ramblings.........

I wondered about the wisdom in posting this picture of Matt. However, when Jackie posted the "fashion sense" picture of Alyssa last week, I decided it was too funny not to share.

His clothes were in the dryer from washing dishes (this happens at least 3 x's a day). I suggested he go to his room to get something on. This was what he came out wearing. Granted, he did put something on, barely! As I was laughing, I felt I had to capture this. What a riot......maybe the "fashion sense" is shares with his cousin, Alyssa, is the bond he has with her. He talks about all the girls and Max but it is Alyssa that he talks of most. Maybe because she is the closest to him in age.


For as long as I have been referring to myself as "old fat gramma" to the kids, Jackie has told me it would come back to bite me one day. It did once with Lael when she was with Papa and we got separated. When she spotted me she yelled across Hacketts "I can see my old fat gramma!". Matt seems to say it alot. Yes, Jackie, I know, you warned me and I turned a deaf ear. We had been talking about what the real names were for Mama, Daddy, Papa etc. He knows them all.....all be me. When I say, "what is gramma's real name"; his answer is always "old fat gramma". Now this morning he was pretending to walk across a tightrope on the lines in the kitchen tile. I said "wow, you are doing a great job on the tightrope". His answer? "Try it gramma, just put your big fat foot on the line and pretend to walk on the tightrope". OK, it may not be as funny as it used to be!

I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map!

I mentioned before how Matt has started to watch the old Dora videos we had for Lael and Alyssa.......yesterday we watched Noggin on Demand where we saw Dora and Super Map.

He was running around the house singing "I'm the map". So while he took his nap, I got some things together and we made Super Map when he got up.

Well, what do you think, one crafty gramma, eh? Today, he got out a pile of coffee filters and when he was done playing, I did not want to throw them away. So, he made some butterflies with them. He got bored with the painting long before the butterflies were done but I think they look really cute anyway. We got some new paint brushes that are filled with paint but it takes a lot of coordination to make them work.....you have to push in the middle of the brush at the same time you paint......difficult even for an old fat gramma but this 2 yr. old held his own!

Morrigan turns 6

Yesterday, my little southern princess turned 6. I had planned to post yesterday but unfortunately never did. She is on her way to Disney World with Donna's sister, Suzanne, who took her last year. This time she will be staying for an entire week! Dinner with Cinderella, as well as another trip to the Bibbity Bobbity Boo Salon.

Max is having tubes put in his ears while she is gone. His surgery is scheduled for 2/28. Please pray for Max regarding this routine surgery. Thanks.

Well, it just would not feel like my blog if I failed to mention what Matt has been up to today.

He got all the ribbons he could find in my sewing box and put them out on the LR rug. "Be very careful, Gramma" he told me, "the LR is really a snake pit". "Are you afraid of the snakes, Gramma?" I said I was but he assured me not to be afraid, he would save me!

couldn't resist

I couldn't resist posting this picture of Matt in the shirt he wore this morning. Isn't it a riot? My DIL, Donna, has always insisted this was true. Jackie, I just wanted to make sure you knew it was true, also! :-)

Haircut

Just in case you thought I was exaggerating about how much Matt disliked having his haircut a few weeks ago. We finally retrieved this from the phone:

random thoughts of an old fat gramma

Because he loves to draw and paint so much I guess it should not have surprised me when Matt drew some actual faces. He made some circles, then added eyes, mouth and hair. It was not the usual scribble drawings he has been in the habit of doing. This was actually recognizable as faces. They were good enough that Wm. asked if I drew them. I guess the surprise was not that he did them but that one day his drawings were scribble drawings and the very next day it was a perfect face. I love it! Maybe have just forgotten how quickly a toddler absorbs and learns and grows.

I think I mentioned that I was redoing the nursing mothers and family rooms at the church. I ordered the gliders and we picked them up on Sat. Now we have just 1 week to put them together (one down, three more to go) to be sure they are not broken or have any parts missing. After one week, they belong to us even if they are broken. (I find that to be a strange policy but I guess it works for Penney's) Now we need to find the time to paint the rooms and set them up. I am excited about this. Right now mothers are nursing in the same chairs we have in the sanctuary. I think that they will be much more comfortable in the gliders and ottomans. The rooms will have different paint colors and while the gliders and ottomans are all cherry, the cushions are different in each room. Oatmeal for the nursing mothers room and sage green for the family room.

Wm. has been extremely faithful to the celiacs diet. He even checked the caramel creme candy he eats all the time. Guess what??? They have wheat in them. Who would have thought. I actually thought they were 100% sugar! Matt and I made a wheat free cake yesterday. Wm. ate it but so did Matt who proclaimed it "dewishes".

Cowboy Matt????

Wm. always says "what goes around, comes around". Lately, Matthew's favorite video was one Lael and Alyssa used to watch at our house when we lived in Canton, "Cowgirl Dora".

As you can tell, Cowboy Matt likes to get right into it! :-)

phone fiacso

Ever have one of those days? You know the kind where you can not believe that you actually did something.....something very, very stupid! I had one of those days this weekend. If you remember back just after Christmas, I washed Wm.'s cell phone.......well, believe it or not, I actually washed his new one. Now I am not making excuses for myself but Wm. was already gone when I got up on Sat. morning. I decided to do the laundry. I made the same grand assumption I did last time, that his cell phone was with him and not in his work pants in the hamper. Doesn't she check the pockets I hear you asking yourselves. Yes, she does. Unfortunately, Wm. had his cell phone in the pocket on the leg of his pants, like the carpenter jeans have. And no, I never checked that pocket. I have no idea why not, other than I thought the phone was with him, like it usually is.
When he came home and I told him what I had done, he wasted no time telling Susan. After all, she paid for the phones and has us on her plan (a perk for watching Matt). When I washed the last phone, she got Tom a new one and had Wm.'s # put on Tom's old phone. (the old one was a camera phone so it was not that old) She told Tom who said I had better check ALL the pockets before I do the wash and then he said "Dad needs to take responsibility for taking the phone out of his pants pocket at night when he gets home".
Yes, we will both be more responsible in the future. What about a new phone? Wm. ordered one on ebay like the one he had. The shipping was twice the phone price!
Lesson learned (I hope, anyway)

Happy Birthday, Max

Happy Birthday, Max

Our sweet Max will be a year old on February 10th. I feel very bad that we will not make it down for his birthday. Love you my sweet boy. Have a wonderful day!

very busy 2 yr. old

It gets a little more difficult everyday for me to keep up with Matthew. He goes nonstop from the time he gets here around 7:30 until he goes down for a nap at 11. After his third breakfast, at 9am we put dinner in the crockpot. He drew with his crayons, then with chalk on his easel. Then he "cooked" in his play kitchen. Then he washed dishes (plastic ones) in the sink. After which we needed to dry his clothes in the dryer. (this is getting pretty old now and I probably should tell him he can't play in the sink.......on the other hand, other than the frustration wet clothes causes me, he is not hurting anyone and he absolutely loves playing in the water) He insists he is not playing in the water but "doing the dishes". We had three bathroom runs (quick, Gramma, run like the wind) Then we made a tent in the living room from the cushions on the couch. Then we played with the cutting board and knife set (Melissa and Doug) he got for Christmas from Lael, Alyssa and Lauren. He absolutely loves this and plays with it throughout the day. Time for juice and a snack and then some more drawing. Time for a nap (yippee).OK, not before we read the Van Gogh book 3 xs and the feelings book once. Well, I start to read a sentence, he finishes it. This afternoon we made cookies, krispy treats and a pudding pie. Did I mention he loves to cook? We no sooner finish one thing until he wants to make something else. I thought we could take it easy for a few days because Papa's doctor put him back on the celiac diet. I said "Papa can not eat cookies anymore, Matt" to which he replied, "Daddy can". Daddy and Mommy gave up chocolate for lent, so it we tried our hand at oatmeal cookies. This is only the second time I ever made them. He also has a thing for jumping.....off the windowseat, off the couch, from area rug to area rug......you get the idea. My heart is in my throat during our gymnastics. First we jump, then we tumble. Yep, the more active Matt gets, the more this old fat gramma feels her age. OK, maybe not my age.......by 6 pm, I feel about 80.

He sampled the cookies which he delcared to be "dewishus" (delicious). I finally put curtains up in the office, I have had only a blind there since we moved in 2+ yr. ago. He came in the office and announced, "Gramma, you got some new, ah.....curtains". I said "Yes, I did". He said "Oh, they are lovely". Now what 2 yr. old says lovely??????

Really missing the girls! Morrigan and Max both have birthdays this month. This will be the first time since she has been born that we have not gone down for her birthday.

edit: After reading this outloud, I realized it sounded like I was not happy with my "job". Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, there is nothing I would rather be doing!

Saturday morning at Snip-its

Yesterday morning found us at Snip-its, a haircutter for kids. Matt hates to have his haircut. In fact, he was sounding like a broken record "NO HAIRCUT!". I tried to trim it a few times but it was so difficult with him trying to dodge the scissors. Susan cut part of it when he was asleep, however, he moved unexpectedly and there was chunk missing from the front.

Anyway, yesterday we took him to Snip-its. We did not tell him before hand it was to get a haircut. He wanted Papa to go also. When we walked in, he began by examining the place (we were the only ones there) We were certain they would need all three of the staff there to hold him down. They asked him if he was ready for his haircut and he lost it. Despite the snip-it cartoons running on the TVs, the receptionist blowing bubbles and giving him a lollypop, my poor little Matthew sobbed most of the time they cut his hair. He kept sobbing "Mama hold you", "Gramma hold you". Papa, well when the crying started, he went outside to wait in the van. By this time, a lot of kids had come in for haircuts.

It was a little shorter than we had wanted it to be but on the upside, he won't have to go back real soon.

It never ceases to amaze me everyday as I watch Matthew learn and grow. I feel that my job with Matt is the same as it was with Josh when we homeschooled: to fan the flames. I used to be surprised at how much Alyssa loved to draw. That seems to be the same vane Matt is in now. He draws on the chalkboard, the whiteboard, paints on paper and draws with crayons. He will color pictures I print off the web but he does not care one bit about coloring in a coloring book. He must draw, paint, etc at least 15-20 pictures a day. No, I can not save that many. I do save the best each week for his parents. I date them and write what it is when he tells me about the picture (something he does more and more of)

Wm. learned that he has to go back on the diet for celiacs disease again. This will put a real cramp in Matthew's afternoons. Every afternoon he wants to bake something.

I have my consultation for cataract surgery on 2/12. Ah, to be able to see again will be refreshing.

I will leave you with this picture. Where are Matt's clothes? In the dryer, where they always seem to be as he absolutely loves playing in the water. What is on his head? A net bag that the starfish came in. Why is he wearing it on his head? I have no idea. I laughed the first time he did it so he decided it must be funny to wear it.

Are menus really necessary?

I found Sheri's confession about not planning menus very interesting. She is sooooo organized that I naturally assumed this carried to all parts of her life. I must confess, I never actually plan menus on paper. I think about what I would like to have, factor in what is on sale and then I too, fly by the seat of my pants. The last few times at the store, Wm. accused me of just cooking the same 5 things every week, just mixing them up. Not true, although it may seem like that. I try to cook things that will allow me to have leftovers for his lunch and leftovers for Uncle Roy. Reading some of the comments on Sheri's blog, I feel a little twinge of guilt for not planning menus. That probably would cut down on all the quick runs to the store for something we have forgotten. I like the prices at WalMart but Wm. does not like their produce or meat. Wegman's have great produce and meat but the prices are higher on a lot of things. Too many choices in both stores and going to WalMart almost always means spending more that you plan (face it, who won't wander into the retail side of the store). Wm. has always said that it all evens out in the end so just shopping Wegman's is smarter. I think that as long as we need vitamins, band aids, etc from the retail side anyway, why not get the groceries that are cheaper at WalMart then. Maybe you just can't teach an old dog new tricks!
On a lighter note, I heard something this morning that I have never heard before. Someone begging to clean the toilet! Matt loves to clean anything, yes, even the toilet. (well what can you expect, his father is Mr. Clean) I finally was worn down enough that I gave in and he was jumping up and down singing "yea, I can clean the toilet". Well, at least someone can sing about it!

Yesterday I had another MRI of my neck to monitor the growth that PTL, has not been increasing in size. This usually takes about 25 minutes for the test. Because I will not stick my head into a closed MRI, we need to go to East Syracuse to the open MRI. It was snowing hard and Wm. was late picking me up but we still managed to get there on time. Once there however, we waited and waited and waited. Over an hour. Now Wm. had not had any lunch so he was not a happy camper. Once out there, yes, the open MRI is in a truck like it was in Canton, I was freezing. My head was throbbing and the jack hammering of the machine only exacerbated it. I took the opportunity to pray for strength to get through the test. After it was over, the tech informed me that my doctor had called and asked we do it again, this time with dye. YIKES! I was grateful for making it through the first time. Obviously, I made it through and on the way home Wm. decided to stop at Kirby's (our favorite restaurant) for an early dinner. (no point in his going to work as it was 4:30) Yum, all you can eat shrimp Thurs!
I had Matt in the morning and I told him he could not take a nap as his other grandmother was going to pick him up at 11:30 (nap time is 11) He wanted me to hold him in the rocking chair and when I looked down at him he was holding open his eyes. I asked him what he was doing and he said "trying to keep my eyes from going to sleep"
He was back this morning but for some reason, he is slapping, kicking and pushing, no definitely not normal for him and not behavior to be tolerated.

I've been tagged:

I am not into these games any more than I like games at showers; I was making a statement but I guess that can be #1.
I have broken most of the bones in my body.....not my hip however, so the doctors say the Boniva is doing it's job.
I lived in the same house from the time I was 1 until I moved out to get married. (My parents lived there until they died)
Wm. and I have lived in 12 houses since we got married.
When our kids were small, we moved every 2 years (upward mobility)
I have always wanted to work with stained glass.
I went to college for business because my parents did not think art or interior decorating was worthwhile. I decided I wanted to get my interior decorating/design degree and was 50 when I did it.

OK, because everyone has been tagged already, I will take a cue from Sheri and just say if you read this and have not been tagged yet, consider yourself tagged!

On another note, we have pretty much mastered the potty. He needs very little prompting from me anymore. That was certainly a trial. Not this time because it only took a week once he decided to try. When I was trying before he was ready to learn, he would scream and cry and that was the trial.
Matt still loves to cook and bake. When I put him down for his nap a while ago, I told him we could play when he got up. His answer was he wanted to bake a cake when he got up. One with frosting. Then maybe play.
He still remembers his signs. I thought he may have forgotten them since it has been a while without using them. I would ask him what the sign was for all of the 32 signs he knows and he remembers all of them. :-)

Please pray for my grandson Max. He is 11 months old and has had an ear infection since Christmas. He is on his 4th antibiotic and none have worked. He spiked a fever of 104 yesterday and his lips turned blue. Donna called the pediatrician who called 911 as she said she could hear him wheezing. Max and Donna went to the hospital in the ambulance and Jon followed in the car. They administered oxygen to Max on the way to the hospital. Once there however, they decided it was not pneumonia. They gave him 2 shots. He has to have 2 more today and 2 more on Tues. Please pray the doctors at Duke can find what out wrong with Max and why none of the antibiotics they have tried are working for the ear infection.

We have made some real strides with the potty training situation. We have a few accidents but for the most part, we wear our "big boy" pants all day with the exception of nap time.
Yesterday, most of our wet accidents came from playing in the kitchen sink (doing dishes) and splashing our clothes with the water. He takes his clothes off and says "wet clothes in the dryer, Gramma". While I was putting his things in the dryer, he came in behind me with a small plunger (one I got for him at the $ store so he would leave the one in the bathroom alone) stuck to his stomach. I admit it, my frustration from him being constantly wet from playing in the sink gave way and I could not stop laughing. Just when you think that you can not take anymore, he does something that makes it all worth it.
I love being gramma.
This is from this afternoon......must be he has a new fascination with sticking the plunger on his tummy. Wm. said it looked staged, but he really did this himself. It was much funnier yesterday when all he was wearing was his "big boy" pants!

I miss the girls; I mean I really, really miss them. It seems like forever since I saw them. In reality, I know that it isn't, but knowing it doesn't stop the feelings. I love being a gramma and I love having Matthew here with me everyday. I love watching him grow and learn. On the flip side, being this far from the girls (I do realize that 3 hr. is not that far) I am missing out on watching them grow. I check Jackie's flickr more often than I should hoping for a glimpse of the girls in a new photo. I have resolved myself to the fact that we will only get to see Morrigan and Max a few times a year; the girls, however, I saw nearly everyday when we were in the north country. So not seeing them for long stretches, really bothers me. There are a lot of reasons for not seeing them as much as I would like. The drive, the weather in NNY in the winter, the fact that Wm. has to work some weekends. Oh, I know they have their own lives up there, it was our choice to move to Syracuse but none of those reasons (excuses) make up for the simple fact..... I MISS the girls!

Conversation in my kitchen this morning:
Matthew: Oh, no, just look at this mess!
Papa: What mess, what are you talking about Matt?
Matthew: Just look at this kitchen, what a mess, where is my broom?
By this time, I went into the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about. I had cut up some celery for Wm.'s lunch and there were a few leaves from the celery on the floor under the cabinet that pulls out for the trash. (honestly, I am talking about in the toe kick of the cabinet) I was expecting some horrid mess when I heard all the fuss he was making.

Later on this morning, he was "washing" dishes in the sink while I was getting his breakfast on the plate. I don't understand where this new fascination with washing the dishes came from but he is happy so I tend to let him go ahead and "wash" away. I did ask him to only use one side of the sink and to only "wash" the plastic dishes, so he won't get hurt. He is very good about leaving the china and glasses in the other side of the sink and only "washes" the plastic in the other side. This afternoon, when he got up early from his nap, I was still in my pj's but my clothes were laid out on the bed. So I made the decision to put him in the recliner watching Blue's Clues, while I got dressed. It was only about 30 seconds later when I heard his footsteps in the kitchen. I asked what he was doing and he shouted back "washing my dishes". By that time, I was dressed and hurried to the kitchen only to see him with many more dishes than were originally in the sink. I said "where did all those dishes come from?"
"Plastic dishes from the dishwasher, gramma" . (Insert a huge Matthew smile here) The dishes in the dishwasher were already clean!!!!!!

glimmer of hope

Today I have had my first glimmer of hope as far as Matt ever being potty trained. We have tried many times but he was never interested. This morning, I decided to try a new approach: we simply took off his pull-up and just wore his sweat pants. I was trying him on the potty every 8 min. like I saw Melisa write on her blog that she was trying and he had dry pants when I put his pull up on at 11, so he could take his nap. After his nap, he sat on the potty and then wanted his pull up off and we continued as we had this morning. Unfortunately, I came into the office to get some markers when he came in and said "Look Gramma, wet pants". I was not a happy camper to say the least. He said "Need dry pants on now, Gramma" to which I replied "pull ups". We did have 2 hr. this morning and 2 this afternoon with dry pants. But I am starting to think his mother may be right. She said he is in the largest size pull ups (a 6) so is his next step Depends? :-)

On becoming my mother (+ edit)

I have always told myself I would NEVER be like my mother. I am sure we all say that when we are young. However, now that I am an old fat woman, I find myself doing the same things my mother used to do. This is strange to me as it is not things that I would normally think of a genetic traits; just silly things she used to do that I am now doing as well.
Like what you ask? Well, New Years eve day, I spent the day cleaning and doing laundry as one should not start the new year with a dirty house or with dirty laundry. (my mother's rule and now that I think of it I am sure my grandmother did the same thing) I found myself stripping the bed and washing all the bed linens not just the sheets. Maybe now that I am thinking about it more rationally as I write, I am just following a family tradition and not turning into my mother.

On a lighter note, Matt is back today for the first time since Dec. 21st. I missed him so much but was also glad for a break to rest up a bit. He told me this morning that he NEEDS to make some cookies today. I actually did not bake any without him so it was part of the plan for this afternoon. I took the time when he was gone to sort out the toys he no longer plays with and put the ones he does into new storage containers for easy access. (blocks together, books together, etc) I was awed at the amount of "baby" toys we have. *Looking for anything for Lauren, Jackie? :-)

In my eagerness to clean up and do the laundry before the new year, I washed Wm.'s cell phone with his jeans. Now, that is bad enough in and of itself, but last week my SIL said she washed her cell phone. I remarked to Wm. "how can anyone be stupid enough to wash a cell phone with their jeans, doesn't she check the pockets?" I did check the pockets, all but the side pocket on his carpenter jeans......besides, I thought he had the cell phone with him at work. I guess not! Now it is bad, but not as bad it could have been. Tom got a new phone for Christmas and he will have Wm. number put on his old phone. I am so grateful for that. Also I probably should apologize to Karen, I guess anyone can be stupid enough to wash a cell phone with the jeans!

edit: allow me to brag for a minute here......we were making the cookies and Matt was telling me what to put in, he said 2 eggs and I said right; then he changed it to 4 eggs and I said no silly, 2 eggs. Once I started up the mixer I knew something was wrong. He just looked at me and said 4 eggs. Then I realized I had doubled the recipe and did indeed need 4 eggs! Well you can call it coincidence if you want to but I think this just shows that all our work is paying off; he is one smart boy!

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?)