TaDa..........

OK, what do you think of my latest creation......I am very pleased with it.

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The weather this weekend was beautiful. Not too hot, just perfect. Saturday night we got a thunderstorm with torrential rain. It didn't really last too long. Monday we went to the Home and took Wm.'s mother out to dinner. They had BBQ ribs for lunch and then they had an ice cream social in the afternoon, so all she really wanted to do was go to Wendy's for a salad. Not where we went but that we came and spent time with her and took her out.
We spent a lot of the weekend shopping for Lael's birthday. Susan went over the top as usual!

I did get my lamp made from the large birdhouse. I love it! And yes, I will get a picture up soon.

I had my follow up appt. at the ENT surgeon today. The good news is that cyst has not increased in size since the first MRI seven months ago. The bad news is that the swelling and pain in my neck are still there. She has no reason for the swelling or the pain but does not consider it a problem. (for her it probably isn't) I told her I could accept that it was not sinister but wanted an explanation of why it was swollen and painful. She had no answer and told me if I insisted they would do a biopsy of the cyst/growth but because of where it is, behind my jawbone near my ear, it would not be easy. Even if they did the biopsy, it would not resolve the swollen lymph node. So I guess it boils down to : I must be a hypochondriac! (I always thought my mother was so I guess it is official, I am my mother) My children are probably shaking their heads yes now.

I had Matty today until 2pm. When we went outside he counted the steps: one, two, tree, foe. Papa counts them every morning when he takes him for a walk before work. Wm.'s mom sent home a begonia with us yesterday and a little watering can and some tools she got for Mother's day, so Matty and I could plant it in the garden. We did and he just loved doing it. I am hoping he will be like Lael and learn to tell me the flowers from the weeds. She used to tell me "Gramma, you really need to do some deadheading on these flowers" (she had to tell me what deadheading was, though) He has a new word that he uses all the time now......it's "cool". Is that a riot or what?

I can not wait until the middle of June. Lael and Jackie's birthday is on the 14th, my birthday and Lael's graduation is on the 15th, and then Lael's party is the 16th, with Father's Day on the 17th. One busy weekend but I get to see the girls. At the risk of sounding like a broken record again, I miss them so much. We have been down here almost 2 yr. now and I am still not used to seeing them whenever we wanted to. I am excited with the gifts I got this year too. An Our Generation doll with some outfits.....Matty got her an outfit and Uncle Roy got her a beauty chair with a hair dryer and brush and curlers and a cape. She showed me all this when we were in Watertown last month. I was glad for the idea and ran with it!

Bob the Builder and creativity

I was very inspired by Amanda's creativity and because Matthew is very "into" Bob the Builder, I tried my hand at doing something creative. Bob is made of luan plywood which I drew and Wm. cut out for me. I did not put his typical tool belt on Bob as I wanted him to be a coat rack. The "tool belt" consists of 3 hooks for Matty to hang his jacket and hat on.

I used to have the baby changer under this shelf (which you can not see) here but Matty was always either standing up or rolling over, so it became much smarter for me put the changing pad on the futon and change him there. I bought a night light at Christmas Tree Shop which was a bulldozer, for only $1.99. It is the size of a small lamp but uses a night light bulb and sitting on the shelf above Bob, seems the perfect place for it.

This weekend I am going to try to turn one of the large bird houses I used to have in my kitchen in Madrid into a lamp. I got the lamp kit already but decided I needed a threaded rod. Now, if anyone is looking for birdhouses, I have 2 boxes still unpacked downstairs, yours for the taking. (Sue, you want some more for your collection, right?)

Love it........dislike it

I Love:
my grandchildren, all six of them are so special yet have such different personalities
a bargain; (no doubt why I love the Christmas Tree Shop) Yesterday Susan, Matty and I went to the Salvation Army Thrift Store just a few minutes of our house. We were looking for toys for Matty to play outside with, in good condition, that would not cost an arm and a leg. Eureka, everything was 1/2 off there yesterday. Susan got a Little Tike's tricycle, a Little Tike's dump truck, two small Fisher Price trucks, a Little Tike's wrench, and a Fisher Price truck that is pulling a wagon. Oh, yeah, and a pair of OshKosh overalls in excellent condition (he now wears the same size as Anthony who used to give him hand me downs) How much for all this treasure, you are asking yourself???? Under $10. My neighbor Ann has a grandson who is now almost 5. She sold me a Little Tikes table with three attached benches for $5. Last year Susan got a Little Tikes slide from her for $5. Both in excellent condition. You gotta love that.
the harness we now have for Matty. I know you are thinking, how can she put a harness on that child like he was some dog. I can because I am concerned he will run into the road and I would rather be safe than sorry. He really doesn't mind it. In fact, I asked him on Fri. if he wanted to go for a walk (I meant in the stroller) and he brought me the harness. The neighbors have stopped me to tell me how smart that was to use the harness.
that Matty is more vocal now. He says, or at least tries to say everything. If he knows the sign for it, he signs it and says it. (please, thank you, water, etc)
how much he loves his grandfather, all the kids seem to love Wm. and when we were at CFC most of the kids there did too. It makes me happy to see how much he wants to do what Papa does, and how he is happy just to be with him. I love that he sings his Papa song whenever he is at home. (this is just singing Papa, papa, papa)

I dislike:
grocery shopping despite the fact that we have some pretty elaborate grocery stores nearby.
spray sunscreen, you really don't have the control you do with the lotion and I don't feel safe spraying it around Matty's face.
that my knee hurts as much as it did before the surgery.
that the swelling in my neck is not where the cyst is.
that I feel bad more days than I feel good.
smell of cleaning products: as I cleaned the bathroom this afternoon, I realized how much I really dislike the smell of the cleaning products. The toilet bowl cleaner from scrubbing bubbles does a good job on the toilet but it literally makes me nauseous. Likewise, the cleaner for the sink and bathtub.

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I had my MRI yesterday. The only open MRI is across the city in East Syracuse. We took the thruway across, as 690 is bogged down with construction. We were half way there when Wm. asked me if I had picked up the requisition for the MRI.....and of course, I hadn't. We had to turn around and go back. Before we could go there, however, we had to go to the ENT office to pick up the old MRI films to compare the new one with (if you remember, we had to go get these films and take them to the ENT last week)
I was taken in and had removed anything metal, ie, earrings, etc. Part way through the first one the tech stopped it and asked if I had removed all metal. I reassured him and he started again......he stopped again part way through and asked me again. I reassured him I had but then remembered I have a metal post in my front tooth. That was causing the interference, but there was nothing they could do about it. Once they finished they talked to my doctor who decided it would be a good idea to do two more sets with contrast injection. The tech had a horrid time finding a "good vein" and had to go find reinforcements to poke and prod the other arm for one.
I did not have Matty yesterday and after the MRI, we went to Carousel Mall so I could get something for Jon Christian's birthday (May 28th). I had looked in Steve and Barry's with Josh and Jackie when we went to Watertown and saw a few shirts I wanted to get Jon. I am not big on going to the malls anymore but I did have an enjoyable time with Wm. We ate lunch , after 3pm, at Johnny Rocket's, a 50's style diner.....it was fun and the burgers were good and the fries (American, of course)(we shared one order) were fabulous.
We ended up having to buy a new VCR/DVD combo yesterday. We had a DVD that still works great.....unfortunately our VCR died on Mon and they no longer sell them anymore unless you buy the combo. We were in the middle of watching an Elmo tape on Mon. when it died and poor Matty was devastated. I first thought it was the tape. Our children's VHS tapes have been watched many times since Lael and Alyssa were little. I tried another and another and finally decided it was the VCR. Bummer! We have been trying not to make big purchases but this is a "work expense" :-)
I made a strawberry pie while Matty took his nap on Tues. I put it in the fridge before he woke up and we just went outside to the sandbox. When I finally got him to come in for a snack (a compromise to stopping for lunch) he opened the refrigerator, saw the pie and before I could stop him, he stuck his hand in and took out a handful of berries and glaze. He turned around with a red glazed smile to announce "MMMMMM". I was not a happy camper but I could not help but laugh. After all, I had told him to find something he liked for a snack hadn't I?

Crab Legs

Ah, the crab legs last night were fantastic. I was very glad we made reservations as it was packed. I thought maybe it wouldn't be because of Sunday being Mother's Day. Service was slower than usual and we stayed until we got our fill :-)
The sandbox has been a real hit. Matty loves being out there. Yesterday we were out from 11 -1:30 and I finally had to bring him in kicking and screaming. Today was more of the same. The temps are in the high 80's but there is quite a gusty breeze. This makes throwing sand in the air such fun as then we can see the wind.......he throws it up and then laughs and screams wind, wind. Gramma is not quite as impressed.
Max learned to roll over on Sunday. It took him most of the afternoon to finally do it and once he did, he slept for 5 hr. Susan said "he is his father's son".

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I trust yesterday was all you hoped for in a Mother's Day. We went to church and then to Susan's. From there we went to get a sand box for the back yard.....we have a fenced in yard but with nothing out there, it did not hold Matty's attention for very long. Now we need to work on getting a swing set.
In the afternoon, we went to the Home to see Mom Card. Will's sister Karen was going to take her lunch but ended up being taken out by her son. The Home had a tea for the residents and their families but we went after the tea as it was my understanding that some of the other brothers were going to be there for the tea. No one was. I felt bad for her, she had her friends, but not her family. We got her some DVDs.....she loves movies but not with any bad language or violence, etc. We got her Second Hand Lions and Green Fried Tomatoes. She has netflix but still has a hard time finding "good" movies. Matty got her some bags of goldfish (1 cheddar and 1 pretzel). She was pleased, Matty shared his with her the last time we took him there and she liked them (really, I think she liked Matty sharing more than she liked the goldfish)
Susan and Matty got me a new dress....that was the last thing I expected as Susan paid for the ticket for me to go to NC to see Morrigan and Max in Feb.
Now with yesterday being Mother's Day and graduation at the colleges here, reservations for dinner were at a premium; so we opted not to go. The best part of that is that I am getting to go to Tassone's for dinner tonight. Monday night is all you can eat crab legs......Oh, I do love crab legs. Well, I love sea food! We really need to go ME. We have been saying that for a while but never have.
Well, I certainly missed being with the "girls". I think this the first Mother's Day since Lael was born that we have not been together. Don't say it.....I know moving down here was my choice. I still believe it was the right decision. We prayed about it a lot before we came and I feel it was what God wanted us to do. I admit, I did not take into consideration how much I would miss the girls. I miss Morrigan and Max too, but I never saw Morrigan more than twice a year anyway, so it is different than seeing the girls every day.
Did you see that adorable picture of Lauren on Jackie's blog? What a beautiful baby (who looks exactly like her oldest sister I might add) ! Actually, we were looking at pictures at Susan's yesterday and she has one on her TV of Lael and Alyssa when Alyssa was a baby, Lauren looks a whole lot like that. All this time I have been saying that Lael and Lauren looked alike and like their mother and Alyssa was the spitting image of Josh when he was little.
Wednesday is my MRI.....still find it amazing that there is only one open MRI in the city. And No, I would never consider sticking my head into a closed MRI!

Good news and bad news

The good news is I went to the ENT surgeon this morning. She looked at my MRI films and agreed with Dr. Nolan that where my neck is swollen and sore, is not the problem. The bad news, and this may not really be bad news at all, is that the films showed the cyst to be farther back on my jaw bone than the pain and swelling are. She has decided to do another MRI to compare to the first.
As for my ear ache and sinus pressure and pain on the left side, she gave me some Nasonex spray. Wow, amazing stuff, my sinuses opened right up.

I did not have Matty today, his other Grandma does. Good thing too as we once thought of taking him along. My appt. was for 11:30 which was right during Matty's nap. This was why we had second thoughts. Anyway, I never got in to see the doctor until after 1 and didn't get out until 1:30. They told us to come early so we got there at 11am. Believe me, I was not a happy camper. I told Wm. that our time was just as valuable as theirs but it didn't change anything. We still sat, and sat and sat and sat..............

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Today was a gorgeous day. We went to church (Eric is back from Hong Kong) and then went to trade cars with Susan. We took her car as Wm.'s mom has trouble getting in the Explorer(I have trouble with the low cars and much prefer the Explorer; but this was not about me)

Susan and Matty came along and we took Mom Card to lunch. She seems to be doing pretty well. My sister in law had said she was not happy at the Home but she appeared to be in good spirits.

Jon sent me some new pictures of Max.

He seems to have the same temperment as Lauren does. He is now 13# and 24".

I definitely think that Max looks as much like Morrigan as Lauren does like Lael. He is the image of Morrigan when she was a baby and they are both little carbon copies of Jon Christian.

Morrigan starts kindergarten on July 9th and Max will be going to the Day Care across the street from the school.

Both the school and the Day Care Center are in their neighborhood.

Jon and Donna have arranged their schedules at work so that the children can be picked up at 2:30. Donna starts back to work on Thursday and her mother will be watching Max until August when Day Care will take him (he has to be 6 mo. old)

I miss them....when we worked at CFC we could take time off when we wanted to, I miss being able to do that. I miss rocking my grand babies. It is very hard for me to be away from 5 of them most of the time. I treasure the time I have with Matty but Lael, Morrigan, Alyssa, Max and Lauren are growing up and I am missing it.

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Absolutely loving this weather. Like being able to walk and get out with Matty. At the same time my knee (yes the one I surgery on in Nov) is aching again. I know it is because there is no cartilage left but it does not make it feel any better because I know what it is. I am actually looking forward to seeing the ENT surgeon next Wed. I have put this off as long as I possibly can. While my regular physician says it is nothing, I would feel much more comfortable hearing it from a specialist.

Matty is becoming more vocal and wants to be outside all the time. He has become less interested in potty training (I was not sure he was ready anyway; he will sit on the potty but rarely does anything more than sit)

He has been eating better since his eye teeth came in. Here are a couple of pics at lunch yesterday.

Yes, he loves to try on our glasses. These are just my magnifiers from the $store and they are the weakest ones.

(I hope you don't think I let him wear them around no matter how weak they are.)

He had a Hoffman hot dog and some french fries for lunch and in the middle of that he decided he would try on the glasses and that I should take a picture of him. He couldn't be still for long.....in the middle of the pictures, he decided he needed a drink. He must think he looks like Papa with these glasses on as when he put them on, he said "Papa".

I can not tell you how happy it makes me to see how much he loves his Papa (still find it strange that he changed from Grampa to Papa). From the time he gets here in the morning, until he leaves he is talking about Papa. When he opens the door in the morning, the first thing he does is call "Papa, Papa".

All through the day he picks up the phone and says "hello, Papa". When it rings, he runs to it yelling "Papa, Papa". And when it gets to be 5 o'clock(how he knows it that time, I have no idea), he climbs on the window seat and looks out the window calling "Papa, Papa". When Papa finally gets home, he beams and can't get outside to meet him fast enough. I miss that about the girls.....Lael and Alyssa used to love being with him too.