texas Odie and I both were happy to see Texas. Missouri is too far away from family!! I was so excited to get my Carissabella, but had to wait because I had a job interview Monday morning. When the job interview was over, I called Jonda's cell and Carissa answered. She was ready to be picked up to start an adventurous day with Grammy.

I asked her what she wanted for lunch, and of course she didn't really want anything. We discussed various menu items that might entice her into wanting to eat. As we passed Bass Pro, I asked her if she wanted to eat at the Cracker Barrel. I could almost hear the wheels in her little head turning as she yelled out, "Yeah!" Don't think for a minute that it was for their food. They have a toy corner in the shopping area. It was a win win situation, though, because although Carissa got a new dog (Rowdy) and a white fox; she also ate corn, carrots, and biscuits.

The day was beautiful, and I still had a small amount of shopping to complete. We headed over to the Pearland shops. I took pictures of Carissa as she danced to Christmas music on the sidewalk. Onlookers smiled and wished us Merry Christmas as they passed by. We went into Yankee Candle and of course we had to make a stop by Barnes and Noble. Carissa really needed a Rudolph book, but as we looked at all kinds of toys/books she found Scooby magnets. She said, "Grammy, Scooby is my favorite." I told her Christmas was right around the corner. "But Grammy, Scooby is my VERY favorite." It is wonderful being a Grammy, I was thinking as we stood in line to pay for the Scooby magnets.

Our next stop was at Granny and Pawpaw the Great's home. We just missed Santa, but he dropped off a musical moose. When I sent the picture to Jonda, she wanted to know if it was musical and staying at Granny's house. No such luck Mom. It is musical and will be coming home with Carissa. I have a feeling that those batteries will die shortly!!

As we progress through our adventure, we share pictures with Travis and Jonda of what we are doing. We started it when Carissa went to Illinois for a couple of weeks. Carissa loves showing Mom and Dad (By the way she can spell both!)what she is doing. They like keeping up with what she is doing also.

We went on down to Aunt Vickye's to pick up some Christmas I had shipped to her address. Her and Bill had painted the floor in their new shop. It looks almost like a linoleum and is a beautiful floor. Carissa was walking around checking out the work. She was standing in the middle of the shop, looked at Vickye, and said, "You did a very good job on building this shop." She sounded like she was a twenty year old building inspector instead of a beautiful three year old girl.

We traveled on the Aunt Johnye's house to see her new puppy and leave some money for her to pass on to this young family that has been less fortunate this year than us. Morgan has a German Shepard that is beautiful and huge. Carissa played with Macye and Granny the Great. Johnye has (had) a 12-14" snowman that has disappeared. She looked in all the rooms, but is not sure what her animals must have done with it. She now has three dogs and a cat. There is never a dull moment in that house!! I will love to hear the story when the snowman shows up!!

We ended the day eating Mexican food with Pawpaw the Great and Johnye Leigh. We drove around a little while checking out the Christmas lights.

This morning she was excited to help me wrap packages. I bought Colton a Disney Zippity. She spent a minute or two checking the outside of the box. She looked up at me with those big brown eyes and said, "Grammy, do you think he will share."

I still have two of her presents to wrap. We had a five + minutes discussion this morning on how she could play outside while I wrapped them. (which blinds to close, which ones could stay open, how I would be able to hear the door, so I could hide it before she came in, how she wouldn't look, etc. etc.!)

This year has almost slipped away, and as in years past God has blessed my family and me month after month. Yet another prayer has been answered. I prayed to either get a job or hit the lottery. As usual in his infinite wisdom, I didn't hit the lottery, but have been blessed with a good job. I start back to work on January 4.

LATER

Leaving on a Jet Plane

The other night Hunter called. I hadn't talked to him in a while, because he is not much of a phone talker. Becca said he had been asking for me for several consecutive days. He was on his way to Mamaw and Papaw's house, so Becca could get some Christmas shopping done. He was telling me he didn't want to go. I told him I wish I wasn't so far away, or he could stay with me. He started yelling at his Mom, "Mom, Grammy said I can stay with her!" Uh oh, I messed up. I was trying to tell him that I was too far away or he could, but he was no longer listening as he tried to persuade Becca to bring him to my house.

I got him calmed down and explained I was still far away with Pawpaw and would see him in a couple of weeks. We talked for a few minutes, and I thought everything was smoothed over and okay.

A little later Becca called me back, after she dropped them off at Bobbie's house. A few minutes after Hunter had hung up, he told his Mom to take him to the airport. He said, "Grammy said to put me on a plane and she'll get me off." Becca asked him if I really said that, and he told her yes. He needed to get to the airport. He was going to ride a plane to stay with Grammy. I had not mentioned anything about a plane at all!! (too funny)

Tonight Hunter called to tell us he received a coupon at school for a free float, because he knew when Jesus born. He said, "Jesus was born on a cold winter's day!"
I can only imagine what interesting answers the teacher received from asking her class that question.


LATER

Grammy's Magic Medicine

I have asthma that sometimes starts a chronic cough that I can't shake. My father in-law told me that Karo syrup would coat my throat and calm the cough. I had used Karo when the Grand Babies were smaller for constipation, but did not know it was also good for coughs. I tried it and it seemed to work okay. Several months ago Carissa and Hunter were staying with me when Hunter started coughing. I am a little apprehensive to give my babies any medicine that their parents haven't included in their sleepover bags or have approved. It seems that medicines are constantly being changed as to what is good to use and at what age.

When Hunter started coughing, I gave him some Karo. Carissa said that she thought she was going to cough too, didn't feel well, and needed medicine also. So I gave both of them a spoon full of Karo. Last month when I had both of them, they came to me and said they needed some medicine. I gave each one of them a spoon full of Karo and as if by magic they both felt better.

Yesterday I was busy around the house trying to get everything ready to go back to Missouri for three weeks when Carissa came looking for me. She said, "Grammy, my tummy hurts. I need some medicine. I already took it out. Will you come and give me some!". I guess we have gone from cough cures to tummy cures with the Karo. I was trying very hard to keep from laughing, as I went to the kitchen and gave Carissa a spoon full of Grammy's magic medicine. She had gotten it out of the cabinet and set it on the counter before she came to get me to give it to her.

I know the need of Grammy's magic medicine will fade as they grow, but I will alway remember how my magic medicine made Carissa's imaginary tummy ache stop yesterday.

LATER

Thanksgiving 2009

It has been a wonderful four days home. I am enjoying my time on the road, but it does not compare with being around family. I have my Grandchildren fix that will have to last me for the next few weeks. No one on my side of the family felt like cooking the whole exhausting Thanksgiving dinner, so we opted for enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel and visiting with each other over pies at Mom and Dad's house. My Carissa stayed with us after dinner to go to East Texas to meet up with Hunter and Colton. Carissa had to have Pawpaw check her oil and listen for the Boogie Man before we could go to sleep. We did a minimum amount of shopping on Black Friday, as we headed to East Texas. Alex is in Corpus Christi this Thanksgiving with his other Grandparents, so we will not get to see him this Thanksgiving.

We pulled into the driveway in East Texas and Becca greeted us with their new Schnauzer, Milly. Milly could be Shasta's twin. The boys were out riding the four wheeler with Papaw Campbell waiting for Carissa and us to get there. They came riding up the hill shortly thereafter. Colton was out. If he is really sleepy, you just go for a short ride on the four wheeler, and he's out. I got a quick hug from Hunter before Papaw Campbell headed out for another ride with Hunter and Carissa in tow. We packed Colton into the house, but in the excitement his nap was short lived. As usual, it takes a whole table just to hold all of the wonderful deserts that Bobbie has prepared. There were six pies and two cakes. Odie's brothers and their kids, grandkids, and cousins all arrived with the next couple of hours. The house was overflowing with family, so Odie and I opted to take the Grandkids and stay down at the trailer for the night.

Carissa and Hunter play so well together and were so happy to see each other. Carissa had brought her tea set, so her and Hunter served up various teas for Grammy to taste. They shared Carissa's I-phone, watched Clifford, Care Bears, and Bambi. They discussed Santa, Christmas, and school.

Saturday we had a huge dinner. The kids decorated snowmen, deer, and penguins. They played outside raking and burning leaves with Pawpaw, rode four wheelers, watched movies, and we put up Mamaw's Christmas tree. For there to be no naps, all the kids had a great time and played well together.

Hunter was still asleep as we pulled out Sunday, so Grammy had to be satisfied with a sleepy hug. Colton gave me kiss and told me he loved me. Carissa gets to go home with us for a few more hours before we catch our plane. Her and Pawpaw are trying to see who can play the loudest. Pawpaw is on the radio and she is on her I-phone.

As we end this year and start thinking about 2010, it is hard for me to remember what my life was like before I had these wonderful little people that are such an important part of my life!!

LATER

Springfield, IL

The past year and half has been a challenge for Odie and I both, but I have seen more of America during this time than I would have seen in my lifetime were he not traveling for work. We are on the road coming back from Iowa today. As we came through Springfield, we decided to get off of the highway and find a place to eat. We ended up in the old part of Springfield. It was awesome, and we ended up spending several hours there.

We went through the house that Lincoln lived in when he accepted the Presidential Nomination. After he was assassinated, Mary and the boys never went back there to live. The oldest son, Robert, was the only son to make it to adulthood. He gave the house to the state of Illinois with the provision that people be able to view it at no charge. When the Lincoln's moved to Washington, they sold off most of their furniture. A large number of the pieces have been found and either purchased or donated for the house. The most amazing thing, though, is that most of the street has been restored to the way the street looked in 1860-1861. (THE ENTIRE STREET-ALL OF THE HOMES). It was the most awesome step back into history that I have ever seen. We toured the home that Lincoln lived in and walked the neighborhood that he walked almost 150 years ago. Almost all of the neighborhood homes have been restored to the way they were in 1860. Some had to be moved back in from other places that they had been moved to. Several of the homes had been condemned but have been restored as they were in the 1860s. There are a couple of vacant lots where the houses were destroyed and could not be restored.

We left there and went further downtown. There were so many beautiful old buildings to see. We went through the old capitol. The room where the Representatives met was in tact, and Lincoln's hat was at the seat that he would have sat in. The staircase was amazing, the wood shining, the doors 3" thick and probably 14' tall. All the rooms were authentic to that period of time. The auditor, senate, receipts, representatives, committee, and party room were all furnished with period furniture. Odie and I joked that the auditor was probably turning over in his grave with everything that has gone on within the Illinois government in the past few years.

We ate a wonderful lunch at a Bennigan's Pub and are heading toward the Missouri border. We only touched the tip of history emanating out this town. This would be a wonderful vacation to take if you are interested in Lincoln or the Civil War era. Unlike another ride in the St. Louis Arch, I could definitely spend a few days immersing myself into the history of Springfield.

LATER

School Daze

A couple of months ago, Becca was at her wits end concerning the day care where the boys were going. She had to find them a better one. She got them into a really good one in Shreveport not far from work. Colton started the week that Hunter was with me. He absolutely loves it. He calls his teacher Meemaw. (He also calls me Meemaw.) You can ask him if he likes his new school. His eyes light up, he starts jabbering, and shaking his head, "yes". Becca pulls up, he jumps out, hollers "bye Mom", and races to get a bike.

I kept telling Hunter he was going to get to start a new school when he went home. I assured him that Colton loved it, and it was going to be so much fun. I called him the end of his first week to see how much he liked it. He hated it. He did not even go the full week. Becca let him go to work with her the latter part of the week and decided to try again last Monday. They are good teachers, and his is a small class. He would just rather go to work with Becca or stay home and play. Becca left him in tears Monday and was in tears herself on her ride to work. I can relate. I remember a time when Travis had to be pried off of my leg, so I could get out the door and get to work. Tuesday was a little better. I talked to Hunter, and he told me some of the stuff he had colored that day.

Wednesday night Becca called me laughing. Hunter had whined a little Wednesday, but got out of the car and went in ok. There are only six kids in Hunter's class. They are all blond headed, four year old boys. Wednesday they combined a girl's class with the boy's class. When Becca went in to get Hunter, she didn't see him; and he didn't come running to her. She asked the teacher where he was. The teacher told her to look over in the corner. Hunter looked up, saw his Mom, and started waving her away. (The way he does when he wants you to go away, or he doesn't want to go do what you want him to.) He told his Mom he wasn't ready to go home yet. He had put on a policeman's shirt and hat; and he was serving the girls food and drink from the play kitchen. A lady's man at the age of four!

LATER

St. Louis

Veteran's day was a beautiful day here in St. Louis. Odie was off, because we are in a union state and the contractor's were off. We decided to play tourist and went into St. Louis to ride the arch. It is amazing when you are looking at it, that there is room for very small tram cars inside to take you to the top, and you can look out over the city. We went under ground where there is a museum, gift shop, and old 1800's store with 2009 prices. Odie went to purchase the tickets to ride to the top. The young girl asked if we had a problem with closed in spaces, stairs, or heights. Odie said no, and I kind of muttered hmmm. We proceeded further under ground and went through a museum hall with the history of how the arch came to be. That was very interesting. We stood in line and climbed into a very small car. It reminded me of a carnival car, but it was very old, painted the old hospital aqua, and had five plastic seats that reminded me of tractor seats. Believe me, five large or probably even regular sized people would not have fit. Fortunately, we were the only two in our car. It had very small elongated windows, so you could look down as you were going up. The ride up seemed to take forever, but I am sure it only last a few minutes.

When the doors opened, you were in a very narrow stairway crammed with people waiting to go back down. You continued up about 20 or so stairs to the top of the arch. Odie took pictures out the windows from different views, as I sort of stood in the middle and kind of crouched down to look out a little, stamping down the panic attack trying to come to the fore front of my imagination. The good thing is that it was not a windy day. People around me were talking about the way you can feel it sway on a windy day.

Going down was much more pleasant than coming up. (NOT) We had another couple that rode down with us. We were knees to knees. The young man smelled of a gagging mixture or cigarette smoke and cheap musk cologne. The arch is much nicer to look at from the ground.

I can now mark off riding the arch from my bucket list. It is an adventure I will not be repeating.

Odie had been to a pizza place with one of his bosses, and we went in search of it. The name of the place was the Pi symbol. It was in a district that reminded me of the Montrose or museum district in Houston. The pizza was actually called a Chicago style pizza. It was thin crusted with sides that came up like a pie. The first layer was the cheese, then the ingredients, and then topped with the sauce. We added a salad, homemade bread with roasted garlic and butter. This wonderful meal was topped off with a very mellow dark ale.

My day ended with a wonderful phone call. When I answered my phone, this beautiful little voice said, "Hi, Grammy." It was my Carissabella. She had some new movies, had been to Wal Mart, and was going to Disney on Ice. I am enjoing Missouri and the beautiful weather, but I can't wait until Thanksgiving to see my little ones!

LATER

Cruising

October was such a busy month that I didn't have time to keep my blog up. I will play catch up this week, since I kept several of my Grandbabies after I got back from my cruise last month. Odie and I met up with Beth, Marco, Christiana, and Wolfgang in Miami to head out to sea on the RCL Liberty of the Seas. I could write pages upon pages of this wonderful cruise, but will limit my writing to my top ten favorite things.

On a side note, Beth and Travis had been trying to get me to take a cruise for several years now. Once I took that first cruise the beginning of the year, I am hooked on cruising. I have tried to get my sisters and parents to take the next cruise with us. As I listen to their reasons, they are all the same reasons I had a year ago. If they ever make one trip, I am sure that they will be as addicted as I now am.

Ten of my most wonderful things about this trip to Philipsburg, St. Maarten; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Labadee, Haiti:

1. The best part of this cruise was spending time with Beth. With the Internet, we keep in contact on a fairly regular basis; but it is not the same as sitting next to her. I know that she is probably happier at this time than she has ever been, but it is hard on a Mother to have her so very far away. I am thankful that she has such wonderful people to help look after her and am glad that I had the opportunity to get to know them a little better on this cruise.

2. The window. I will always get a room on the side that has a window looking out over the ocean. It is an absolutely beautiful site to look out the window and see nothing but sea, sky, sun and clouds. The various shades of grays and blues as the sea fades into the sky is breathtaking. One day it was cloudy, and it looked as if the sun was struggling to fight its way through the clouds sending bursts of yellows and golds through the clouds.

3. Room Service. Beth and Marco liked to go eat at the buffet, after Beth exercised. Odie and I preferred to start our day with breakfast and coffee delivered to our room. Our wake up each morning was a call that breakfast was on its way. The fresh fruit plate was a great way to start the day. It was great to open the curtains, let the sunshine in, and eat breakfast in bed.

4. Wolfgang's Surprise Party. Beth and Marco had brought streamers, champagne, a German retirement banner, and a retirement card with Wolfgang's picture on it. We decorated their room, while Christiana kept him busy around the ship. He was happily surprised when he entered the room. We had a couple of toasts and discussed differences and similarities between our two countries. We need to learn a little more German and Wolfgang needs to learn a little more English, but all in all we were able to communicate fairly well between Marco and Christiana.

5. St. Maarten. Tourist shopping is not really my thing, although I did snag some Del Sol tee shirts for my babies. Odie and I sat at a bar as you come off the pier, drank Corona's, and watched people as we waited for Beth and family to finish a little shopping. We all gathered back together and headed for the other side of the island to a beach that Marco and Beth had previously visited. It was a small beach area directly in front of a landing strip. The planes came over so close you felt you could almost reach up and touch it. Beth, Odie, and I decided to go back to the ship. We haggled with a driver over pricing to return us to the other side of the island. He finally gave in to the $2.00 a person and took us. Beth sat in the front, Odie sat in the next set of seats behind the driver, and I sat in the back. We definitely got our money's worth for the wild ride we endured to get back to the ship. The driver turned on blaring music that had a beat we could still hear when we were back on the ship. The roads are extremely narrow. He did not like it when people were driving slower than he wanted them to drive. At one point someone in front of him pulled over, we pulled up next to them and he let the driver of the other vehicle know that he was not pleased at how slow he had been driving. Can anyone say "road rage"? There was a dump truck in front of us and and an 18 wheeler coming toward us in the other lane. Somehow he maneuvered between the two. Needless to say, all three of us were very happy when we finally reached the ship!

5. San Juan. We only spent a short period of time in the tourist shops. We spent the majority of time walking the narrow streets up and down the hills enjoying the view of the city. We walked to a castle that was at the edge of the ocean. Should we ever go back to San Juan, I would like to take a tour of the castle. We watched a women try to eat a sandwich as the pigeons literally tried to fight her for it. There were people all over near the castle that were picnicking and flying kites. We met Beth and Marco at Senor Frog's, wore funny balloon hats, and had a drink. Odie and I had our picture made with two parrots and cockatiel. One of the parrots ate the button off of the top of Odie's cap, and the cockatiel ate one of my buttons off my shirt.

6. The casino. Odie and I ended each day playing slots in the casino for a little while. He knows how much I love to gamble and indulged me. They had a Deal of No Deal machine that was a lot of fun.

7. The shows. The shows were great. It was a lot of fun sitting and laughing with Beth as we watched the "Love and Marriage" game. Those people embarrassed themselves so much, but we laughed until we were almost crying. The older women of the couple that had been married for 52 years was asked the questioned, "Which one of your friends would your husband most like to see in a bikini?" Her response was, "None of them. They are all old."

8. The different nationalities. There were over 65 different nationalities on this ship between the crew and the guests. It was amazing that the majority of the people spoke English. Yet, we went into a restaurant in Miami, in America, and we had to almost use sign language to be able to place our order; because no one spoke English well enough. The crew is very friendly, and it is interesting to hear them discuss where they are from. These people work long hours, are away from their families for months on end; but are always smiling and pleasant to visit with.

9. The food and drinks. We enjoyed the food on the Liberty of the Seas, but the food on the Carnival was actually better. One thing about it, you should never, ever be hungry on a cruise. Odie really enjoys his dinner. He usually tries more than one entree. I bought a coupon where whatever the drink of the day was, you buy one and get one free. Odie and I definitely got our money's worth out of that. Some days the drinks were great. A couple of the days, though, they were really funky drinks. That was probably a good thing.

10. The entertainment. A cruise director's job would be a very difficult job to fulfill, because of the energy and dedication his position requires. The cruise director on the Liberty of the Seas was absolutely awesome. We watched the belly flop competition. The guy who won was mostly belly. There was no way any other part of his body was going hit that water before his belly. At dinner one night, there were over a hundred kids paraded through our dining room dressed like pirates, singing they wanted our desert. There was a parade down the promenade. We watched Beth and Marco climb the wall. There was a flow rider or wave rider at one end of the ship. Odie and I stood for a long time watching people of all ages try to ride it.

Coming into port, I am already thinking when we can we start planning our next cruise. The ports may be interesting, but cruising on the ship is the most fun!

LATER

Blues Clues

Do you remember as a child having that "favorite" piece of clothing? For me, it was a dress in the third grade. Nothing special, just a little cotton dress that came in some clothes my aunt had handed down from another relative. I would have worn it every day if Mom would have let me. Here it is some 40+ years later, and I still remember that dress.

Well yesterday I ran by PayLess in Angleton to snag a pair of dress shoes for the cruise that I had been debating about. Carissa and Hunter were looking at the kids shoes. Carissa came running to me with a pair of tennis shoes that had the Blues Clues dog on them. (You have to know that Carissa is in her dog phase right now.) Grammy, look Blues Clues. We went to see if we could find her size. The shoes she had on were a 9, and the only size they had was a 7 1/2. She tried them on and said they fit. They did seem to run a little on the big side, but I thought that was just too big of a difference. We measured her foot, and she is about an 8 1/2. The wonderful clerk said she would check on the computer and see if they had a 9 anywhere in the area. They had a 9 at the Friendswood and Webster store. The Friendswood Store is in Baybrook Mall and the Webster store is across the street next to Target Store...go figure. I had them hold a pair at the Webster store. I really did not want to take two toddlers into the mall after an afternoon at the Children's Museum.

We headed on out to the Children's Museum where Hunter came in at 3' 6" and 43 lbs, and Carissa is 3' 4" and weighs 31 lbs. My favorite place was the awesome child sized grocery store. It was not too crowded and I enjoyed Carissa's and Hunter's interaction as Carissa showed Hunter and I around, since her and Mommy had already been there.

After a stop at the real store in the Children's Museum where Carissa picked out another dog that looked amazingly like one she had already had (She assured me it was not.) and a small plane with tracks, and Hunter had picked out a motor boat and small bus with tracks; we headed over to Hermann Park for a picnic. We enjoyed our lunch very much. There was a turtle swimming that we tried to feed pretzels to. He kept going under, and we had to try and see where his head would pop up next. We watched the train and the squirrels and discussed our next play date of the zoo and riding the train. (Hopefully the end of October)

As we went through our day, Carissa brought up the Blues Clues shoes about every hour in one capacity or another reminding me where our adventure would end. I assured her we would not go home until we got her shoes. When we finally made our way, through I might add that heavy 45 traffic, to the Webster store; the size 9 shoes were just too big. By this time, Hunter thought he just might need a pair also. The shoes fit him, imagine that. We are now in the four o'clock area with no naps and lots of driving in heavy traffic. Carissa informed me that in heavy traffic I needed to turned off the radio, and we all needed to be quiet. I asked the clerk to please call the Friendswood Store across the street in the mall to see if they had an 8 1/2, because if they did not; Carissa was going to go home in a large size 9 Blues Clues shoes, and we would have to figure out something else for Hunter. The clerk called and we waited for over 10 minutes while she was on hold. Jiminy Cricket I could have driven over there. She said they must be busy, but she didn't think they would be that busy. Maybe they forgot to come back to the phone. I bought the size 9. We left with them on Hunter's feet, and Carissa's bottom lip trembling and tears in her eyes. I told her the day would not end without her having her Blues Clues shoes.

We made our way through the mall to the shoe store. There were no customers in the small store when we got there. I smiled at the clerk and in the most drippingly sweet sarcastic voice I could muster told her we had been waiting on hold over at the other store for more than ten minutes to find out if she had an 8 1/2 Blues Clues shoes, but she must have been too busy to be able to get back to the phone; so I decided to just drive over. She found us an 8 1/2. Carissa tried them on. She said they fit. I told her wonderful. She wanted to wear them. I asked her to take them off, so the clerk could cut off the tags. In her wonderful sweet little voice she said, "That's ok Grammy, she can cut them off, " as she stuck her foot out. She had those shoes on, and there was no way they were coming off tags or no tags. The clerk cut the tags, and we left the mall happy. She wanted to call Mom and Dad (so grown up) and tell them about her Blues Clues shoes.

As she talked to Dad, we pulled into a Sonic to get slushes. Carissa wanted a blue slush. I named all the different flavors. Hunter wanted a watermelon slush. The blue slush was coconut. I wasn't sure if Carissa liked coconut or not. I asked her if she was SURE she wanted a blue one and not a watermelon one. She was sure. She visited with Mom and told her about her shoes and her day as we waited for our slushes. A couple of miles down the road, in heavy traffic, a little voice from the back says, "Here Grammy. I don't like this blue slush. I want a watermelon slush." I look in the rear view mirror and see a trembling bottom lip and teary eyes. I pull over, get her slush and put it in the cup holder, and tell her there is another Sonic in Alvin we can stop at and get her a watermelon slush. As I look in my rear view mirror, driving through downtown Alvin traffic 1/2 a mile from the Sonic, they are both sound asleep. All is not lost. Across from the Sonic is an old Dairy Queen or Treat or whatever it might be called. It has been open, in the same spot, for as long as I can remember. They have absolutely the best tortilla burger in the world. Actually they may have the only tortilla burger in the world. As the kids napped, I savored a tortilla burger with jalapenos and a small bag of fried okra. While I was waiting for the order, I cleaned the trash out of the car and threw away the slush's.

The kids napped all the way home. They woke up as I pulled into the driveway. As I was getting them out of the car, Hunter said, "Where's my watermelon slush?!!" Oh no, here we go.

LATER...After Carissa had her bath and her pj's on, she just wanted to wear her tennis shoes for a little while.

LATER

Chicago

I can't stand it any longer. I am heading home this weekend to get some Grand Babies time! Since this was our last weekend in Illinois, Odie and I decided to do the tourist thing Chicago style. We headed out yesterday morning to Navy Pier in Chicago. The weather was really nice with a high of 68 degrees. The lake was awesome, dotted with sail boats of all sizes. There was a hot air balloon that you could ride.

We paid a one time fee of $24.99 to park. The lot was packed up to the 5th floor where we parked. All I could think was $100 every four cars. As the shock of the parking fee was wearing off, we passed small shops, carnival rides, and ran into one of the most beautiful museums I have ever seen. It was a stained glass museum. It consisted of a long hallway of glass that had been rescued over the past fifty years. These were amazing figures of glass built into lighted frames. This alone made the $24.99 worth paying! I have some pictures that I will post to flicker later, but the pictures can not do justice to the breathtaking beauty of these pictures.

We were starving and started checking out the restaurants. We decided to take a two hour brunch cruise on the Mystic Blue cruise ship. It just slowly cruises around the end of the pier, not far from shore; but the view of downtown Chicago is beautiful. The brunch was good, but the desserts were melt in your mouth, weight gaining fabulous! There was a huge chocolate fondue bowl to dip marshmallows, rice crispy treats, cantaloupe, pineapple, and strawberries in. I can't remember the names of the different small cakes, but I ate until I could hardly waddle onto the deck. Odie and I were already counting the days until our cruise next month, but this short cruise just made us more antsy for the next few weeks to pass as quickly as possible.

We watched some of the cutest little ones out on the dance floor making me miss my babies even more. Hopefully next week I will have new stories of the wisdom of my little ones.

LATER

A Step Back in Time

We left Illinois heading to Indiana early Saturday morning. As we drove several miles into Indiana, it was if we were going back in time. The billboards gave way to two lane roads that we shared with the Amish in their horse drawn buggies or bicycles. House after white house had pristine yards that were immaculate with gardens full of flowers and vegetables.

The Amish children running around in the restaurant and shops were barefooted little girls dressed in beautiful burgundy, pink, or blue dresses with bonnets that were starched and perfectly white or little boys dressed in black slacks and blue shirts with suspenders. All of the children that I saw had beautiful complexions, were slender, and had beautiful smiles. All shops are closed on Sundays. We saw an Amish horse drawn buggy pulling a small boat, a tractor that had an Amish father with his five children riding with him. Amish men working in the field baling hay and plowing the fields using horses.

The B&B that we stayed at outside of Shipawanna, Indiana was across from an Amish Farm. We walked over to the Amish Farm with our Innkeeper to get eggs for our breakfast and to look at quilts that will be up for auction in a couple of weeks. There were quilts dating from the late 1800's to the present. There were well over fifty quilts already hanging for the auction that we looked through. They were all hand quilted and absolutely amazingly beautiful!

We had drinks out on a glass and screen enclosed porch watching a horse chasing a pony and a calf, the birds feeding, and listening to the sound of horses clomping down the road as the sun set. About a quarter of a mile from our B&B was a deer farm. There were several large bucks that made Ralph and Odie drool as they dreamed of getting a prize deer that size. There were a number of silky golden fawns laying out in the plush grass with only their small heads and huge ears visible from the road.

Sunday morning after a wonderful breakfast and hugging our Innkeepers Gail and David goodbye, we headed to a B&B in Urbana, Ohio that some friends of ours own. You could feel the past slipping away as billboards and small towns came back into our vision. Although High Street Manor B&B is in town in Urbana, once you drive through the gates and down the drive, you are once again submerged back into a simpler time. The rooms were named after Carolyn's daughters and granddaughter. There are beautiful Victorian rugs throughout the home with ornate mirrors and old fashioned pictures hanging from a time long gone. We all sat in rocking chairs with tea glasses out on the front porch reminiscing about our youth. Out on the veranda we had a supper of grilled steak, shrimp, black eyed peas, fresh hot bread, garden tomatoes smothered with mozzarella cheese olive oil and basil, baked potatoes, wine, and homemade pies. We worked off the meal with a couple of competitive games of electronic darts down in the 50's retro basement. I finally found a game that Odie liked to play.

Our breakfast was served in the formal dining room with pecan pancakes, egg casserole that melted in your mouth, garden tomatoes, ham, fresh orange juice, and coffee. It is raining outside and difficult to think about leaving. I could easily curl up in a chair and spend the afternoon reading. Unfortunately, we are now winding our way back to reality.

Later

Wisconsin

I am into the second week of no grandchildren. while I am enjoying my time with Odie, I am having serious grand baby withdrawals. I have talked to all, but Carissa (she was napping when I called).

Last Sunday we took a road trip to New Glarus, Wisconsin. It is a charming little German town. We ate German food in a beautiful huge Victorian house, walked through quaint shops, indulged in several different cheeses, and visited a brewery. We sampled beers named Totally Nude, Spotted Cow, and Fat Squirrel. The weather was perfect and the drive through Wisconsin was rolling hills covered in corn fields, jersey farms, and horse stables.

We are off on a Labor Day road adventure to an Amish community in Indiana and on to a small bed and breakfast that friends of ours own in Ohio.

LATER

HATE and TOOTS

I had Carissa and Hunter in the car heading to the mall a few days ago. There were some maintenance trucks of some kind in the median. I hadn't really paid much attention to them, but Carissa said, "I just hate to see that."

Hunter said, "Don't say that word. It is a bad word."

Grammy, "Huh? What, what is a bad word?"

Hunter replied, "Hate is a bad word."

I asked Carissa what it was that she hated to see. She answered, "I hate to see trucks broke down on the side of the road."

I explained to both kids that hate, the way Carissa used it was not a bad word. If you use the word hate as in, I hate you, I hate my Brother, Mother, or Grammy; then it is a bad word. They were both listening and I felt very proud of myself of distinguishing the difference in the way the word is used on a level that a three and four year old can comprehend.

About thirty seconds of silence ensued, and I heard from the backseat, "Hate is a bad word." I gave up and changed the subject.

Tonight we have all three of them. Pawpaw picked up Carissa on his way in from the airport, and I already had Alex and Hunter. They played "Monster" with flashlights, did the Boogie Man with Pawpaw, ate Popsicles, and watched a movie. Pawpaw checked a lot of oil among giggles tonight.

We all piled into bed, yes all, Carissa, Hunter, Alex, Pawpaw, Shasta, and me. Boogie Man and giggles continued as we tried to get the kids to wind down. Everyone had been quiet for about 10 minutes when someone tooted. I just ignored it hoping that they were all already asleep, but of course that would have been too easy.

The first one to say anything was Hunter. He wanted to know what was that, but he knew. Pawpaw let out a laugh, so I knew who the culprit was. That wound Carissa up with, what is that smell. Everyone erupted in giggles. Carissa had evidently covered her head, because she asked if the smell was gone. We said yes. This set off a whole other range of questions. Carissa wanted to know where the smell went. I tried to explain that it dissipated/disappeared. It was not enough of an explanation for Carissa,

Carissa, "But where Grammy? Where does it disappear to?"

Grammy, "In the air Carissa. It disappears into the air."

Carissa, "But where in the air, Grammy?"

Grammy, "Let's go to sleep now, we will talk about it in the morning."

LATER

Toddlers?

At what point did my babies become such wonderful little people? They are growing so fast. Yesterday morning when Hunter woke up he rocked with Grammy while he was slowly waking up. Running through my mind...is this the last time he'll want to climb up in my lap and rock for a while. When did I stop rocking and singing him and Carissa to sleep? When did they slip from being my babies to being these amazing little people that having me laughing till I cry? The only thing that keeps me from being sad is that I realized as I sat on the back porch last night watching them play is that we are moving on to another phase of new adventures together.

This mind process of mine continued yesterday when Hunter said, "I think we need to call Carissa to come stay tonight." I asked him if he wanted to call. (I had already text and cleared with Travis for her to stay.) He said yes, he wanted to call. WHAT? Hunter never wants to talk on the phone! I made the call and handed him the phone. He asked to speak to Carissa and told her we would pick her up at 2:30. We were running late and he even talked to Jonda and let her know we were on FM518.

We picked Carissa up and checked out her cool new room. Carissa had already been to her favorite Target, but was ready to stop again for a blue icee. Shasta got some more treats, Carissa and Hunter each got a new movie, another surprise for me instead of "blue icee" they both chose cherry cola icee, and they picked out a couple of snacks.

I asked if they wanted to run into Angleton to the store to get some carrots, because I was out. No they wanted to go to Grammy's and play. They did not even want to go in the house. Out came the airplanes, dozier, helicopters, dump trucks, fire engineer, and their little people. I fixed them drinks and sat out on the patio for over two hours watching their interaction, sharing (yes Moms, sharing), and imaginations at work. They made dirt cakes with chalk for candles, they had plane and helicopter crashes with emergency rescues, built small sandcastles from cups all along the patio, and drew chalk pictures.

In the midst of all this playing Becca called for her daily check in on Hunter. Hunter was not talking, he was working. Carissa went over to him and said, "Hunter when you stay at Grammy's, you have to talk to your Mom everyday and tell her what you are doing." Hunter finally came and told Becca he loved her. The picture of Carissa telling Hunter how it should be will keep me smiling through the winter.

I finally managed to get their baths, get them some supper, and move on to painting their banks we had bought. The banks were to be painted with marker puff colors. Carissa had a cow and Hunter a chicken. We sat at the table and painted and talked for about an hour. Hunter finished, but my painter Carissa wanted to move on and paint everything. It took a little persuasion to get her to hold off on the plaster characters to paint with acrylics until tomorrow.

Carissa and her Pawpaw started a couple of new silliness when we were in Illinois and just because her Pawpaw was not here last night did not mean it would not be continued. We had to play "Boogie Man" where Carissa and Hunter took turns knocking and shrieking as we were trying to settle down for the night, saying it was the "Boogie Man" a knocking. I had to check Carissa's oil at least three times before she settled down. Pawpaw raises their arms and tickles them telling them he has to check their oil. I stood in for you last night Pawpaw, but you will have step up to the plate this weekend. Be prepared to check a lot of oil and ready to knock for the "Boogie Man" to the tune of shrieks and laughter out of your grand kids.

They are both sound asleep here next to me, along with Shasta sprawled out, but they will be up shortly to enjoy another wonderful day with their Grammy. As I sit here waiting for them to wake up, I take a minute to thank my God in the wonderful blessings that he has given me in the family that he has made me a part of.

LATER

Month Two of Unemployment

I know that I will have to go back to work before much longer, but I am enjoying the time with my Grandbabies that I would otherwise not have. Wednesday afternoon Shasta and I headed out to Waskom to have a sleepover with Hunter and Colton. Becca has done an absolutely beautiful job of decorating her new home. It is at the end of a dead in street, so there is plenty of "safe" room for the boys to play outside. We headed into town and picked up a couple of movies to watch. Becca had made a roast that would melt in your mouth it was so tender, along with cornbread casserole and broccoli and cheese casserole with rolls and gravy.

Shasta woke Hunter and I up early, because she needed to go out. Hunter and I took his photo albums of his Georgia trip, Disney trip, and of his old day care in Bay City outside on the back porch; so we would not wake up anyone else. We went through each book going over the fun memories we had from those trips. Becca stuck her head out the door and told us good morning. She already had cinnamon rolls in the oven. Colton didn't want to wake up, so Hunter and I took Shasta in there to help us wake him up.

There is an alligator farm not far from where they live. We talked Becca into taking a couple of hours off from work and going with us. This is an awesome farm. There are all kinds of animals to feed. The boys fed a camel, baby zebra, longhorn cows, donkeys, baby goats, ducks, and kangaroos. The camel was funny. You had to hold your palm wide open, and she wrapped her mouth around your entire hand, very softly, to suck off the food. When it was feeding time for the alligators, a guy comes out with a five gallon bucket of food. He stands at the side and beats a few times on the bucket. It is amazing to watch the alligators all head to the "feeding area". He repeats this a few times until all the alligators are under the feeding area. He pours out some food, and the alligators literally were crawling over each other after the food. They both got to hold a baby alligator. Colton was not going to hold it, until he saw Hunter hold it. He walked right up and held it and then petted it. It was hot, but the place is covered in huge shade trees. Hunter headed back to Angleton to spend a few days with Grammy.

We spent yesterday at the beach in Galveston and swimming at Aunt Johnye's house. We rode over to Galveston and ate pizza at Mario's. The beach was not crowded and there was a nice breeze as we sat under an umbrella while Hunter dug in the sand. We drove back along Blue Water Highway through Surfside. I had not taken this route since Hurricane Ike. It was a beautiful drive along the beach, because all of the sand dunes in some areas were washed away and you had a clear view of the Gulf of Mexico. Where Ike had wiped out the road was all repaired, and the beach was about the cleanest that I have ever seen it. Aunt Johnye and Hunter went into Buccee's to get Hunter a float. I worry about Hunter and Aunt Johnye going alone to pick stuff out. I still have a small wooden souvenir bat from an Astros game put up in my closet to give Hunter when he is, lets say, about sixteen. I let her and Hunter go off by themselves at an Astros game and that is what they came back with. Hello, he has a little brother at home. You can imagine the images of what a three year old could do with a little brother and a wooden bat!! Hunter came out carrying a float in a box. He was so happy when he got in the car singing, "My funky banana!" Johnye bought a five foot yellow banana. I asked her if she realized it was five foot. Well, no not exactly. It all worked out though. Fortunately the hand held compressor was there in the garage, and between the three of us with a little help from Maggie we managed to get it inflated. It was a little bit of a chore to get it through the doors and the house. It looked huge in the pool. Hunter would ride on the top of the huge banana, and we would push him back and forth across the pool! Johnye figured Steve would get a laugh when he saw a giant banana in his swimming pool. They keep all their floats inflated in a shed at the side of the house, but I don't think the giant banana will fit in there.

It was a great day of laughter and memories with my sister and my Hunter.

LATER

All Good Things Must Come to an End

It has been a wonderful two weeks with my Carissa, but tonight we hand her back over to Travis and Jonda. Odie commented yesterday that we always have fun with the Grandbabies, but this has been a very special fun filled two weeks with our Carissa. I want to memorialize a few of the highlights of this adventure:

Yesterday, I decided I wanted to get a pedicure. I asked Carissa if she wanted to get her nails done. We walked in, and the first thing that Carissa said was, "I don't think Dad knows about this place." Dad is the official painter of Carissa's toenails. She said it smelled good in there. After about three or four minutes she said it smelled like paint. Since her Dad and her has recently painted her room, she liked that smell. Carissa needed to pick out her polish. No surprise that she picked a shimmery blue. The hard part was that there were several blues to choose from. We went to our pedi chair and put our feet in the water. They put something in the water that turned it purple. Carissa said Mommy would like that. She liked soaking her feet in the water. Lily painted her toes the shimmery blue and asked her if she would like a flower on her big toes. She painted the flowers and put a tiny sequin in the center. Carissa moved to a chair close to me while they did my toenails. She kept looking at her toes. When we made our trek to the beach, she said she wasn't going in the water. She didn't want her flower to disappear. (Travis they use a toothpick to make the flower and sell the tiny sequins at Hobby Lobby!)

A few nights ago, Carissa wasn't ready to go to bed when we were. (imagine that) She was whining a little, and Pawpaw knocked lightly on the wall. Carissa wanted to know who was knocking on the door. Pawpaw said in a funny deep voice, "It's the Boogie Man". This threw Carissa into a fit of giggles. Needless to say, for the next thirty minutes, there was a lot of knocking and giggling. This started a new nightly ritual. Carissa has to get in on the knocking, too. I can only imagine what anyone walking by our trailer could be wondering when they heard knocking, shrieking, and giggling coming from our trailer.

We have played miniature golf, gone to the beach everyday, eaten at BWW3's, played washers, roasted wieners and marshmallows, and she has put miles on the Artic Cat. We have laughed daily at her antics. She has picked out a few skirts. We'll see if she continues to wear them when she goes home. Carissa has been full of magic kisses and has watched her latest Care Bears movie no less that 25 times.

Carissa is only three and as new memories replace the ones from the past two weeks, these memories will fade into oblivion for Carissa. Pawpaw and I will carry these wonderful memories with us for the rest of our lives. Thanks Trav and Jonda for these memories!!

LATER

Illinois

Carissa and I started our day with catching up on the laundry. We went to Target and ate at Portillo's. She got some clay at Target. We went back to camp, unloaded our wares, and headed out to the putt putt golf course located within our park. She beat Grammy at miniature golf. We got out the clay and sat outside at the picnic table and played with our clay. It even came with eyes, so we could make animals. (By the way, today's high was 67 degrees.)

When Pawpaw got home, we walked the park; so Carissa could drive the Artic Cat. She beat Pawpaw at another game of golf. Carissa and I had to explain to Pawpaw the Carissa rules. Carissa shoots the ball about a foot from the hole. Pawpaw has to shoot from the beginning. We went to the playground, and her and Pawpaw played on the swings. We went to Cracker Barrel for supper. The past couple of days finally caught up with Carissa. She picked out a magic lighted star wand, that Pawpaw told her he would buy provided she ate all of her supper. She ate a few bites of her macaroni, but ate all of a bowl of carrots, a large piece of ham and her cornbread muffin. As she was finishing her carrots, she was closing her eyes as she ate them. She finished the last one, climbed in my lap and was out.

Normally Carissa is a fairly light sleeper. I know that Jonda has sat in the car reading before to let her finish a nap out. When you take her out of her car seat to bring her in the house, she usually wakes up. I carried her out, put her in her car seat, and she never moved. We brought her home, I took her out of her seat, carried her in the house, changed her to her pj's, and she never woke up. I put her in bed and covered her in our three blankets (50's at night), and she never woke up! She slept until 7:00 this morning and woke up going strong. Pawpaw gave her the magic princess wand this morning that he didn't forget last night.

It will probably not even reach the 70's today, so we are looking for alternatives to the beach, pool, and paddle boats. Tonight we are going to have a fire, cook weiners, and roast marshmallows.

We will be off for another adventure shortly!!

LATER

Road Trip Day Two

Carissa and I got back on the road at about 7:00. We had spent the night in Joplin, Missouri. She helped me walk Shasta, fill the cooler with ice, and load the car. I looked in the back seat and she reminds me so much of her Dad when he was little. She is only three, but already shows an addictive streak in her with her Leapster game. I am glad it is educational. (Sorry Jonda, but I see my Carissa going to the Casino's with her Grammy when she is grown up).

Evidently, one of her IPhone games is off a little. She would touch a circle or a square and it would say that it was incorrect. I could hear her talking to the Iphone saying, "I DID TOUCH THE CIRCLE". She was so funny.

She had been so good the day before, and we were making such good time; that I started looking for something fun to do. I kept seeing signs for the Fantastic Caverns. The only drive through caverns in America. I asked her if she wanted to stop, and with the enthusiasm of a three year old she yelled "yes". She was a little apprehensive as we started down into the cave. It was okay, and a break from the car for her, but I think Grammy really enjoyed the history of it more. (http://www.fantasticcaverns.com/)

We got back on the road. We made it through Missouri and into Illinois. Carissa was fixed up with movies, but played with her Leapster and iphone almost the entire trip. We made it to the camp about 6:30. I was exhausted, but Carissa was ready to see everything and drive the Artic Cat around. We went and ate at Chili's, and Pawpaw took Carissa to her favorite store (Target). She added Nemo to her Leapster collection.

LATER

Road Trip

It has been almost a month since I last wrote on my blog, but it has been a busy month. I lost my job and Beth got married. Marco's parents surprised us and flew in from Germany. It was a wonderful surprise to get to know his parents. Beth got married, all the guests went back to their lives, and Carissa and I hit the road to Illinois.



I was a little apprehensive bringing Carissa this far, but she turned out to be an awesome traveler. We left Wednesday morning at about 6:30 am for our road trip. Our first stop was the other side of Houston for breakfast. We actually only made 4 stops during our first twelve hour day. The time passed quicker than I would have thought. I taught Carissa the red truck game that Alex taught me. This game took us through all the Dallas traffic and into Oklahoma. Carissa, Simba, and Grammy all picked a truck color to spot. (Actually Carissa picked a color for Grammy, Simba, and Carissa.) The first person/stuffed animal to get ten of their color won. Needless to say, that Carissa and Simba beat Grammy every time, but it was an enjoyable way to kill and hour and half.



I figured that once I got out of Texas, it would be cool enough for Shasta to stay in the car while Carissa and ate. Boy was I wrong! We stopped at a Denny's for lunch in Oklahoma, and it was 104. We left the truck running for Shast while we ate. Carissa wanted to work the crane and try to win a stuffed animal. She won a stuffed red bear, we named Red, on her first quarter.



About 3:00 or so, Carissa asked how Pawpaw beat us to Illinois. I told her he had flown in an airplane. She said, "Well, Grammy, why didn't we fly?" I decided it was time to take a Target or Walmart break to get her a new Leapster game. We made a stop and got "Pet Pals". I figured I should start looking for a motel for the night and give her a break. She put that game in, and I could probably have driven all night for all she cared. I drove until 6:30, and I had to stop! We swam, ordered pizza, and I watched a little tv. Carissa continued to play the game. At 9:00 I turned off the tv, Carissa continued to play the game....

To be continued...
LATER

Disney

I haven't written in a while. It has been a hectic couple of weeks. I spent a week at Disney with Hunter, Carissa, Travis, Jonda, Cassandra, and Raymond. It was a wonderful fast paced week. I am so glad that my first visit to Disney was orchestrated by Jonda. I would not have been able to have ridden or seen as much had I had to go it alone.

Hunter and Carissa, both, had a wonderful time. Hunter barely met the minimum requirements to ride some of the wilder rides, but he made it and rode them. He was scared on most of them to some extent, but as soon as the ride was coming to a stop; he was saying, "ride it again!" Carissa was just a smidgen shy of the wilder rides, but managed to squeeze by for one of them. She liked it so much, she wanted to go again. The second time around, they would not let her. This did not set well with Carissa at all.

Tower of Terror: Hunter and I were searching on the Disney website and came across the Tower of Terror ride. Over everything else, this stuck in his mind. This ride was all he talked about for two days before we left for Disney. His Pawpaw could not make the entire trip. He arrived on the third morning. He was suppose to arrive at about 10:00 Thursday night, but due to delays did not arrive until 4:00 am on Friday morning. I carried Hunter down to let Odie into the building. He was sound asleep until the elevator started up. He half opened his eyes, looked over at his Pawpaw, and said, "Now I can ride Tower of Terror!" We have his ticket and a picture of him in front of the Tower of Terror. I think this was the highlight of his trip. He rode it with us, held his hands over his ears, but was ready to ride again as soon as it was over.

The hand over the ears was another cute thing that both Carissa and Hunter did. Carissa is sensitive to the firework noise just like her father was at her age, so I understand the hands over the ears for the noise. I don't understand how it helped them not be afraid from seeing scary stuff, but they both did it on several rides throughout our trip. Cassandra and Travis took turns getting our fast passes for the day, as soon as we entered the park for the day. It was amazing how many rides we were actually able to ride. I was also amazed at the shows we went to see from feeling mice at your ankles, bugs running under your seat and sticking you in the back, to bubbles from the ceiling and water spray in your face.

After the anticipation of this trip, I would be sad that it was over if not for Beth's upcoming wedding and my fall cruise on the horizon to work towards.

Talking to the Radio

Of all my Grandbabies, Hunter is the one that refuses to talk on the phone. Once in a great while, he'll talk for about 3 or 4 minutes. After a few minutes, he says he has to get back to work or go eat. Colton loves to talk on the phone, although he plays with it as he talks and most of the time hangs up on me at least once. I can't understand much of what he says except "I love you". He has a fit when Becca takes it back away from him. Carissa has advanced to answering the phone when she stays with me now. She likes to call Mom, Dad, and Pawpaw when she is here to keep them up to date as to how her weekend in progressing. She sounds so grown up when she says Dad instead of Daddy on the phone.

When Odie was home last month, he bought me a new truck that has all kinds of extras I am still trying to learn to operate. One of these "extras" is the hands free phone that operates from the steering wheel with the sound coming through the radio. There still needs to be some tweaking, because I can't always be heard on the other end. I had passed Clint on our way to get Hunter's clothes out of the truck and had to call him. Hunter got all excited, because his Daddy was on the radio.

My Hunter, the one that never wants to talk on the phone, wanted to call everyone! We called Daddy, Mommy, Pawpaw, Granny, and MaMaw. He laughed and yelled at the radio. We had some difficulty, because it is voice activated. He repeated whatever I said, and it confused the computer somewhat. We worked through it though and still managed to make our calls. Between the kids radio station, singing, and talking on the phone; we were home in no time After we got home, Becca called to check on us. We were no longer in the car and Hunter transformed back into my kid that would not talk on the phone. He told me tell his Mommy that he was working and couldn't talk.

and Disney is three days away....

LATER

Alex Turns 4

Alex actually turns four on the 12th, but we celebrated it yesterday. It's amazing how much my life has changed since these wonderful little people have come into my life. Alex's birthday was Scooby Doo. His Scooby cake had Scooby surf boarding through the cake. He had one of the big moonwalks that had the slide in it.

Gus did a wonderful job on the food. The brisket would almost melt in your mouth. There were beans, potato salad, chips and salsa. The day was warm, but with a slight breeze and the big shade trees in their yard it was very enjoyable.

The highlight of the afternoon was the bear pinata. All the kids had fun swinging at it as Gus pulled the rope to move bear in and out of reach. Even little Colton took a turn. The stick was was almost twice as tall as he was, but he managed. Everyone had to move back, because he did not have much control over the stick; but he still managed to get in a couple of hits.

Crystal may have persuaded Alex to have a different birthday theme than Thomas the Train, but most of his gifts were either trains or clothes with Thomas on them. Alex is amazing in his love of Thomas the Train.

As fast as the past four years have rushed by, five is just around the corner.

LATER

Favorites

Well, Odie's three weeks at home have flown by. We are on the last weekend. He flies out at 5:30 Tuesday morning. The good thing is that he was able to spend some one on one time with all of the Grandbabies. My little Alex has been one that didn't mind staying with me as long as Mommy was within sight. I think we have finally gotten past that. He has been with us since Thursday night and is doing great. He is in the backseat now with his ear phones and dvd player going, watching the Aristocats.

Carissa is totally focused on "Disney". She knows the majority of characters. I think between her Mom and her, they have most of the Disney Classic movies. When she watches a movie that she likes, you watch that movie over, and over, and over. The first movie that I really noticed was Aristocats. I sat next to her in the car when she was barely two (maybe not even quite two -I'm sure Mommy better knows the time frame). I do remember, though, being amazed that a child that small could mouth a large portion of the movie and sing the songs. Among some of her favorites that we have watched several times (I can only imagine how many times Mommy and Daddy have watched) are "The Fox and the Hound" and "Bolt". Mommy and Daddy were so burnt out on "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" that they have put a halt on it until next Christmas. At my house, we still watch Rudolph and Frosty (Hunter's favorite).

Alex is totally focused on "Thomas the Train". He never wavers. I know that his past two birthdays have been Thomas the Train. Mommy has convinced him to change it up a little this year. It is going to be a combination of characters. I know Scooby Doo, Batman, and maybe Spiderman will show up on something at his party. We took him shopping yesterday for his birthday present. I did the same thing with Carissa and Hunter. I hope to make this a new tradition. I like to give them a set amount and let them seek out what they can't live without. It is a wonderful way to spend time with them and also keep up with their interests. We had gotten him part of his present at Bass Pro. It was his first trip and yet another child that Pawpaw has won over to his favorite store!! We moved on to Walmart. We spent 45 minutes or so examining several toy aisles, but he just kept circling back to Thomas. We ended up with Bert and Freddy. When we were checking out, they were less than what I thought they were going to be. I commented on this. Alex was quick to catch on and said, "Grammy I don't have Emily". Pawpaw and Alex went to get the truck and Grammy ran back and got Emily. We went over the back of the box, and Grammy put an "X" by all the trains he does not have yet. Sorry, Crystal; Grammy still has some trains to get, so I hope he doesn't grow out of them quite yet.

Hunter is focused on "Monster Trucks". He loves anything to do with big trucks. At least once a month he asks when we are going to see the "Monster Truck Show". Since we are going to Disney next month, he is kind of getting into the Disney characters. His favorite movie is "Herbie Fully Loaded". He doesn't know the words by heart, but it is a movie that is watched regularly at the house. He also loves to cook in the kitchen in the play room. It does NOT surprise me. His Pawpaw Campbell and Pawpaw Slaughter both love to cook more than his Grammy!!

Colton doesn't really seem to have favorites yet. He just likes to follow the other kids around. Hunter and him fight a little, but for the most part, Hunter is very protective of his little brother. Of all the babies, Colton is the one that loves his sleep. He will be playing. You start looking for him. He will be sprawled out on the carpet, usually close to an open door, sound asleep!

LATER

Perfect Day

I'm proud to be a Texan, but most of the time the weather in my area is humid and muggy. We joke that there are three seasons in Texas, hot, hotter, and hottest. A handful of times a year, the air is dry and crisp, the temperature is perfect, and the sunshine is beautiful. Yesterday was one of those days, even if it had to be a Monday.

Odie and I were lucky enough to have Carissa another day. With Odie on the road, he doesn't get to spend as much one on one time with our Grandbabies. I had to work, but since I work from home the majority of the time; I had some of the best music to listen to as I worked. I had the music of a child's laughter. We opened all of the windows, turned off the air conditioner, and opened all of the doors.

Once Carissa was protected from the sun with sunscreen, she headed outside. She played in the dirt, blew bubbles, chased Shasta all over the yard, and rode the tractor with Pawpaw. I now have pictures of all the babies on the tractor with Pawpaw. I just need to figure out how I want to display them. Late in the afternoon, I looked out the back door and saw her and Pawpaw walking from the back of the pasture. She came running up to tell me the tractor had a flat tire. She followed Pawpaw all over the place. They spent the afternoon shopping. Not the kind of shopping that her Mommy and I enjoy, but the Pawpaw kind of shopping at the hardware store. She was a hit with the people in the hardware store with those big blue eyes!!

All good things must come to an end. Daddy came and picked Carissa up. We had a fun few days, but she missed Mommy and Daddy and was ready to head home. The sun set and the night was cool and crisp. Shasta is exhausted and the house is silent.

Later

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

I have been having a lot of work related stress lately and not really been myself, because I am letting it get to me. I stopped by to pick up Shasta from Carissa's house today. She has been babysitting Shasta for me (with the help of Mom and Dad). There is no better tranquilizer and stress reliever that a Grandkid!! She wanted to come home with me. Part of me was tired from all the stress I have been enduring, but I haven't kept her in a few weeks; so I brought her home with me. It was a wonderful decision for her to have a sleep over with Grammy.



We have had a wonderful girlie girl day! We have had pedicures, played with play dough, embroidered Sully (Monster Inc) on a "blue" tee shirt, eaten pretend food, not to mention real food (pizza, french fries, mac and cheese, carrots, ice cream, and root beer). Carissa has decided what she wants on the four tee shirts I have left to embroider for her. She has run Shasta ragged. I have had magic kisses and regular kisses. We have watched the Disney channel all afternoon.



She brought Lady and the Tramp II, but there was no movie in it. She was very upset and wanted me to "go get it" until she found Rudolph. I am sitting here watching the last part of Rudolph, because I am too lazy to get up and turn it off. Her and Shasta are curled up here by me sound asleep from all their playing today. She likes to watch a movie in my big bed before she goes to sleep. It makes it a lot easier to get her down at night, because she hardly every makes it through a movie without falling sound asleep.



She cried because she had to get in the tub and had decided if she had to take a bath she wanted to go home. Then it took me forever to get her out. She kept telling me just 10 more minutes Grammy. We brushed our teeth after she had her bath. I was washing my face and putting on my night creams, and she just wanted to watch. She asked questions about the different stuff I was putting on my face. She liked the bottles they were in. I explained to her that Grammy was old and had to put a lot of stuff on my face to moisturize it. She stood on her stool next to me and said, "Well, Grammy, I'm old too. I'm three now!" It was all I could do to keep from falling out on the floor laughing. She was so absolutley serious, that I could not laugh. We had a short conversation about getting older.



Needless to say, I am no longer stressed.



LATER

Colton and the Ladder

Odie is home for the month of May, so he got Colton and Hunter for a few days. I could help a little, but with work he was pretty much on his own. He enjoyed them, but wasn't able to do all these "things" he thought he could do with them to help. He carried them home to his parent's house last Friday. Both his Mother and Father have had surgery the past couple of weeks, so he stayed through Mother's day to visit and help with some things around their house.

He plowed and planted with the help of the boys. No one got pictures, but everyone told me how the boys played in the field. They looked like little black boys. Becca had to wash them off with a house outside before they could even come in to bathe. CANNOT BELIEVE no one got pictures!!!

Sunday before Odie headed home, he went on the roof to install a dish for them. He put the 8' ladder up, climbed up and over the roof top. He was in the process of installing it when he kept hearing Hunter yell, "Get off the ladder"! He had to stand and walk towards the peak of the house to see over. There standing on the top rung of the 8' ladder was Colton. Trying not to let panic get in his voice, he very calmly told Colton to stand right there. He managed to get around him and carry him down the ladder. That kid is not afraid of anything. He will not be two until August, but will attempt anything without any thought to it.

Disney on Ice

I walk in the house, and it is silent. The empty chairs with the tv trays sit silent. Two babies are headed to Marshall on a new adventure. One baby should be back to Bay City about now, one baby is sitting with Mom and Dad enjoying Disney on Ice, and an exhausted Grammy is sitting enjoying a cold beer reflecting on the fun weekend that has ended.

I picked up my Carissabella Friday night at http://beefobradys.com/ in Pearland. I really enjoyed dinner with Jonda, Travis, and Carissa. Carissa and I headed back to the house with her telling all about stuff. I didn't necessarily understand everything she was telling me, but must have uhhummed and nodded at the correct times. She had a Mickey Mouse hat in her bag and was very upset that the one they had bought Hunter was not in the bag. I tried to explain that Alex was staying the weekend, but wasn't going to Disney with us; so Hunter would get his hat at a later time. She was very adamant that I get Alex a hat too, now. We had a very interesting conversation that I kept trying to change the subject, and she kept bringing it back around. Alex is just coming around to staying with me without Mom and Dad, but there is no way he would do a 10 day trip with me away from Mom and Dad. He will get to go the next time around. When I hit the lottery, we will have a huge family celebration at Disney!! I finally got the Disney trip paid, and my patient Jonda called Disney and linked me in with her group. We are now a "Grand" group. She has been looking at special discounts for the "Grand" group. I have left Disney entirely in her hands. She is our Disney expert with Carissa following closely in her footsteps. Hunter is now getting excited about Disney...it is contagious.

Yesterday morning dawned gray and dreary as Carissa and I got ready to go get "the guys" as Carissa refers to her cousins Hunter and Alex. She was putting some stuff back in her suitcase and said in a matter of fact voice, "I just love that Hunter boy!". We got "the guys" picked up and stopped at Walmart to get a snow cone machine and a new lamp for their play room. Upon entering the Walmart McDonald's there was an icee machine. Immediately all three wanted blue icee's. When I placed our order, they were talking (at one time I might add). The manager taking my order told me that icee machine was broken. I made all three kids be silent and made the manager explain very slowly that his machine was broken. I guess his way of getting even with me by having to explain to them there would be no icee's was to give each one a different toy. We shopped without incident getting the lamp, snow cone machine with two blue bottles of syrup, two different green flavors and a bug juice flavor. (whatever that flavor is). We had to have carrots, dip, strawberries, grapes, cereal, peanut butter and bread. We got home and fixed peanut butter sandwiches shaped like a heart thanks to a large heart cookie cutter. They play store, cooked imaginary food, the duck game, colored, and played cars. I was amazed that there was no arguing, very little tattling, and they picked up as they moved on. I put in a cd with Bible music and could hear them singing.

They were watching Snow White when Becca called checking in. She always calls once or twice a day to see how things are going. Carissa came running into the kitchen crying. She had fallen off of the couch and had a big goose egg on the back of her head. Bumps to the head scare me. When do you take them seriously? She wanted to go to sleep. She would cry and then calm down, then start crying again. After an hour or so, I called in the troops. I wasn't sure if she needed to go to the emergency room. I didn't think I keep her awake if I did try and take her. Mommy and Daddy jumped in the car and headed to the house. It was raining cats and dogs and they were in the small car, so Travis was worried about the street being flooded. Not long before they got there she threw up. Once she threw up, she seemed better; but I was relieved when Mommy and Daddy got there. She ate part of another peanut butter sandwich and blue snow cone/icee. Daddy went into town and got her some Tylenol and he made a "magic pillow" for her to put her head on. It didn't work. Magic pillow or not, she wasn't going to put her head on it. They took it with them in the hopes that when she fell asleep on the way home, Mommy could put it on the goose egg. I talked to her this morning, and she sounded like herself.

I hear of accidents, on the news, that happen to children in the care of their grandparents. I love my babies so much that it is unimaginable the pain that these people have suffered.

I carried the boys to Disney on Ice today. They were both mesmerized by the show. We had awesome floor tickets close to the entrance of where the characters came out. I'm sure that Crystal listened to Alex all the way from West Columbia to Bay City. It is amazing the rip off of these shows, though. $10 for cotton candy, snow cone, OR lemonade. Someone would come by selling something, and Hunter would wave his hand and say,"Here, here."

All my toddlers are potted trained, but need some help in getting cleaned up sometimes. Alex is my bilingual baby, He was in the bathroom and started hollering, "Grammy, Grammy." I guess I wasn't quick enough, because he started hollering, "Ola, Ola." I had to ask my daughter today what that meant. She said that was Spanish for hello.

Every time I am with one of my babies, I get the opportunity to see something anew through their innocent eyes. No matter how bad my day might be, when I am with one of them, something comes out of the mouth of babes that totally cracks me up.

As my weekend comes to a close, it has been another wonderful weekend; because it was spent with my babies!!

LATER

Fifty Years

Easter weekend we celebrated 50 years of marriage with Odie's parent's and Hunter and Colton were dedicated in church Sunday. It was a busy, but fun weekend. When I was in my twenties, fifty seemed old. Now 90 doesn't even seem old. I think it is amazing to listen to our parents as they talk about growing up, dating, school as it was and the antics of their youth.

We started the weekend with a fish fry at Aunt Judy's lake house. There is no restaurant that can serve up fried catfish that tastes as good as what those English women can cook up.

Saturday we decorated the room down at the Marina. The food was awesome, steak, potato's, carrots, and desert. Crit and Bobbie are regulars with this restaurant. They made them a garden of chocolate cupcakes that was one of the neatest deserts I had ever seen. It was four rows of chocolate cupcakes with the seed pack standing up at the end. I had the cake made by http://local.yahoo.com/info-19119971-lindy-s-country-cupboard-cake-spring. This is the second cake I have had made at this place and everyone loves them. This time I tried their Italian cream cake. We had debated on how large of a cake we needed and finally decided to go with the larger. It's a good thing. People were coming back for seconds, and I even saw a couple hitting it for thirds.

After the party, we headed back to the lake house for some egg dying. There was a lot more than just eggs dyed by the time we were finished, but I think everyone had a good time. We had about 8 dozen plastic eggs to hide filled with money and candy. We had 2 gold and 2 silver, one for the little kids to find and one for the older kids. The kids didn't feel that they were hyped up enough on the sugar from the candy, so we needed to make snow cones! As I was churning that beautiful shaved ice out for the snow cones, two things came to mind. First, boy was I glad that I had gotten a motel room to go to once all that sugar kicked in. Second, that shaved ice would taste really good with a margarita poured over it!!

Easter morning dawned wet and dreary. One of Bobbie's requests was that all of her family go to church with them. We filled up half of the small church with Campbells. Hunter and Colton were dedicated. For Easter I got all of my babies Bibles with their names on them that should carry them into their preteen years. It was thundering and lightening as we sat through the service (probably due to the fact that all three Campbell boys were back under God's roof at one time). Hunter had black slacks with a spring light lime green shirt, plaid vest that was black with a touch of green, a tie and dress shoes. He referred to it as his costume. When we were changing his clothes, he wanted to know when he got to go to church again. He wanted to wear his "costume".

Odie and I had our fill of brisket and ham sandwiches for lunch and argued about who was going to have to drive home while the other one slept. We ended up splitting the drive and both of us getting a little Sunday afternoon nap.

LATER

Silly Glasses

Another weekend has flown by. It was a girlie girl's weekend!! My Carissa and I went shopping at the New Target near her house and to the Science Museum to see sharks and butterflies. It was obvious she was quite at home in the New Target. She was comfortable in telling Grammy which way to go to check out the toys, we needed a blue icee and popcorn, and she needed another movie. I was just going to run in to get a couple of tee shirts for her to embroider Disney characters on. We ended up spending about an hour or more just checking out the store.

After our fill of Target, we headed into Houston to the Science Museum to check out the Shark Imax and the butterflies. We had to wear silly glasses that didn't fit Carissa very well. She didn't really want to wear them, but when the lights were dimming; and she saw all the kids putting them on she was fine. We had to adjust them throughout the show, because she would knock them half off when she was trying to touch the turtle and sharks swimming in front of her. She came out of her chair and stood a couple of times trying to touch the ocean critters. I enjoyed watching her more than the show.

We headed over to the see the butterflies next. I was totally impressed with the butterflies. I was not interested in all the bugs. I am just not much of a bug person except to see dead bugs. I have no fascination whatsoever! We took our time walking through where the waterfall and butterfly feeders were. As you can see by the picture there were some absolutely beautiful butterflies. There are beautiful butterflies flying everywhere. We made a pit stop at the gift shop on the way out, stopped for chicken nuggets and headed home.

We have played store, watched "The Fox and the Hound" a couple of times, and Grammy put Pluto on a pink tee shirt for my Carissa. When Carissa likes a movie, she REALLY likes a movie. She can sing the songs along with the movie, she loves the characters, and will watch a movie over and over until another one comes along that captures her fascination. We ate a late lunch with Granny and Pawpaw Slaughter, took Shasta shopping for new dog food and treats.

Sunday night when my babies are all gone, the house is empty and Shasta is usually stretched out recouping her energy from playing with her favorite friends.

LATER

My Grandmother

I think I have already established that being a Grandmother is one of the greatest pleasures in the world. Today, if my Mamaw was still alive she would have become a centurian! I lost her five years ago and still forget sometimes that she is not there to share something with. She taught me to quilt, embroider, crochet, sew, ceremics, the love of flowers, and along with my Papaw to fish. I loved the fishing part. It was the being quiet while we fished that was hard. I don't get to fish much right now, but sitting in a boat as the sun rises with a line in the water is in the top 10 of my favorite things to do!



My grandparent's loved birds. My Mamaw loved canaries, and my Papaw loved parakeets. There is a picture floating around somewhere of a picture of one of Papaw's parakeets taking a ride on a cat (I think the cat's name was Dude). My grandparent's would leave a parakeet in my Mom's care when they went on vacation. My Mom was vacuuming out the bird cage one day (yes vacuuming!) with the bird in it. She accidently sucked the bird up. She had the bird by one hand, the vacuum hose with the other. She was screaming for my Dad. The bird was squawking at her. My Dad rushed in and unplugged the vacuum cleaner. My Mom sat the bird back on it's perch, and it would fall off. After a few minutes, the bird was able to sit on the perch. The rest of the time that we kept that bird, it hated my Mom. If my Mom would walk by the cage the bird would screech at her. I think that may have been the last time my Papaw left his parakeet with Mom.

Mamaw would make homemade biscuits in the morning with homemade blackberry jam. I could make biscuits and blackberry jam all day long, but it would just not taste the same as what my Mamaw made for me years ago. My husband and I are some of the lucky ones. We were both blessed with loving grandparent's who's homes we hated to leave growing up.

Hunter has a fit for about 20-30 minutes when we load him in the car to head home wanting to stay with his Grammy. I remember begging my Mom to just let me stay one more day. My grandparent's lived all of three streets away from my parent's house, but it didn't matter. My in-laws tell a story of a time that Pete (my husband's brother) and Odie didn't want to leave their grandparent's house. They lived about 175 miles from their grandparents. Their grandparent's lived in the country. Their parent's were telling their grandparent's good bye; the boys were saying they didn't want to leave. When their Dad got in the car, there were no keys in the ignition. The boy's got back out to play some more while the parent's and grandparent's searched for the keys. Come to find out, hmmm, someone threw the keys down the well.

I hope that I can be as good of a grandparent to my grand babies, as my Grandmother was to me. I still miss her and think about her often. She was almost 95 when she left us and was ready to go and meet back up with my Papaw. I thank her for the imprint she has left on my heart and in my life. May she rest in peace.

LATER

Don't Lick the Battery

I haven't had the joy of spending time with any of my grandbabies in a couple of weeks now. I think I am having withdrawals. I spent the weekend in Ohio and the subject came up about four wheelers. We own a couple. This past week, four wheelers for kids have been taken off the market. It may be a temporary thing, but below is an interesting read. Our boys love to ride, but I am extra careful, when it comes to riding the four wheeler. I do not let them ride unless my husband or a parent is here also. We have it at its lowest speed and helmets are an absolute requirement.


http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=100149

LATER

The Best of 2008

I had a two hour flight today and forgot to take a movie, so decided to work on organizing my 2008 photos.(over 2000 photos) It was a good year. In January my son (Travis), daughter in-law (Jonda)and I took Hunter and Carissa to the winter carnivel. They played in snow (Carissa was very upset that her snow ball melted); rode a camel, horse, and school bus; and sat at the wheel of a fire truck. Pawpaw and I took Justin and Hunter to the Monster Jam. We had so much fun, it will be a family tradition until the kids outgrow wanting to go. This year we took all of the grandbabies.

February brought Carissa's second and Hunter's third birthday's. Carissa's favorite toy was a toy drum that I think came from her great grandmother. I love to watch my babies with their instruments. Carissa has a keyboard that plays demos as she dances for whoever will sit in the rocker and watch her.

March and April brought a trip to the zoo and playing in the dirt at Grammy's. There are pictures of wagon rides, the merry go-round at the zoo, popping up in the prairie dog domes, and at the Brazosport sea center. There is a picture of a Grouper named Gordon that Carissa was extremely fond of.

In May, Pawpaw and I took a vacation without any grandbabies and had a wonderful time in Colorado. We ended the month at my in-laws in east Texas pulling the kids in a wagon and all of them piled on the 4 wheeler with Pawpaw.

The summer went by in a flurry with Pawpaw working out of state. I would have one or two of the grandbabies every chance I got.

In September I took Hunter to see Pawpaw in Georgia. It was his first plane ride and train ride. As we were taxiing down the runway, he would say are we flying yet? After about the fourth time he asked, the plane lifted off of the ground. His eyes were huge as he looked at me as we were going in the air. WOW, Grammy, we are flying.

October brought Halloween Festivals. Pawpaw and I went to one in Bay City with two small knights (Alex and Hunter) and the dragon (Colton). The next night we went to one in Pearland with a Pumpkin (Carissa) and one knight and dragon.

November and December flew by. Christmas with the grandbabies was as fun as ever, but our house had quite a bit a damage from hurrican Ike. It was the first year EVER that I did not have a Christmas tree. It seemed that Christmas crept up too fast, and as I blinked 2008 was over. I look at the pictures of 2009 to the pictures of 2008 and my beautiful baby Hunter is already starting to look like a little boy, a toddler, no longer a baby. I want to hold onto Carissa for I know that this time next year that baby softness that still clings to her today will start transforming into a little girl.

Earlier this week a subcontractor of mine welcomed his first grandbaby, Jack, into the world. He sent me a picture of a beaming Grandpa holding a very tiny, beautiful baby in his arms. I sent him an email forewarning him that life as he knows it will never be the same.

LATER

Alex Moves This Weekend

Well, my Alex gets his new house this weekend. He will be 4 in June and has always lived in an apartment, so him and his parents are excited to be moving into their first house. It is a three bedroom with a big fenced backyard. Grammy can't wait to see his new room. It is a home that is in a beautiful, older, quieter part of town with large trees. I am so happy for them. He is totally into anything to do with Thomas the Train. One thing about Alex, he is totally dedicated to Thomas. His birthday isn't until June, but his Mom is already starting to work on him to have his party in something different than Thomas this year!!

One day, though, his Mom will look up and Alex will have outgrown Thomas the Train; and she'll wonder where the time has gone. It is so hard for me to believe how much my life has changed over the past five years. My life has been fuller, rich with laughter and silliness, and is flying by faster every year. I am very fortunate to have children that treasure their children and take the time to give them the memories of a wonderful childhood. And I thank all my kids for including Grammy in so much of their babies lives.

LATER

Carissa Turns Three

We were headed to Carissa's Grandma and Pa's house for her birthday party with Hunter, Carissa, and Colton in the back seat. Colton (18 mos.) is young but already a little agrivator. He would touch Carissa's car seat, she would squeal for him to stop touching her car seat. He would grin (you may could even say he smirked), and would touch it again. I finally distracted them all with silly songs. Carissa will have no problem in keeping these boys in line.

As we drove down Pa's street: WOW, what was that; a large white gloved hand peeking over the mailboxes? Yes, it was Carissa's Mickye Mouse Bounce all set up and waiting for bouncers. The kids only made it from the car straight to the bounce. Colton could not grab the concept of down the slide. He continued trying to slide up the slide.

Carissa's revved up Jeep came out of the garage, along with a motorized spider man 4 wheeler, and a little car you sit on and walk with your feet. After some discussion between Hunter and Carissa, they managed to share well enough to take turns driving for a while. They would make runs to bring us burgers and fries. Colton was hilarious. He could move on that little car pushing his feet almost as fast as the Jeep could go. A fun time was had by all.

Jonda's parents out did themsevles on the food spread, and Jonda did an awesome job on the cake and cupcakes. It was a Mickey Mouse theme right down to Carissa's blue Mickey shirt. Carissa is one lucky little girl because of all the people that love her. She is spoiled in a very good way.

She is only three, but there are some sayings we really need to get on tape, because I could never get these sayings on paper and do them justice. I love it when she starts a sentence with, "Weeelll". You know at that moment that what comes next is something she has thought about. A couple of weeks ago, I was trying to get an idea of what to get Carissa for her birthday. One of the first stuffed animals I had gotten her was a singing Rudolph. She has loved this Rudolph, and it stays out all year. As we were discussing her birthday present, she looked seriously at me with those big blue eyes, put her finger on the side of her chin and said, "Weeelll Grammy, my Rudolph broke. It just broke right there in Pa's kitchen!" In true fashion, Mom and Dad were already on top of it, a Rudolph was already on the way for the birthday girl!

As Pawpaw and I were driving home, the silence was deafening. I am usually so tired after a weekend, but miss them terribly; already looking forward to their next visit!

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