Adventures in Watertown

Despite the fact that it poured down rain when the forcast said just sprinkles all day, the trip to Watertown was good. Susan, Tom and Matthew went with us as none of them had seen Lauren Jessa. We met at the mall and then went to Ponderosa for lunch. I had taken the camera along in my purse so I could get a picture of all the kids together. Well, in true Linda fashion, I totally forget about it until we were all at the check out in Target. I said no one could leave until I took a picture. Now, my children and their respective spouses were in hysterics to think I was actually doing this......there is no stopping an old woman when she gets something in her mind. (it really wasn't that funny......lots of people get their pictures taken at Target......just because they do it in the photography studio rather than the check out means nothing)

This picture is good except Matty has his hand in front of his own face and is blocking his mother's.

This is good of all the grandchildren except I cut off Lauren.

So here is picture of Lauren by herself.

All things considered, I had a good time with my grandchildren. Does it get any better than this. (OK you can stop laughing because I took the pictures at Target check out now)

Tomorrow....it's only a day away

Tomorrow: I am very excited. Wm. and I along with Susan and Matty will be traveling to Watertown to meet Josh, Jackie and the three most beautiful girls north of the Mason Dixon Line :-)
I can hardly believe Lauren is a month old now but knowing Max is pushing 2 months I guess I should not be surprised. Susan and Matty have not seen Lauren yet and so looking forward to it.
I am anxious to see 4 of my grand-babies together. I can not wait to see how Matty interacts with the girls now. He is more vocal now and absolutely loves the girls. Whenever I mention their names he takes me around the house to show me their pictures. He remembers and knows which girl is which when you ask. Oh, how I wish we all lived closer.

Some of the hostas and the plants I transplanted from the back yard are beginning to break through. Maybe next week we will look into replacing the mulch and getting some new annuals. I do miss the wild flowers I had in Madrid.....mostly I miss Jackie and Lael telling which were flowers and which were weeds. Did I mention my green thumb may be brown?

Hopefully by tomorrow night, I will have new pictures of my 4 NY grandchildren. What treasures they are. I know I sound like a broken record but I miss being part of the girls everyday life and watching them grow. I miss seeing Morrigan and Max, too. They are fortunate enough to have Donna's parents around (they moved from Syracuse to Raleigh when we moved down here) As hard as it is for me to be away from most of the grandchildren all the time, I am very grateful for the time I can spend with them and very blessed to be able to spend everyday with Matthew.

On another note, please resume prayer for Cameron. He lost the sight in one eye yesterday and began vomiting again. He is back in Strong Memorial. They will run more test today to see if this is connected to what he had before. The Lord healed him once, He is still on the throne......pray on!

Love this weather

Love this weather. We spent a lot of our weekend outside and then the majority of yesterday. If Matty had his way, it would be the entire day. We met some more moms and kids on one of our walks yesterday. And yes, I did talk to them.....I know, very out of character for me, but I did it anyway. Hey, it only took 50+ years......don't rush me.


Got some pictures (247 to be exact and I love them all) of my little Southern Princess at Disney World.

This is Morrigan at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, getting ready to meet the Princesses.

















Morrigan with Cinderella, Snow White and Aurora.








No, no new pictures of Max. I am very thankful for the pictures Jackie puts on her blog of the girls (my Northern Princesses......the Mason Dixon Line is the division) I am fortunate enough to see Matty almost everyday but I miss the other grandbabies. I am so thankful for these beautiful, healthy, intelligent grandchildren......I am truly blessed......now if we just lived a little closer...........................

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I am beginning to feel a little better thanks to the antibiotics and cough syrup. The snow is gone for the most part and Matty is back. Yesterday we not only walked but also played outside in the driveway with some ride ons as the yard is way too wet to play in.

Matty got the Lego's out and made a fantastic tower, much taller than he is.

Check this out:

He had to stand on the futon to finish it up. He was very proud of his accomplishment and took Papa and Mommy to see it when they got here.

His eye teeth are finally through, top and bottom. I never saw any one's teeth pop through only to go back in like his did. I guess it is more common than I think as a few people have told us their children have experienced the same thing.

Hopefully we have seen the last of winter until next year.......I love the sunshine and warmer temps. I actually enjoy walking with Matty around the neighborhood. Shhh, let's not say that too loud or Wm. will have me out walking more than I want. He used to walk with Zoe all the time......now he walks with Matty or even just walks. Yikes, exercise.

(shudder)

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My first thought was to complain about the weather......since I am sure you have heard that many times today, I will forgo it only to mention this is definitely not what I had hoped for on April 16th. I want some sunshine and warmer temps; I want for the snow to be gone so I can walk with Matty. OK, so I am still sick and did not have Matty today anyway.
Yes, I still have this horrid cough and swollen glands, not to mention both my ears ache. I truly feel better today than I have for the last few days. I went out Friday night for a fish sandwich at Doug's (only the best fish in CNY) and then took a quick trip to Wal*Mart for cold pills and a few groceries. I came home and went right to bed after putting away the groceries. I spent the entire weekend in bed; sleeping and coughing, coughing and sleeping.....you get the idea.
My doctor appt. is tomorrow morning at 8am. What was I thinking when I made that.....I am definitely no morning person. However, I have had this appt for a while. Since last Oct. to be exact. It really was a check on the growth I had in my neck that they said was not malignant and at the time my knee was in worse shape and I knew I could not do 2 surgeries at the same time. So, despite the early hour, I am looking forward to this appt. for two reasons. The first is the obvious, this has got to be more than just a cold to still be hanging on like this. Secondly, I do need to get some attention to determine the next step in dealing with this growth.
I had some big plans for this weekend as far as purging some of the stuff we still have boxed up in our basement. That was a little difficult to do from the bed.....so maybe this weekend I will feel more like actually doing something.
Then again, I heard this weekend the weather was going to be in the 60's and Uncle Roy was telling us about a place that the Indians run that carry anything you can think of. He went with Stephanie and Michael but they don't like to shop where you have to dig through stuff......they are more mall shoppers. Hey, I love the hunt........maybe why I love the Christmas Tree Shop.
And don't you just love a bargain???????
edit: I had my doctor's appt. this morning.......I do have bronchitis. I have a prescription for antibiotics and cough syrup. As for the growth in my neck, they are making me an appt. with an ENT.

GOOD GREIF!

Matty and I both have colds. My head is very congested and aching and my throat is raw. Yesterday I went to bed at 6 when he left and because Wm. worked over I did not make anything for dinner. I do not feel much better today, but because of the fact I got out of bed at 9 to make us some popcorn, I was feeling guilty about no dinner for last night.
I had some hamburger (I was hoping the weather would change and we could grill out) so I thought I would make meatballs for dinner tonight. Matty was on the stool helping. (he was a big help when we made cookies) I could not find the onion powder (I hate onions) so I used the onion salt. Not a wise choice, I know but I thought at least the meatballs would have a little flavor. Unfortunately, after I put in the onion salt, I reached over to get the egg when Matty took the cap off the onion salt and DUMPED the entire bottle in the mix. I tried to salvage it and despite my futile attempt, it even smells salty. Guess we are not having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. While I was trying to get the meat ball mixture out of the onion salt, he turned around on the stool and pressed the button on the coffee maker. Normally, that would not be a problem as Wm. takes the remainder of the coffee to work in his thermos. This morning, he discovered he had left his thermos at work. Our coffee maker does not have a carafe, you just push the button with your cup; consequently, we had coffee running on the counter and down the cupboards and onto the floor.
Did I mention I love popcorn??????

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Received some new pictures of Max tonight. Thought you might want to take a look. He is 2 mo. old today.

This one is Max and Morrigan (as if that was not obvious)

Matthew has amazed me many times today. He has been wanting to watch the Baby Einstein DVD "First Signs" over and over. Today he not only signed along with them (something he does not always do) but he actually said what each sign was when he did it. I was ecstatic, he was talking big time. Then he decided to say an entire sentence. I should start by saying that in the last 2 days, Matty has decided to call Grampa, "Papa". We have no idea why, but it works for him. Now back to the story: Grampa was driving Laura Weber's car to the airport so she could head back to Norwood. Matty said "Papa go bye bye car, vroom-vroom". Pretty impressive eh?

Speaking of impressive did you see the video of Lauren Jessa on Jackie's blog?

These last 2 grandbabies are very close in age, don't you just love it? My only regret is one is in Canton and the other in Raleigh. What's a gramma to do?

Missing them all terribly.

Wonderful Day

:: Despite the few snowflakes still floating around today, this was a wonderful day. It was cold but the sun shone brightly. First, it marked the resurrection of our Lord. Church went very well and was packed full. Lots of visitors. Uncle Roy went with us. The service this morning was different from what I am used to. Not our typical Sunday service but still very good.

Saw Eric and Jen in church this morning.....she is looking noticeably pregnant.

What a blessing they are. They are the leaders of the college ministry at OCC.

:: I really enjoyed dinner with Uncle Roy, Susan, Tom and Matty. Wm. brought the DR table upstairs and because we had the leaves in, we put it in the LR. I had forgotten how much I love that table, and we decided to try it in the kitchen, without the leave, for a while. It is a tight fit but I think we can manage it. If not, it will have to go back downstairs again.

:: I made a carrot cake and sugar cookies both decorated to look like Easter eggs. I made the cake in an oval casserole dish so it would look egg shaped.

The cookies we decorated in teal, pink and lilac color frosting (cut in an egg shape too) They were big hits, especially with Matty who decided to forgo dinner and just eat desserts. He pushed dinner around his plate without eating before he asked for a cookie, that finished, he wanted a piece of cake. (he ended up eating 2) Yes, he probably should have eaten a regular meal before I let him have dessert, but hey, Gramma's get to do things mommies and daddies would not.

Can you even believe that Matty looks this big? I know he is not a baby any more but does he have to look this big?

I told you he loved the carrot cake!

Can't tell you how much I missed the rest of my grandchildren. Lael, Alyssa and Lauren Jessa were at home with their parents and Nana, Papa and Great Grandpa. Morrigan was in Disney World and Max was at home with Jon and Donna. Thank you for praying for Donna, she did not have any surgery as the surgeon said there was no longer any reason to do it, PTL.

Not again!!!!

:: Not again.......more snow! What is with that? Oh, I know that in the north country, snow is possible until May or even June; but I do not have to be happy about it. I was just feeling blessed by the wonderful weather we were having, the warmer temps, the flowers pushing up in neighboring gardens, trees beginning to bud. I was actually enjoying walking through the neighborhood with Matty 3-4 times a day. (saw it was going to be 81 in Raleigh today) :-(

:: I am planning Easter dinner here for us and Uncle Roy....now Susan told me this morning that her little family would be coming too. Great! I think we will try to bring the DR table and chairs upstairs. Most times eating at the bar or on tray tables does not bother me but not when we are having a big dinner like Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. We brought the table up once for Thanksgiving but at Christmas we used the bar as a buffet and everyone sat wherever they could find a seat.

:: Susan gets tomorrow off so consequently so do I. That was a pleasant surprise. I love my "job" but after last weekend's trip to Canton, my back has been bothering me as are my knees from all the steps (seems like everywhere we went there were stairs and I am not used to that anymore) not to mention sitting in the car for almost 3 hr. each way.

:: Today is Donna Marie's surgery.....I would appreciate your prayers that all goes well and for wisdom for the doctors. Thanks.

:: Guess it goes without saying that after spending the weekend with the girls I seem to be missing them even more than ever. Nana and Papa and great Grandpa will be sharing Easter with them this year.

whirlwind weekend

:: We had a wonderful weekend. It was non stop and I am getting too old for that but nonetheless wonderful.

:: We left here at 6am (and yes, I did manage to get up at 5am) We arrived in Canton just in time to leave for Grandparent's Day at CFC. I just came across a picture of Josh with Papa when he came up for Grandparent's Day in 1989.

This time it was our turn to be there for Lael and get our picture with her (and Alyssa). Jackie went long enough to take video of Lael (her group was first to perform) and then she and Lauren went back home and Alyssa stayed with us.

:: Loved seeing Lael sing in the choir. Loved seeing all our old friends from CFC and catching up with some who don't have blogs. Seeing all the kids again was amazing for me...........we have been gone almost 2 yr. and some of the kids have certainly grown more than 2 yrs. worth. :-) OK, that is probably a statement an old person would make........let's face it, I am an old person......not sure when it happened but I do know for certain it has.

:: We stayed with Betsy and Kenny so not only did we get to catch up, I got my hair cut. Friday night we ate at Ponderosa for the seafood buffet. Very good.....I ate way too much. Saturday night we went out again, this time with the Ashleys' and the Regans'. After Lael's basket ball game we went to lunch at Ponderosa, Lael's choice but it was very good, different foods on the buffet from the night before. After that the girls and I went to the playground for a while and Daddy and Grampa went to Colton to look at the house Josh is building. This morning we met Josh, Jackie and girls at their church and then took 37 back to Watertown.


Grampa and his girls after church.

Wondering about the basset? It chases cars and barks all the time. If they wasn't enough to think twice about, they decided they wanted $100 for the one we were interested in. Don't get me wrong; we (actually Susan, Jon and Josh) paid much more than that for Zoe, so we have no problem paying for one.......just seemed to be an afterthought once we were interested in it.