Love/Hate relationship

I absolutely love clean sheets. On the flip side, I hate how bad my back hurts after I change the sheets on the bed. It would seem to me that breaking your back 14 years ago, by now you would not still be feeling repercussions from it. I love the jersey knit sheets and pillow cases. I used to put flannel sheets on in the wintertime but now I simply use knit ones all year long. I even talked my DIL and daughter into using them.

I love how excited Matt gets when we cook and bake. I was never a great cook and baking was minimal. Now before you gasp, you have to realize that my mother rarely cooked and when she did she would never have let us help her. In fact, a lot of what I learned now was by trial and error as my mother never showed me how to cook (or clean or take care of a house, or even be a mother) It was easier for her to do it herself than to have the mess we would make if she allowed us to help. So even now for me, cooking and baking is more of a challenge than a joy.

Right now, the biggest challenge for me is trying to cook gluten free. Now, Wm. has been on this diet before and we managed to get by. Honestly, Betsy always made Wm. pies, cakes, biscuits at the same time she made goodies for the rest of us for Thurs. and Sun. night fellowship. Well, we are down here, Betsy gave me her gluten free cookbooks (I gave mine to Stephanie who was recently diagnosed with celiacs also) so if I don't step up to the plate and bake, there will not be anything. I am OK with brownies, and cake; we are still at a loss for bread. Stephanie borrowed a bread machine from her neighbor and tried a bread machine mix from Wegman's. She said it was not too bad, so maybe Jackie will make Papa a loaf in her machine if we bring up some mix when we come for Grandparent's Day at CFA. (actually, she said she would when we talked about it when we were up for Lauren's b'day) Heath food store gluten free bread has a texture not unlike cardboard, in fact, it has that cardboard taste as well.

I absolutely love all six of my grandchildren. I hate that 5 of them live far enough away that I can only see them periodically. I love, love, love being a grandmother. I love having Matt here all day while Susan works. I love teahing him to cook, bake, paint, etc. Being with my grandchildren is a joy for me. My doctor asked me a few weeks ago if my grandchildren were my hobby. I told him they were not a hobby, that I enjoyed my time with them. He suggested I get a new hobby. (maybe I should consider a new doctor)

Happy Birthday Lauren Jessa

This morning we went to Canton to celebrate Lauren Jessa's first birthday. Her birthday is actually on Tuesday. She is such a good baby, she had a smile all the time we were there. This year seemed to whiz right by. I find it hard to believe she's already one and walking all over. All the way home Matt kept reminding us that Baby Lauren is 1 now!

Papa and all his kids in Lauren's new wagon.
Off and running.
Matt and Papa watch as Lauren's gifts are opened.
In the middle of the presents.

Matthew with many butterflies from the Elefun game. He didn't quite grasp the concept of catching them in the air and not picking the butterflies off the floor :-)

Cataract surgery

I must admit I was very apprehensive about the surgery. I went up for prayer yesterday at church and as only He could have orchestrated it, the woman praying for me had the surgery done at the same Speciality Surgery Center as I was scheduled for this morning.
Wow, talk about well organized, this place was unbelievable. You were assigned a nurse to be with you pre-op, one for the OR and one post- op. After they took my vitals, put in a line for the IV, the massage therapist came to give me a massage to relax me before surgery. Yes, friends, you heard me correctly. The anesthesiologist came in next to explain the sedation. Then I was off to surgery (OK, after about 10 different eye drops) Surgery took about 15 min. and afterwards they took a picture of what I thought was to be of my eye. Turned out a picture of me and the surgeon (I guess someone thought that was good idea) and then on to recovery where they went over post -op instructions with Wm. and I while I ate my breakfast. Yes, they made me cinnamon toast and I choose cranberry juice, my normal breakfast drink. Then they gave me a case with some more eye drops, a patch for night, oh and did I mention a frame for my picture, a pen and a magnetic clip for the fridge???? Could they have done anymore?????? Well, how about a little African violet :-)
The best part, I can actually see clearly instead of trying to see through a haze over my eye that made it look like I was looking through wax paper. Now, I have to be quiet for a few days.....no Matthew until Thurs. and I am scheduled for a recheck of my eye tomorrow morning at 9am.
Thanks for your prayers!

laugh for today

I will try to make this post short, I know I have a tendency to ramble on and on (why do you think it is called ramblings of an old grandmother)????

Before I start, I am sure there are those of you who are very tired about hearing my Matthew stories.......fair warning, I am about to tell another one. (Hey, realistically, I am here for 9 1/2 hr. everyday with him alone; is it strange I would blog about him too; this is my day people)

OK, here goes the story and the laugh: Matt has been standing up to go potty regularly since last Fri. So when he said "Gramma, I have to go", I said "run like the wind" (his favorite line) and stood him in front of the toilet and put up the seat. He said, "no, I need a potty seat". "Now Matt", I said, "you have been standing up like a big boy to go potty for a while now, you just stand up and go like the big boy you are". He immediately began crying. With a bit of frustration in my voice, I said "Now, why are you crying" His answer? "Because I have to poop"!

These were our crafts yesterday. We actually started the backpack last week but it took a while for him to catch on to sewing. We made a fire breathing dragon and the dragonfly, was his idea. Susan said he must have the craft gene, she said it skipped her. :-)

When he went down for his nap, he said "lets make worms when I get up". Looking forward to it, I guess as long as I can come up with a plan.

new project

How do you like my newest craft project???? Now all I have to do is get it wrapped and sent off. I am pleased with the way it came out. I guess it was a good choice as I read on Sue's Xanga that she took 700+ pictures when she was down at Leslie and Matt's. The only problem will be which of the 700+ pictures to put in it!

good, better, best

I had my physical this morning for clearance for my cataract surgery. It was pandemonium here before I went. I was trying to get ready and Matt shut the door to my bedroom and went into his room.....not a good sign. Instead of checking right then I asked him what he was doing and he hollered back coloring. There is a an easel in his room with paper and crayons so I continued to get ready. When I went to check on him, no more than 5 min. he had colored all right, on the front of the dresser and the arm of the futon. That is what I get for leaving a 2 yr. old without supervision for even 5 min. Thank God we had some Mr. Clean erasers!
Good: The physical proved I was in better shape than I thought. EKG was good as well. BP was 112/78. (not bad for someone who has always had high BP)
Better: My labs were all back in the normal range. This means that my blood sugar level was no longer high. I was also concerned about my other eye. My doctor checked it and said while the cataract was worse than it had been, it was only a cataract. (Yesterday I began to have floaters in my left eye, which seemed to come on fast; I had convinced myself it was something sinister)
Best: I had to get weighed on my way in. The nurse usually tells me what it was. Today she did not. I was certain I had not lost anymore weight. The doctor said 10#. Woohoo!

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.