I trust that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We were very fortunate this yeas as although Josh's family was at Jackie's parents and Jon's family was with Donna's, we were able to spend Christmas eve with Susan, Tom and Matthew. Uncle Roy joined us for dinner and gift exchange.

Susan, Tom and Matt gave us a new digital camera with a small portable printer so we can really share our photos :-) I never liked the quality that I got from our regular printer. This one , however, prints out a perfect 4x6 print in a matter of seconds. Maybe I can become a better photographer in spite of myself!

Matt and Papa whipped the cream for the pies. Papa let him lick
off the beaters. Truth be known, he dipped his beater in a few times!

After church on Sunday we had a get together in Camillus with Will's brothers, sister, their spouses and of course his mother. We had a sit down dinner which did surprise me. We all had a great time. Thanks again, Karen and Jon.

Christmas Day found us at Jim's open house. I was concerned as it was the first time he had done it since my sister, Susan, had died. It was very relaxed and we did enjoy our selves immensely.

With all the family time and in the midst of all the presents and wrappings I hope you all took the time to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas and took the time to thank Him for our greatest gift.

Matt.com

Been waiting for another episode in the continuing story of an old fat grandmother's day with an active 2 yr old? OK, here goes:

Matthew and Papa made this little snowman before Papa left for work this morning. Matt said we needed a carrot for the nose. He chose a baby carrot as it was a little snowman. Then while he was helping to make more Christmas treats, he decided that his snowman needed eyes. So we were thinking about what would work for eyes and he said little cheese crackers. And look at that, they are perfect.


He wanted me to come in his room with him, something he has not wanted me to do for the last few days, so he could "cook" my breakfast in his little kitchen. So this morning I dined on crispix cereal and celery sticks that he "cooked" for me. Oh, yum!

We were going to be alone for Christmas as it was the year for our children to go to their in laws. Susan called yesterday and wondered if I wanted to make Christmas dinner here on Christmas eve so we can exchange gifts. Great idea, I am on it! We are inviting Uncle Roy also.


On another note, my MIL is moving from the "Home" on Saturday. She will be moving in with Wm. brother Jim. He bought the building where they had the store and lived in Mottville. This is something she really wants to do. She has become disenchanted with the "Home" lately and wanted to get out. I am praying she will be happy there as they are both working.

On Sunday, after church (I am on nursery duty again, which I really enjoy) we are having the Card family Christmas at Wm.'s brother Jon's new house is Camillus. It is a beautiful house and there is room for us all. Definitely, something we lack here. This house is very small, but then again there is just the 2 of us.

On Christmas day, my BIL, Jim, my sister's husband, is having an open house. This was something my sister did every year on Christmas day. This will be the first time since her death that he has had it. We are going, but it will seem strange with her not there. She died on Christmas Day 2002.

Christmas present exchange

Yesterday was special day for this old fat gramma. Will, Susan , Matthew and I travelled to Watertown to met Josh, Jackie and the girls at the mall. The temperatures were very cold but the roads were bare and combined with the new portable DVD player Susan brought along for Matt, the trip could not have been better. Actually, we managed to get there early. Now as many times as we have met in Watertown, we have never been there first. (OK, there was an accident so J&J had a 25 minute unplanned detour)

Josh made some rules:
a) no family pictures in Target
b) no opening gifts at the mall or restaurant

I was not a happy camper but did abide by his decision. I had some gifts I wanted to see their reaction to.
We visited Santa so I could have a picture of the kids together, (Santa was in the mall, not Target) Lauren was in the store with her mother, not that Santa had a big enough lap anyway. As you can see by the picture, the kids were reluctant to sit on his lap with the exception of Alyssa. Lael said at least his beard was not a fake one! From there we went to Applebees for lunch. It was not easy to keep 4 hungry kids entertained until they brought our lunch. These restaurants are not designed for large parties with little kids, especially during the very busy lunch hour with all the shoppers wanting a sit down meal opposed to fast food in the mall.

While we were waiting for J&J and the girls, Susan and I went into Steve and Barry's (I actually thought was were we would find Jackie anyway as it was not only at the entrance where we were supposed to meet them but also her very favorite store. They were having a great sale......everything and I do mean everything was $8.98. I bought a leather (yes, real leather) jacket for Josh and Susan got the same one for Tom. I gave Josh what I thought was his jacket at Applebees so he could try it before he went home. It was a perfect fit. However, when I got home I realized I had given him the jacket Susan got for Tom and it was a size smaller than what I had gotten for Josh. I have felt horrid ever since I realized what I had done. But, Josh and the jacket are in Canton and we are here with the larger one. Hopefully they will have one at the Steve and Barry's here that she can exchange for the right size.


All in all, it was a great day. Oh, I do love being a gramma!

I got it

That's right, after cancelling my appt. two days in a row, I finally was able to get the brace for my knee. It is ugly, and cumbersome and will not fit under my jeans. However I am able to get up and down without help and it is the support I need so my knee does not "go out" anymore. Last week at my appt. at the well clinic, the nurse told me this was only putting off the inevitable, and that I would eventually need a knee replacement. :-(
The weather here is horrid. Snowing like mad and the ground that was grass yesterday and even this morning is now totally covered in snow. 3-6 inches by this afternoon. Remind me again, why do we live here? I hope it clears up some by late this afternoon as I have another appt. at the well clinic. Not to mention a meeting in Watertown on Saturday with the three most beautiful girls in NNY (and their parents) to exchange gifts and have lunch. Susan, Tom and Matthew are coming with us.....err, we are going with them in their van, it is a trial run for the DVD they got for the car. (the girls seem to like theirs and Anthony loves the one in their vehicle......anything has to be better than the trip Susan and I made with Matt coming home from Canton when he screamed and cried the entire was because the sun was in his eyes)

I like......

edit: They cancelled my appt again today. My poor Wm. went to work at 5 something this morning! Dare we try for tomorrow?

I like the little white Christmas lights. Tastefully done decorations.
I dislike the houses that feel it is necessary to push the envelope. You know the houses I mean.....enough lights for the entire city , not one but many of the blow up Christmas decorations that seem so popular. Why is it that a holiday is a signal for some people to lose any decorating sense they may have had and go with the "more is better" rule. There is a fine line between tastefully done and over done.....and then there is over the top! Do you think maybe these people never had any decorating sense to begin with? Hmmm

I like to schedule my dr. appts. for the last one of the day so Wm. knows in advance and can go to work early to compensate for leaving early.
I dislike when they change my appt. the same day it was scheduled for. I really do not understand they(dr. offices) will charge for the appt. if you do not give them 24 hr. notice for having to cancel or reschedule your appt; yet they can call you the same day and expect you to just readjust your schedule to accommodate them. (yes, that does sound bitter and can you hear me saying it through clenched teeth)? Wm. went to work very early this morning so he could take me to Syracuse Orthotics at 4 to get my knee brace. They called at 11 to say they were changing my appt today for the same time tomorrow. Hey, wait a minute, we just had to go through a lot to make today's appt work. :-(

I like that Matt is talking more, entertaining himself without my coaching him.
I dislike this means he is growing up. I also don't like when he is about to do something he knows he should not do and tells me close my eyes and go in the other room (I don't think so)
Guess he does not know that is a huge clue that I need to stay right there!

more musings

Tomorrow my baby will be 31. He will probably not like me calling him my baby but like it or not, he always will be. 31, Yikes. I know that turning 30 was traumatic for him last year. Now imagine how I feel knowing he is my baby! (insert smile face here)


I went to the well clinic yesterday for my elevated blood sugar level. This is actually a pre-diabetes program to learn how to deal with this problem before it becomes one. Now, it sounds like an intelligent thing to do, however, they were somewhat surprised that my doctor had sent me to the program seeing the test results showed that my levels were just 2 points over the norm. OK, I understand that I do show signs that it could go from pre-diabetes to diabetes very easily.....likewise it could simply remain status quo. I am hoping with the knowledge obtained in this program, I can better keep it from progressing to diabetes.

The brace I had made for my knee has come in (they make them in Texas) however, I can not pick it up until Monday. So with a brace for my knee and better nutrition (actually, they said my diet was not that bad; who knew) I will soon be able to keep up with a certain 2 yr. old!

hurting

I am hurting today, just walking is painful. For years my "boys" have always called me the queen of klutz but the fall I took yesterday in church was one of my most ungraceful ones yet. I was carrying the Bible bag, my purse and a present for Eleora. I was going through the door into the church from the narthex and someone stepped on the back of my boot. It was an accident (however my mother always used to say that it doesn't hurt any less because it is an accident) Anyway, when he stepped on my boot, I fell forward on my knees and then on my face not to mention scrunching Eleora's gift. Oh, people were gracious to help me up and Wm. was glad to know that my knee had not given out but I fell for a reason. I made it through church and limped around the rest of the day but today it seems to be even worse.

Most of shopping is done now and I need to do the wrapping. I used to love wrapping, did I ever mention I had a job wrapping gifts at Christmas? Now it is painful for both my knees and back to stand for long periods. It could be the arthritis, it could be the fact that I am getting old.
I have Lauren's and Max's Christmas stocking to sew too. We will be going to Watertown 12/15/07 to have lunch with Josh, Jackie and the girls and exchange our gifts. I am excited for that.

My sweet little Matt has a bad cold. It is not slowing him down any though. He wants to make chocolate chip cookies after his nap!

Amazed

I never ceased to be amazed by this 2 yr. old. We read a lot everyday as well as go over our letters, numbers, signs, etc. Nothing too serious, he is, after all,only 27 mo. old. Today when we were looking at the numbers 1-10, he pointed to each number and then told me the number, then he showed me on his fingers how many that was. When we go through the alphabet, he tells me the letter and the sound it makes.
This afternoon, he was drawing at his easel. After about 4 pictures, he decided to use markers instead of crayons. I started to take the tops off the markers when he said, "Matt will do it, self, no help Gramma!". I said "what did you say?" so he signed NO HELP! The signing thing may have backfired, what do you think?
No, just kidding, I like that he knows 32 signs, I love that he is saying everything, now doing everything without my help, that means he is growing up way too fast for me.
I watched him today while he played in "his" room (he calls it that, not me) He was cooking with his kitchen, making a hamburger with lettuce and tomato, talking to himself about putting on his "ove glove" which is a little pot holder so he does not burn his hand on the stove.
Maybe I am just amazed at him because I see him everyday....the other grandchildren I do not. Whatever the reason, I would love to keep him little just a while longer but I am afraid he has other ideas. :-)

one proud Papa

Two adorable grandchildren from Raleigh
Three gorgeous girls from the north country
and one fantastic little boy from Syracuse = one Proud Papa!

This is the comforter Jon and Donna picked for the guest room and the headboard we made Felt Snowman Matt and I made this morning. I cut out the shapes and Matt glued them on
Aren't we sooo crafty?

Black Friday

The older I get the less I like shopping, even on nice days. I had not been out of Black Friday for at least 6 yr. It is just too crazy and people are pushing and shoving and downright rude. No, I am happy to wait it out at home in a nice warm bed where I can sleep in......who wants to get up in the middle of the night to be at the store by 4 am? Every year they seem to open earlier.....but 4am, come on now! No, I did not face the crowds at 4 am but I did go at 4 pm, after Wm. came home from work. I was not going to shop, just pick up my pictures from Target and get a card for the shower I have to go to this afternoon. To our surprise, the store was not that crowded. Wm. said it must be a lull between the early morning mob scene and the after dinner shoppers. Whatever it was, we ended up getting pj's for everyone (new pajamas on Christmas eve have always been a family tradition, one we have continued with our children's spouses and our grandchildren). Now our Raleigh family is finished and I have a start on the rest. I have never even started my shopping until after Josh's birthday. We did however bring his birthday gift with us when we went for Thanksgiving dinner. He wanted a turkey fryer. We did get one but his father wanted to be sure they had started cooking dinner before he brought Josh's gift in. No, we are not too sure about fried turkey! Yesterday morning, I made my Christmas lists, I am on a roll now!

Thankful

We went to Canton today to share Thanksgiving dinner with Josh and his family. The weather was yucky up and back but we had an excellent time with the girls.

Jackie served a fabulous meal and Lael is taking after her mother, becoming quite the little hostess. For all of you who were impressed when Jackie said she was making sausage stuffing with her homemade bread, I just wanted to say it was fantastic. Everything tasted so good but then my mother used to say that you enjoy a meal more if you don't have to cook it. (I am very thankful that Jackie loves to cook and entertain)

Lael set the table and poured all the beverages.

Alyssa, the little artist and sweet little Lauren

Grampa and his girls.

I am so thankful for all the wonderful blessings in my life, that I seem to take for granted every day. Thank you, Lord.

Home Again, home again, jiggity jig

Well, I am home from NC. The weather was great for the most of the week. We ran into rain in PA on the way down last Saturday......then again I do not remember going through PA when it was not either raining, snowing, or backed up with construction. Anyway, we spent most of the week in shirt sleeves. Friday it was cool and rainy but not cool by NY standards. Saturday night on the way home, Wm. said is that snow on the ground when we came through Tully. I said I am sure it must just be frost. His remark was since when do we get 4 inches of frost! Snow? Can't be snow yet?!!!! Must be just because of the hills in Tully but when we got to Baldwinsville and Wm. had to shovel a path across the back deck so we could get in, the realization set in that indeed it was snow! I shall try not to whine as we have had fantastic summer and fall and it is, after all, NY.

Morrigan goes to school all year round but she was on her track out (3 week period off school which she spends at the Y.) Monday was a holiday so the school and Y were both closed and Morrigan spent the day with us. We went to the discount fabric store and then she wanted to go to McDonald's for lunch, something she is not in the habit of doing.

Gramma and Grampa with Morrigan and Max

Morrigan Liliana

Grampa and Max

Our plan was for Wm. to put down a new laminate tile floor in the kitchen but when he and Jon went to purchase the tiles, they found it was special order so needless to say, the floor did not get done. We did get some material and covered the headboard in the guest room to match the new comforter we got them for Christmas. We purchased enough material to make matching valances for the windows. Another glitch came when the sewing machine would not work. Jon had taken a day off work to help Wm. with the floor and because that was not happening, we spent the day trying to get the sewing machine to work. I ended up bringing home the material and will mail the finished valances back down.

Jon and Donna took us to Red Lobster for Wm. birthday (OK, so Red Lobster is my favorite, he is flexible) Friday we went to lunch with Donna's parents. Morrigan is spelling everything, the way Lael is and Max is as much a mama's boy as Lauren is a mama's girl. We had a wonderful time in NC; but I am glad to be home for a little while anyway, Thanksgiving we are going to Canton to have dinner with Josh, Jackie and three of the most beautiful girls in NNY.

to my sweet William

Happy Birthday, William. I am so very blessed to be your wife. You are the best husband, father and grandfather anyone could ever have. Thank you for loving me all these years. I love you so very much!

more ramblings

The last few days Matthew has been wanting to cook. No, not with his little kitchen, although he does play there throughout the day, he wants to cook in my kitchen. OK, before I go any further, I feel I need to clarify this; his "cooking" consists of making breakfast; baking cookies and cupcakes, making popcorn. Now before you gasp and say, is she crazy?; I assure you I am but nonetheless, he does not touch the stove. He puts the bacon in the microwave. He told me yesterday, bacon cooks on #4 and popcorn is 333 and the big "go" button. He likes to whisk the eggs in the measure cup before I put them into the pan and on the stove. Most of the time, he does not even eat his egg, he just likes to whisk. * this is not something we do everyday*
He mixes the cake batter for the cupcakes and even puts them in the mini muffin tins as well as the cookie dough on the cookie sheets. He never liked to hear the mixer going so I was very surprised he wanted to mix the cookie dough. He put the chicken in the roasting pan and put the seasoning on it for Papa's dinner on Mon. and then put ham in the pan to bake complete with glaze yesterday.
He has become quite the little helper. Today he asked me if he could clean the toilet! He put away 12 rolls of toilet paper this morning. OK, that was a near disaster. He opened the pkg. and was just about to put an entire roll in the toilet. I asked where he thought it went and he said toilet paper goes in the toilet. Then he remembered it went under the sink :-)
I love that he enjoys helping even though it is a lot more work for me than just doing it myself. He really enjoys helping so I guess my job now is to fan the flames. I remember my mother never allowing my sister or me to help her, she always said it made more work for her. The truth is when we got married, we didn't have a clue how to do anything. So regardless of how much of a mess he makes or how much longer it takes for him to do it rather than me, I will continue to explain how to do something, and then let him do it!

Saturday morning William and I are off to NC to see Morrigan and Max. I have not seen them since Max was born and am so ready to go see them. I really miss them. Well I miss all the grandchildren with the exception of Matt. I really do love being a grandmother. We will be in Raleigh from the 10th to the 17th.
William will be 61 on Friday!

Alyssa's party

Susan, Matthew and I drove up to Canton on Saturday for Alyssa's party. Will had to work (he also worked on Sunday) so the plan was to trade vehicles with him on Friday night and drive our vehicle to Canton. Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men......Tom said the noise we thought were the tires on the Explorer was actually some seal on the passenger side rear wheel. Because it is rear wheel drive, Tom did not think we should drive it to Canton. He called and had Driver's Village order the parts and he drove into work today to get it fixed. The plan was to have the oil changed in it today because of going to NC on Sat.
Alyssa's party was a birthday festival complete with bounce house and cotton candy machine. We had hot dogs and baked beans (which BTW, were fantastic) Matt loved running around outside but he was not too sure about the bounce house......I found that strange as all he does here is jump on the couch, the beds, etc.
Here is a picture of the birthday girl and her cake. You already know I am not much of a photographer so we will need to wait till Susan sends me the ones she took. Jackie made an Alyssa safe cake to look like a cloud and the cupcakes were balloons floating in the sky!

Bob the Builder

I tried to get some pictures of Bob the Builder before he left for his other Grandma's last night. He was not the most cooperative (surprise). Tom got a couple more and I will share them as soon as he shares them with me. OK, so I am not the best photographer but you get the idea and you can see the shirt that I worked so hard to sew........what do you think?
Saturday will find Susan, Matt and Gramma heading to Canton again for Alyssa's birthday party. This year Josh and Jackie have asked that we give her art supplies, books, etc. While I understand their position, how excited can you get over construction paper and paint brushes? Last week when we were there I got Alyssa some play dough, and believe me that made her very excited......she loves that stuff. Lael and Matthew love it too!

weekend update.......

I had a fantastic weekend. We went to Canton to see three of the most beautiful girls anyone ever saw..... our north country princesses. I am awed at Lael's reading and spelling ability. My little golden haired princess will be 4 on the 31st. Her party will be on Saturday. Since Grampa will be working on Saturday (the first of the month) we went up so he could see her.......OK, all of them! I will be coming to her party with Aunt Susan and Matty. I love the way she is with her baby sister. Both girls are so good with Lauren. Lael can even change wet diapers. When did these girls grow up???? Little Lauren is mama's girl but she did let me hold her a little. She let Grampa hold her a little more! Of course, aren't they all partial to him. Matt and Morrigan too. Wm. has never seen Max, so we won't know until 11/10 when we head to NC for a week.
Saturday night we went to Winthrop with Betsy and Kenny Ashley and Deb and Bub Regan for dinner at Goose Landing. We stayed with Betsy and Kenny Sat. night and caught up while I sewed appliques on Lael's jeans. Sunday morning found us at CFC (felt good to be back, see old friends and hear Pastor Rick preach) Don't get me wrong, I love Faith Chapel, but being back at CFC felt like going home again! Because Eric and Jen Trelease were at CFC also, I even got my Eleora "fix" on Sunday morning!
I have still not finished Matt's Bob the builder shirt. He is going to be Bob the Builder for Halloween. This means going to our house and to Grandma and Grandpa Hubbard's house. I bought a yellow sweat shirt and have been sewing orange squares on it for a week. Yes, this may be overkill or a bit excessive but no one else will have a costume like his :-) Besides, what are grammas for anyway if not to cater to every whim their grandchildren have!

mind of his own

Matt definitely has a mind of his own. Case in point....... yesterday we were raking leaves in the back yard. When I raked them into "his" hole, he got upset, threw down his rake and pulled the hood up on sweatshirt. He said no pictures! I tried anyway, but this is what I got...

Today's pictures were not much better......."Gramma, I said NO pictures!"

finally

We did get out new refrigerator on Saturday but there were some complications. I look forward to sleeping in on Saturday morning......this morning, however, I was up at 8 because the delivery man "might" come that early. 8-12 was the projected time of delivery. By 12:01 Wm. was home and wanted to know where the new refrigerator was. He called Lowe's who said the delivery manager was at lunch. Wm. called back at 1 and was told it was on the afternoon delivery truck. They told him that the salesman failed to change the date back to Sat. for the "emergency delivery date". Apparently the delivery program is set up for the next day or the first available date if the next day delivery is filled. (does that make sense?) We could expect delivery between 1 and 5pm. At 6 pm, the truck driver called and asked if we could accept the fridge in the next 30 min. Now, if you know my hubby, you know patience is not his strong suit. By the time it was delivered he was nearly at his wits end.....and then.....yes, there is an "and then"; the fridge was 1/2 in. too wide to fit into place so he had to take down the panel that made it a built in!
Well, we did get it on Saturday, just not when they promised and not without a lot of work to get it in place and not without having our patience tried.

Out of my comfort zone.....

Well, since we moved to Syracuse we have only had one vehicle and Wm. takes that to work. If I had a dr/dentist appt, he would take time off work and take me. This has changed. Once he got the job of Warehouse Mgr, he has worked overtime, worked a lot of Saturdays and he made arrangements with Susan to borrow one of her vehicles so I could use our car for the dr/dental appts. I went to the dr. this morning for a check up, bloodwork and a flu shot....Ok, I can do that. The stretching out of my comfort zone part came after I got home. Wm. called and told me to go to Lowes or Sears and look for a new refrigerator. Yes, ours did die and we did need a new one but for me to go alone was a real stretch. I found the info on our old one, looked up online for what I thought I needed and then went to Lowes. They had one that fit my requirements and it was an Energy Star which means an additional 10% off. I called Wm. at work and he said, if you like it get it. Now, the store has advertised next day delivery and free removal of the old refrigerator. Unfortunately, they were totally booked for tomorrow so could I wait till Sunday? I told them I would look somewhere else first to see if I could not find someone to deliver it tomorrow. They said, wait, we can schedule an emergency delivery for tomorrow morning.
We are now the proud owners of a 21 cu. ft. Whirlpool refrigerator to be delivered tomorrow between 8 and 12.

Amazing.....

I am still amazed by the things Matt says and does. I love to watch him play with his barn and Noah's ark and make the animal noises and make the people talk. (yesterday he had Noah's wife and he put her on the roof of the ark and called 'Noah, where are you?') I love to watch him dance to music on the TV and videos. He can be playing and not even paying any attention to the TV until he hears some music. Then he jumps up and dances. He loves to dance.
No, he is far from the perfect child.....already this morning he pulled the door off the TV cabinet and while I was putting it back on he knocked over the table in the LR with the marble top and lamp on it. How could a 2 yr. old do that you ask????? climbing on the table to retrieve the "mote" so he could see Thomas. YIKES
The squirrels and blue jays are still coming around. The blue jay took some shelled peanuts yesterday.....what would a bird do with nuts? This morning when we opened the door to let Matt and Susan in we had to stop the squirrel from coming inside. When we lived in Pulaski, we had one get in the house and let me tell you, that was not pretty!
Our fridge seems to be having some kind of problem. When Wm. took the ice cream out of the freezer last night it was melted. Then he pulled the fridge out, vacuumed the coils , put it on a cooler setting but this morning, it was no better. He said he will look at it again tonight and that I should have everything out of it when he gets home.....he has not been getting home until 7 or 8 lately despite going into work early. I had laughed at Dawn Meehan's blog (Because I said so) last week about her broken fridge. Think maybe it is Murphy's Law?

refuge.....

It all started out very innocently. On the days Papa goes to work at his normal time, Matt and I go on the porch and wave and tell him goodbye. Papa flashes his lights, toots the horn and Matthew giggles and waves. On Friday, Matt brought a piece of toast out with him. By the time Papa left, Matt had finished the toast and had only pieces of crust left. He set them on the porch railing while he waved. Almost immediately, a blue jay came a took a piece of toast and then another one came and took a piece. Then a squirrel came and took the last 2 pieces of crust. By this time, Matt was so excited he wanted to go inside and get more food for the birds and squirrels. Once inside he decided he should give the squirrels some nuts from a can Papa had but was not eating because it had no salt on it. We took the can outside and Matt lined nuts up along the railing. Two squirrels came and began to carry away the nuts. We went inside and watched from the front window. Matt was giggling and clapping and despite all the noise, the squirrels were not deterred from their gathering.
After lunch we were sitting on the porch with the can of nuts and a squirrel came right up to me. Matt instructed me to give him a nut and the squirrel took it right out of my hand. We eventually went inside but the squirrel came back and wanted more nuts. So he sat on the back of the chair and tapped on the window. Well, let me tell you, Matt was ecstatic. Yes, we took more nuts out to him and this little ritual continued throughout the afternoon.
When we went to the grocery store on Sat, Wm. bought some shelled peanuts so Matt could put them out for the squirrels. While it is fun to watch Matt with the squirrels, I am afraid to let them eat from his hand. We have compromised by setting the nuts on the railing once they tap on the window to let us know they want more. The problem now looks like they are always there. Once they take the nuts away, they are back for more. This could end up being quite expensive not to mention our contributing to over feeding two squirrels and two blue jays. :-)
It was good to be back in church yesterday.....seemed like forever since I had been there. Actually, it was only 2 Sundays.
We have decided to go to Raleigh to see Morrigan and Max on 11/10. Our original plan was to go down at Thanksgiving but the timing was not a good fit for Wm.'s new job. So our hope is to get to Canton before Alyssa's birthday so Wm. can see the girls. I will come for Alyssa's party with Tom, Susan and Matt because Wm. is working that Saturday. That is becoming more the norm than a once in a while thing. When he worked in Inkjet, he rarely worked overtime not to mention I could count on one hand the Saturdays he worked in the previous 2 yr. Now, he seems to be going in earlier, working later and Saturdays. He is much happier with this job and that is what is important to me.

the final episode

OK, yesterday was my dental appt. for the extraction as well as the addition of the tooth to my exsisting bridge. I had the tooth extracted and the only complication was that it did not stop bleeding. The dentist first thought that the gel would be enough to stop it.....two stitches later it was still bleeding. It did eventually stop, (some 5 hr. later) PTL. Now I am trying to shake off the headache I always get when I have Novocaine. The bridge worked out very well......I am sure it will be less painful when the socket is healed......l0l!

Today when Matt wanted me to build him a tent with the cushions from the couch, I remembered that in the cellar was a Dora and Boots tent the girls had at our house. Oh, my, what a hit that was. He spent the remainder of the morning in there, giggling and peeking out so see if I was watching him. Wish I had thought of it before this..........like maybe last year.

the ongoing saga

Just in case you have been wondering about how I made out with my tooth.....here is the ongoing saga.....................
They took impressions on Tues and I was supposed to be getting the roots/ remainder of my tooth out and the new tooth added to my existing bridge on Fri. The dentist office called on Wed. to say the lab was not happy with the way the impressions came out and I had to come in yesterday to have new impressions made. I did that but needless to say, it will not be ready on Friday but not until Mon. Another weekend with no front tooth. YIKES. And if that was not enough, the glue will no longer hold it in!

weekend update

Saturday morning found Wm. at work and I got to sleep in.....I love Saturdays. Actually, I just feel so tired that I welcome anytime I can sleep in.
I broke off my front tooth (at the gum line) when I was eating leftover pizza for breakfast. YIKES! First panic set in, I don't do well in emergency situations. Anyway, once I got over the initial shock, I began calling around to find some one to look at it. There are some emergency care dentists listed in the yellow pages but no one could look at it then. Out of sheer desperation, I super glued it back in place. Now, before you get all excited and think I have absolutely lost my mind, I will tell you that my tooth had broken off before. They had done a root canal, so there was no pain and the tooth I broke off now was a composite, bonded tooth.
When Wm. got home, we went to pick up Susan and Matthew to go to the apple farm. It was great. We usually get apples over near where Susan lives. Abbott's Apple Farm had apples, a store with ice cream and all kinds of apple desserts and of course hot cider. They had animals, goats, sheep, pigs, calves and rabbits for the kids to pet and feed. I am not sure who had a better time, Matt or Papa.
Still wondering about the tooth? The super glue fix only lasted until we got home from the farm. Needless to say, I was not in church yesterday. My appointment is tomorrow morning.
Thank you Lord that I was not in pain.

more musings

Monday evening found us using one of our gift certificates from Matthew for Tassone's. Oh, I do love the all you can eat crab legs. Uncle Roy went with us. If you remember, he had certificates too. They were not as crowded as they usually are on crabby Monday; but for some reason the service was slow. Wm. and Uncle Roy waited patiently while I got my fill. We did not see the guy who brings his own butter warmer there this time. (he also said that he eats 45 knuckles) Yikes, who can do that and why would they let him??????

Yesterday afternoon Matt and I had a tea party on the veranda. The beautiful plastic "china" was something left in the toy box from the girls. He was delighted when he discovered it. While he napped, I made some mini loaves of banana bread; after I rescued my mini pans from the basket on Matt's bike. :-)

miscellaneous musings (edited)

Wm. was just saying that we lead a very boring life..... a very predictable one. Well, seeing our days and weeks have begun to run into each other, I guess he may be right. Not today! After church, we stopped at Super WalMart to get groceries and a few other things. (OK, that part was very predictable and boring) When we got home I decided to go out to the garage and paint an armoire I want to use in the office. Wm. was going to see his mother. Then he decided to call her and invite her for dinner. She asked if Matty was coming too so he called Susan and invited them for dinner as well. He had to go past Uncle Roy's house on the way to get his mother so he brought him for dinner too.
Very unpredictable and very spontaneous. We had a great dinner (pork roast) Susan brought a cake and we all laughed and laughed. My mother in law told me something that my husband never did........she made him take accordion lessons! Then she told us he hated them but it was not until she heard him play "Lady in Spain" that she let him quit. This all started when I told her that Wm. said one thing he always regretted was never learning to play the piano. She said she knew that but she wanted him to play the accordion!

Matthew, in his new shirt with his new blankie that Betsy made him, watching Dora. His cousin Tyler brought him the shirt back from his vacation to the Jersey shore. I remember "the girls" watching Dora (in fact I still have the Dora tapes they loved and now Matt is loving them too) I love it when Dora asks if you see something and he jumps up and down and points at the screen, saying "I see it Dora, I see it.....right here"

weekend update

We had a very productive weekend; well sort of. I got a lot accomplished just not what I had planned to do. The rain on Saturday kept me from painting. (not raining at BJ's or the mall though)
Sunday after church we went to Cracker Barrel to have lunch with our north country friends, the Ashleys. They were on the way to Rochester to see their new little granddaughter Norah Rose. It was so good to see them.....I do miss the north country family and friends we left we came to Syracuse. I don't miss driving a lot to go shopping, even for groceries. I really miss Josh, Jackie and my three little princesses! From there we went to the Christmas Tree Shop and low and behold, ran into Betsy and Kenny.
Betsy made Matt a small afghan like the one she made him when he was born so he could carry it around without tripping over it. Oh, I didn't mention he likes to walk around with it over his head (and it still drags on the floor) Not sure why he suddenly needs to take the "blankie" with him every where he goes not to mention the "paci". We tried to keep it just for naps but he will try scaling the dresser to get it. Anyway, the "new little blankie" was a big hit. He left his other afghan in his bed and the paci on the dresser.
Did I mention that Matt gave us a gift certificate to Tassone's for Grandparent's day? I thought it was one until I took it out of the envelope and it was two. Susan said she did that because she had given Uncle Roy 2 gift certificates for Tassone's for his birthday and he would not want to go alone!
She is a good daughter don't you think?

another update

Wm. started his new job on Monday. I think he will quickly adjust and end up liking it much better. He was never one to just sit around or pretend he was busy when he wasn't. That pretty much sums up what they did in injet a lot of the time. It was either feast or famine; either they had no work at all or tons that all needed to be mailed the same day. The warehouse manager position requires his full time attention. Things are coming in and out all day long and there is no time for sitting around. (thank you Lord).
My knee is much better. My question now is why didn't we just go with the shots last time rather than the surgery which didn't seem to help anyway?
I feel like a lot of other bloggers in that I am very happy to see summer leave. The heat and humidity just seem to zap all my energy. I absolutely love autumn. I love the cooler temperatures, the gorgeous colors and I actually feel like I want to cook, bake and find new projects to work on.

update

For the first time in 15 yr; I got a haircut by someone other than Betsy. Let me start at the beginning; even after we left Canton, Betsy still cut my hair. Either she would stop on her way to or from Rochester to visit her grandchildren or she would cut it when I came to Canton. She had no idea when she would be coming down and I don't know when we will make it up again until Alyssa's birthday. So yesterday, I went to Super Cuts and got my hair cut. Considering how apprehensive I was going in, it really looks pretty good. Who knew?

I finished the shelf I was making for Jen and Eleora's shower. I was very happy with the way it came out..... My DH is doing an excellent job of showing it off so I could take the picture, don't you agree? What you can't see are the fish on the top of the shelf so it goes with the theme in her room. (very creative, eh?)

PTL.....Great News..... PTL

I have great news, I have been praying for this for a while now. Wm. has a new job. Well, technically, he is still at IMS (Immediate Mail Service) but he will no longer be working in Inkjet. He will be the Warehouse mgr. He will be working alone, something he is pleased about. It should also have a considerable raise. Not exactly sure what "considerable" is in their eyes, but we are grateful for anything we get. He should be starting in a week or two, depending on how long it takes for them to find a replacement for him in Inkjet (will that be possible)?
We are very pleased about this new opportunity and thank the Lord for his continued blessings!

Matt has reminded me of 4 more signs he knows.....WOW 27!

Family time.....

Josh, Jackie, and the girls stopped on Friday and had lunch with Matt and me on their way to Rochester. I love when the kids are together!

Saturday we celebrated Susan's birthday with cake and ice cream. Uncle Roy came too......If there is cake, he doesn't want to be left out :-)

Sunday turned out to be a horrid day for me. I woke up with a terrible headache in the middle of the night and things went down hill from there. I spent the entire day in bed with the exception of frequent trips to the bathroom.

Today, Josh, Jackie and the girls stopped on the way back home. We went to the mall in Auburn (Jackie's favorite) but left empty handed. We did stop at Payless on the other side of Auburn so the girls could get shoes.....I had promised them on Friday that they could have new shoes when the came on Monday. Susan, Tom and Matt came at 3:30 and we had some cake and ice cream to celebrate Uncle Roy's birthday. Obviously, he came too. The plan was to have a cook out but time was very limited and we decided on ice cream and cake.....OK and chips and juice, cookies and Italian ice!

This is Susan's birthday......Matt thought the cake on Uncle Roy's plate looked better. Actually, he took the frosting off of most of our cakes!

Baby Lauren with Aunt Susan. She is sporting Lael's newest treasure we got at the mall...I guess we did get something after all.

Alyssa and Matt in the "big hole" in our back yard where they removed a tree. This spot is a favorite of Matt's. He runs around the back yard and then yells to me "Matt's in the big hole".

These next two are 4 of my 6 adorable, intelligent grandchildren. Did I mention I love being a grandmother? Did I tell you Lauren is rolling over and saying Mama?

Now honestly, have a ever seen a cuter bunch?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN

Today my sweet Susan is 37 years old......I am certain she won't mind that I told you how old she is......on the other hand, I feel ancient saying it. Nonetheless, this is not about me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN MICHELE

Update *edited

Lunch for the workers at church on Saturday went well. Susan not only drove me there but stayed and helped me set up, serve and clean up afterwards. They all thanked us for a great meal so I guess I did OK. We decided on making one of the favorites from the pastors luncheons at CFC ; grilled chicken Caesar salad.

I stopped at the Thrift store on Fri. night when we went to Wegman's for the fixings for Saturday's lunch. I was very excited.....I found a Fisher Price Kitchen for Matt for less than $5 and a workbench. The kitchen has been a real hit.....he has played with it the entire morning, stopping only for breakfast.

This was so worth the time and elbow grease it took to scrub it down with Clorox spray. The workbench is out on the porch (yes with all the other toys, Susan) so we will go out after lunch and see how we like that.

I had been thinking about how many signs Matt knows now. 21 come to mind right away: Mommy, Daddy, baby, eat, drink, sleep, bath, ball, stop, go, water, milk, please, thank you, your welcome, all gone, more, friends, story, help and potty. He can count by signing but sometimes gets confused as it is different than counting on your fingers. I am so glad we worked on learning some of the signs because although he can say all the words now, it definitely saved us a lot of frustration when he couldn't. Even now, if I can not understand him I ask if he knows the sign. If he does, he shows me.

*I just thought of 2 more signs he knows.....yes and no!

Tomorrow will be my last shot of Euflexxa. While the pain is so much less than it was before I started them, my knee "went out" on me last night. That was one of the reasons they opted for surgery the first time. Please continue to pray that the shots will be all I need. Thanks.

more ramblings from this old fat Grandmother

First, my knee is beginning to feel better ....I was very surprised how the pain had returned following the second shot.
I was really enjoying the cooler weather and now it hazy, hot and humid once again. Nice for Matt to be able to use the pool but not so good for me. The air has been on for days now and I have not been able to do any laundry. I really enjoy doing laundry.....yeah, it is somewhat therapeutic and I like feeling like I have accomplished something.....I love smelling fresh clean clothes. Anyway, the air has been on and Wm. asked me not to run the dryer when the air is on. I really have no idea why other than it may blow a fuse, or trip a breaker or whatever it does. You can see I am really up on the mechanics of the house. This was not a problem with the washer/dryer when it was downstairs.....technically it still is. (the washer/dryer we put upstairs is one unit so it would fit in the old linen closet)
I mentioned before that the church was putting on an addition and that on Sat. the home groups were preparing meals for the workers. Well, yesterday someone called to tell us they were going to ask families to make the Sat. meal. Wm. volunteered us for tomorrow. I am glad to do it would just rather have had a little time to prepare. Wm. said I should do what I did for the pastor lunches I made for CFC when we worked there. That should work! I always enjoyed doing that but then again I always a month to think about what I would serve. Now the only problem I see is that we have one car and Wm. will already be at church working when I need to bring the food. OK, Susan to the rescue????? If she can't take me, she will surely let her father use one of the vehicles they have to drive to church so I can get lunch over there.
State Fair opened down here yesterday. Wm. wants to go.......I think we were just there when Josh was Matthew's age.......does it really change?

Two of three

I had shot #2 this morning. I did not have the surgeon and it was not quite a painless as the first. I am pleased to say that I have a lot less pain since I got the first one. They told me that for a small percentage of people the shot works right away, for most however, it takes up to a month after the 3rd and final injection. I went shopping with Susan on Saturday and walked all over the store. On Sunday I walked from the car to Wegman's and then around the store. Before this Wm. had been letting me out at the door and then I would do what I could but he went and got most of the groceries and brought them back to the cart.
Matt was thrilled he was going in the "big blue car with Papa" this morning. In fact, he was so excited, Papa had to take him to McDonald's for breakfast while I finished getting ready for the doctor appointment. Papa said that when they pulled in, Matt began singing "old McDonald had a farm". All the way to and from the doctor's, which is only short ride from the house, he kept telling us "red light......stop!" Green light......go! (he signed it too) He is getting so good with his signing.
I took Darlene's advice to Danica about getting a treasure box for Jamison and found a note card box with a hinged top and it works perfectly. So far, we have collected some rocks, tiny stones and 2 feathers. He loves finding things and then saying "Hurry, treasure box" I love it. Thanks Darlene, I would have never thought such a small thing could bring so much joy to one little boy.

Friends

I had a very good day yesterday. My friend from Canton came down to pick up her hubby at Hancock. She came in the afternoon and we went to the Christmas Tree Shop......don't you just LOVE a bargain????? I got 2 new Blue's Clues videos for you know who . I am very tired of the same old ones. I think he is busy playing with his toys and try to shut it off and he screams NO, blues clues on! Anyway, we had a good time....it is definitely not like when I go with Wm. who sits down on the first piece of furniture they have on display and then waits. (Hey, I am not complaining, at least I can go there) He kids how he is sure that every worker in China as laughing at all the stuff they make for the Christmas Tree Store and we all flock there to get a bargain.
When Wm. got back from working on the church, we went to Kirby's for the best ribs in town. I am not the only one who thinks so, they print it on the menu :-) .
We had a chance to catch up on some of the people and things at CFC and both our families. I talked a lot......probably too much. Hey, we have not talked like this since we all worked at CFC. It was so good to see her and talk to her. I had a great day. (my knee was not even bothering me too much).
She left to pick up her husband at the airport after 3 weeks in China. I am sure she is glad to have him home. Now I hope we don't have wait another 2 years for a visit from her!

Looking ahead

The past few days I have been looking forward to the weekend, no not just so I can sleep in.....although I do like that part! My friend is coming to Syracuse to pick her husband up at the airport. So she is coming early and we are going to the Christmas Tree Shop....did I mention I love that store.....OK, maybe a time or two :-)
Because his plane does not get into Hancock until 10pm, Wm. and I are planning to take her to Kirby's for some dinner. I like Kirby's, nothing fancy but excellent food and service and it is only about 10 min. from our house. They have an excellent BBQ from now till Labor Day.
Could my sweet little Matthew already being showing signs of the terrible two's (after all he has only been 2 for 2 weeks)???? Yesterday I saw a side of him I have never seen. He was playing with the blocks when the tower he made kept falling over. He became very frustrated and instead of asking for help or signing help like he usually does; he stood up and threw the box of blocks, then he threw the box of Lego's and then the box with miscellaneous toys; but that was not enough, he went out on the porch and got his little chair and brought it back inside just to throw that also. That backfired though as it hit the floor and bounced back and hit him in the legs making a big scratch. This brought tears and after he was finished crying and we picked up the mess, he was his old self again.
I realized that I need to stop speaking in the third person to him. He takes everything I say literally and when I say "Let's go get our swimmers on and go into the pool; he brings me 2 two swimmers, one for himself and one for me". Yesterday when I was making his breakfast, he was opening and closing the silverware drawer. I told him there was nothing we needed in there and to stop opening the drawer. When I opened the drawer to get out a fork to scramble his egg, he slapped my hand and said "No, no".
update: my knee is doing so much better since the shot. I still have 2 more shots to go and the doctor said it should continue to improve for a couple of months. PTL


OK Gramma, you have taken too long and I am not waiting any longer. I'm outta here!

Aside from the pool, and cooking, this is my favorite place to be......unless Papa is home!

So far......so good

Well, I had the first shot of Euflexxa in my knee this morning. I did not have Matthew today because the doctor from the practice I saw last time had told me there could be a lot of pain and swelling with the shot. So far.....so good. I do not have a lot of pain or swelling. My neighbor Rose had told me that the shots were worse than the surgery for the meniscus repair, so I was expecting the worse. This morning with my devotions and prayer, I rebuked any bad side effects......I would appreciate it if you would stand with me in this.
This morning I had the surgeon give me the shot. He said he was very concerned with the amount of arthritis I had......it has gotten much worse since the surgery I had in Nov. He also said the PT was not showing any results other than the movement kept it from becoming too stiff. He also said I can do the same exercises at home. He wanted me to especially discontinue the therapy until I had all the shots and after that if I felt I wanted to go back I could. (I don't think so)
They are pouring the footers for the church addition this week so William is going there right after work and will be working until 9pm.
While I am enjoying getting caught up on a lot of things I have wanted to get finished this summer, I miss my little helper. I am no doubt getting more done than I ever could if he were here.....actually, I do not do anything other than care for him when he is here.
I am happy to say that I not only survived the nursery duty on Sunday but I actually enjoyed it. I was very surprised at how the nursery is run compared to CFC.......a difference in policy. Like we had a baby who cried the entire time he was in there. I asked how long we tried to quiet him before we got his parents......the answer was until service was over and they came to get him. The nursery worker changes the diapers, too!

blue plate special???? (edited)

Papa came home from work early today so Matt wanted to cook him some lunch. He wanted his chef hat and apron on but put the carrots from Papa's lunch pail right on his stove (cooling rack) and not in his shiny new pans. Thanks Steph, the pans and chef hat and apron have been a real hit.

Susan took him to get his hair cut last night. He really needed a haircut and he sat much stiller than he had for Betsy. He was content blowing on the whistle from his goody bag from his party and then sucking on the lollipop that the hairdresser gave him.

Finally finished my latest creation :-) It is a nursing blanket for Eleora. In case you can't see, it is pink and white checked on one side, white on the other.

Party time

It was a good day for the party.....no rain, lots of sunshine and a a little breeze. The kids had a great time. Susan set up 2 pools and they had them and the huge (10'x 10') sandbox which seemed to draw all the kids like a magnet. There was a cook out with all anyone could ever want to eat and drink. A Blue's Clues cake from the bakery and another one made especially for Alyssa with no eggs or milk, that was 4 cupcakes and a single layer cake which made the paw print (a clue). Susan had a Blue's Clues pinata that she filled with tons of Alyssa safe candy. Each child got a Blue's Clues notebook to write down the clues when the found them......yep, even a game of Blue's Clues. Hey, what would a Blue's Clues party be without a game of Blue's Clues.

I was hot......no stifling but a very happy old fat gramma. I got to see 4 of my 6 grandchildren and I got a chance to hold them and love on each of them. Yep, it was a great day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW

Happy Birthday Matt .........2 years old today

One down, one to go

One session of PT down this week and one more to go. I have a myriad of exercises to do at home, all of which seem to exacerbate the pain rather than relieve it. I don't mind elec. stim. when it is with heat as it was last week, but I do not like it with the ice, or that they keep turning up the levels.
After the session, however, my DH took me Tassone's for crab legs. Did I mention I love crab legs? Yeah, I know, only a million times. The best part was that we only used one of the two gift certificates we had. You know what that means, another trip for crab legs. Oh, I do enjoy crabby Mondays. The poor waitresses, not so much. There were people there we got there that were still there when we left.....almost everyone was having the crab special. OK, not Wm. but I bet 8 out of 10 people were there for the all you can eat crab legs.
Matt has been surprising me with how much he really knows this morning. He can count to 10, knows a lot of the alphabet and the sounds the letters make, he knows his colors, 2 that he showed me were magenta and teal.....(how did he know that?) Besides the signs he knows, he knows when to say please and thank you and really shocked me this morning when he said "hurry, potty". We have been working on it for what seems like forever but he never really manages to go......maybe things are beginning to look up.
He has been telling me about his birthday party coming up on Sat. He tells me who is coming and then that it is a blues clues party and his is having a blues clues cake. He is excited but no more than gramma......I get to see the girls.
If you are not Matthewed out by now, here is a funny story from yesterday. Early in the morning the neighbor's cat was back for a drink from the pool. When we went out to the pool in the afternoon, Matt got on his hands and knees outside the pool and put his face in and licked the water. I said "oh, no, Matt, that was is not for drinking, just swimming". He replied with "meow, meow".

matthew.com

Now I know that I am with Matthew from 7:30-5:30 every day so nothing he does should amaze me, but still he does. He loves to "cook". Now this consists of taking all my pans out of the cupboard and mixing, stirring, anything he can find in them. When we were in Canton for Lael's birthday, he spent all the time he was inside, playing with Alyssa's kitchen. I bought him a toy fry pan and some plastic food thinking he would leave my pans in the cupboard. No, he just has one more pan to "cook" with. Yesterday, he took my expandable cooling rack out of the cupboard, all the pans including his and put the rack on the window seat. He expanded it all the way out and put his pans on it and proceeded to tell me it was his "stove". This morning his stove was the first thing he got out. He asked me for some toast and some snacks which he then used to cook in the pans. I think that is really using your imagination when you still have not even turned 2. (one more week)

musings

The neighbor's cat came over to get a drink from Matt's pool. It must have drank for more than 10 minutes!

I wonder why it always seem to hurt worse after you start PT than before you went. The reason for going is to stop the pain and get more use and better ROM from your appendage, right?
I know I complain more than I want to. I remember my mother always complaining about her head aching and how the family always thought she was just whining or a hypochondriac. Well, when she died of a brain aneurysm, it was a different story. She actually had a reason for her complaining. No, I don't think that a torn meniscus, even on both sides of my knee or a torn ligament will be my demise. I don't want to whine but it is a nagging pain that gets worse with even walking. Now when your "job" is to look after a 2 year old, sitting down all day is not an option. The more I walk, the more it hurts. I have exercises which seem to exacerbate the pain more than relieve it. I heard twice yesterday from 2 different people that surgery for a torn meniscus does not "work" for 50% of the people who have it. Sue and Terry seem to be the only ones I can think of that are actually better off since the surgery. I also do not remember the orthopedic surgeons every telling me that before the surgery. Now what? Will the Euflexxa gel they are planning to inject in my knee relieve the pain? Well, I do not have the answer. I think that it may alleviate some of the rubbing of bone against bone caused by the loss of cartilage due to the arthritis. This is not a sure fix either, but I feel better about trying it first, before the knee replacement. Who knows, it may be just what I need.

update

The weather was gorgeous over the weekend. Saturday Wm. chose not to work at the church, and no I sure that standing in the trench for the foundation while running the sump pump had nothing to do with it. Really, he did some things around here that needed his expertise.
We painted our shutters on the house burgundy (something I wanted done since we moved in nearly 2 yr. ago) They look fantastic. I was not a big fan of the faded blue ones that were on the house.
Wm.'s sister Karen is moving out of the apartment that my in laws had for many years. Needless to say, there was a lot of stuff still there that was Wm's mother's. All the siblings met at the apartment on Sunday afternoon to go through it and decide what they wanted. We took back the armoire we had given them for Christmas one year but I am so pleased that we were able to get some of the pictures of when William was growing up. I have our family pictures since both my parents and my sister have all passed away. Anyway, there are some of grandparents, great grandparents, as well as Wm.'s baby pictures.
What blessed me most was a carriage robe that Wm.'s grandfather had made for him out of string. I know what you are thinking but it is really nice. He made a loom and then made the carriage robe on it. You would be very surprised it is made out of string. Now, considering Wm. will be 61 in Nov. it is really a surprise that it is in very good condition.....no tears or holes, just some yellowing as it once was white (duh, like string)
Wednesday I start PT again. The cortisone shot I had is beginning to wear off and the pain is creeping back into my knee and the limp is once again noticeable. I am looking forward to 8/14 when I get the first shot in the series of Euflexxa. I am hoping it will bring the relief I so desperately desire.
Matthew turns 2 on August 3rd and his party (Blues Clues party) will be on Sat. Aug. 4th. I am excited that 4 of 6 of my grandbabies will be together. Granted, Lael and Alyssa are not babies anymore (even Matt tells me he is not a baby anymore; "Matt, big boy" but they will always be my grandbabies.
I had promised Debbie Regan that I would come up for John Eastmond's birthday (can not believe he is 16) and this is the weekend that Andrew, Kathy and John will be at CFC. I did however, sign up for the 4hr. class at church on Sunday at Faith Chapel.

Not what it seems

I had thought, well Susan thought so too, that it was the sunblock that was causing the rash on Matthew. Guess it is not what it seems to be causing the rash at all. All the sunblock did was irritate the rash causing it to be worse than it was. Anyway, I said all that to say this.....his rash is much improved. In fact it is 100%+ improved. Jackie had suggested we use Eucerin cream on him (once she said it, I remembered that was what she put on Alyssa and also what the doctors told me to use on Josh, decades before). You can not know how grateful I am for her advice. Now that he is doing so well I have reintroduced the cran-raspberry juice (diluted of course) and he not had any more outbreaks.

On a more somber note, I have been inundated with emails regarding my decision I made about my knee. Seems I am the only one in favor of a passive treatment. You are all probably right but since I am the one having the surgery, I will try this passive treatment first. If this does not help, then I will consider the surgery, yes, the knee replacement! That all seems unnatural to me. I know that it has been done many times with a lot of success (there are people in church as well as Donna's mother that I know of personally who have made a miraculous recovery) I still see the trouble that my neighbor Rose has with her knee. Now, Wm. said Rose had problems with her surgery after the meniscus repair (need I remind you that I also did) I am scheduled for a series of 3 injections on 8/14, 8/21, 8/28. In case you were curious, the shot of cortisone I had last week has eased the pain in my knee considerably.