Spring Visits

I have been making some spring visits to my grandbabies.  (And their parents).  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Hammer Face! Jill goes with her daddy to Home Depot to build stuff.

Playing on the swings. Wee!!

Sisters.

Going down!

We've got a little model here!

Little snuggle with a swingin' cat and girl.

Hello. I am in a very big bean bag.

Thanksgivings

It seem very appropriate to share today some of what I am thankful for.

I was just going out to work in the garden one day, and I glanced up. I saw this cloud, and it looked like a ball of fire. It was beautiful—amazing. It really looked like it was on fire, so of course I had to take a picture.

I was sad, because I thought I missed everything in the garden during my various autumn adventures, but to my surprise I had two bushels of tomatoes waiting for me to pick them. Some were even so vigorous that they grew in the fire pit, where we tossed them after weeding; they're volunteers.

Dad even helped me make pasta sauce with the tomatoes, as well as peppers and onions from the garden.

Looks like my garden can handle itself while I'm on vacation!

Aren't the tomatoes beautiful? I really loved all of the colors.





For the actual Thanksgiving holiday, I am down in southern Ohio visiting my daughter (Mimi) and her family. We stopped to pick up Grandpa Homer in Indiana on the way down from Michigan. The drive was not ideal with hail, rain, and traffic, but we fought through it like superheroes and made it safe and sound. (We wish that some streets had more street lights. It was really dark near the end.)

We enjoyed a very tasty dinner at Mimi's in-laws. We provided the vegetables, and they provided pretty much everything else. I think Laurie had fourteen pies total. Wow. And Mimi and I still haven't had a bit of pie, because everything else was so tasty that we were too full. There are a lot of boys at her house, but we're hoping there will still be a slice or two for us tomorrow!

After the meal, we were happy to see my nieces from Tennessee, Shannon and Emily. Shannon's husband and son (David and David) were there, too, and we had a really nice visit. I haven't seen them in years! Emily in about eight years or so, and Shannon . . . maybe five? It's been a while, however long.

Little David is such a cutie pie. 

He and Jill played together as much as two 1 year olds ever do!

Perhaps if Mimi keeps helping me, I'll blog more this trip and keep you posted on the rest of my adventures here! (Mimi typed while I narrated. She possibly added some embellishments.)

Adventures in the autumn of 2010

I got to go to NYC. Here are some pictures. ... I don't know how to get the pictures using my phone.

Two Year Olds and Birthdays

Today is Hallie's birthday.  She's two. I was planning to call and sing "Happy Birthday" when I thought Hallie might be done with her nap.  Amy called me just about at her wit's end (and eight and a half months pregnant) because Hallie wouldn't take a nap.  Hallie really needs her nap and her mom really needed her to take a nap.  Amy invited a few people over for dinner to celebrate Hallie's birthday.  Amy and Devin are getting ready to move to Nebraska after the baby is born.  Amy needed to be on the phone wrapping up some details and get supper ready for company.  Hallie was running with scissors and, in general, being less than charming.  Phil and I sang 'Happy Birthday" to Hallie.  I talked to Amy for a few minutes before Hallie had the next crisis and Amy had to go.  Amy asked me about when I had a two year old in the house.  I didn't remember anything too remarkable then but as I was chopping vegetables for supper, I remembered One Of The Worst Days Of My Life.  Here's the story:
November 13, 1981 Fairport, NY   Peter's second birthday   (Is it a coincidence? Or what?)
We had been taking care of Tommy, Grandpa (Gordon) and Grandma (Marcia) Boling's Yorkie since Peter was just a few months old while they decided where to retire.  We went a few weeks without a dog and decided to go to Lolly Pop Farm to adopt a dog.  We adopted a full-grown golden retriever just a few days before Peter's birthday. (There's a whole 'nother story around this dog business that I won't go into here.)  So that's why there is a golden retriever in the story.
In our church congregation we discovered a family that Phil knew when he lived in Brazil during High School, the Wilsons.  I was talking with her at church and discovered that she and Peter had the same birthday.  Since her husband was going to be out of town on her birthday and all of her kids were grown up and away from home, I invited her to come over for supper.  My brother, Cam, was living with us at the time but he had to work evenings while going to school during the day so he rarely ate supper with us during the week.  So, dinner would be just Sister Wilson, Phil, me, Peter and Dan (almost 3 months old).  I wanted to have a nice 'dining room' dinner.  I dusted and straightened the living room and dining room.  Then I vacuumed.  Something got stuck in the vacuum.  I had Dan in a front pack and didn't get the vacuum turned off as soon as I should have.  It was a canister type.  Anyway it overheated to the point of melting the plastic casing on the bottom of the vacuum onto the carpet.  The vacuum was stuck to the carpet.  OK, we'll eat in the kitchen.  I opened windows to get rid of the plastic smell.
The dog had been driving me crazy since we brought him home.  He started snapping at Peter.  I put him outside, it was cold and he was determined to scratch his way into the house.  I let him in and put him out repeatedly, then gave up, put him in the garage and just let him scratch the door. 
I nursed and got Dan down for a nap and got out a cake mix.  I always had to let Peter help me in the kitchen so I could keep him out of mischief elsewhere in the house.  Peter said, "no cake ... pudding" and that meant cake was not an option.  Pudding is easy, so OK, pudding it is.  We did the breakfast dishes and got out the ingredients for the quiche crust.   We made the crust and baked it.  Since Peter was having an especially busy day I decided to use the blender for the pudding, not the mixer.  A couple of days before, he stuck his hand into the mixer bowl and I was afraid that today he would get his hand twisted in the beater if he did it again.
Dan woke up from his nap.  Hungry again! Nursed, I put him back into the front pack.  I tried to make the pudding with Peter on my hip but he was too wiggly.  I sat him on the counter and told him he could sit there and watch if he sat still.  I put in the milk and the chocolate pudding mix. I reached for the lid but Peter was too fast and he hit one of the blender buttons, I think it had 16 levels of blend.  Chocolate pudding went everywhere and all over us.  I will never forget how much Peter laughed!  I guess he thought it was the funniest thing a 2 year old had ever seen.  Upstairs for a shower for all of us, clean clothes, and back down to clean up the kitchen.  We got the pudding made and put it in the fridge.  I made the quiche and was making the salad when Sister Wilson arrived.  She finished the salad and I set the table.
I called Phil to find out if he had left the office.  He often worked late and missed  supper.  So, I wasn't surprised when he didn't answer his phone.  He could be on his way or he could be at another part of the office.  We waited about a half hour and then decided to go ahead and eat.  The quiche was the first I'd ever made and it was delicious!  I have been a fan of quiches ever since!  We went into the family room to chat while we waited for Phil, hoping he would come before we had Peter's Birthday Pudding.  The scratching at the door was too much and she said she liked dogs so maybe I should let the dog in.  The dog adored her, he really loved adults, and sat next to her with his head on her knee.  Sister Wilson rubbed his ears and said what a nice dog he was.  All of a sudden he retched, vomited on her leg and over her shoes!  I was mortified!  I put the dog out and got some damp wash clothes and helped her get cleaned up.  She didn't wait for pudding.  She went home.
Phil arrived as I was finishing cleaning up after the dog.  Phil ate his quiche warmed up in the microwave.  We had pudding, Peter opened up his presents.  No pictures were taken of this unusual day.  However, I recall the details quite clearly.

Post log:   The dog was indeed sick.  We took him to the vet and found out he had pneumonia.  It cost a small fortune to cure him.  When he was better we discovered that he could hop over our fence with ease and come back when he felt like it.  We realized we would need a less athletic dog if the fence was to keep him in the yard so the retriever went back to Lolly Pop Farm and that's when we met Corky.  Sigh, Corky.

Two Hott Mamas

OK, Mimi and Amy, Here are pictures of my visit to Amy's in September.  The are all mixed up and sideways.  I turned them in iphoto but they un-turned. I must have moved the curser when I was uploading because I had them on my desktop in the right order.  But now they are all jumbled.  I guess you can help me fix my blog on Peter's computer.  Please?

Kitties and Little Girls

 

Tudy had 5 kittens on Easter morning. This is a picture of 4 of them. Harriet wouldn't stay on the chair for the picture. The three orange kitties are boys. One of the boys is now Peter and Mindee's Milo. All of the kitties have good homes and we still have sweet Tudy.

Jill and Emily were so cute here in mid-diaper change.

Hallie had a hug for everything one morning. 

She was hugging everything in sight!

More of Hallie's loving morning: Bubble soaked up Hallie's loving and kissing! He thought he was finally being appreciated.

Hallie loves Bubble's tail. This morning she started saying 'Bub,' one of her first words!

I helped Rachel clean her and Dan's apartment when they moved and had a quite moment with Emily as Rachel ran some errands. The light coming through the window and the blanket and the beautiful baby girl ... I thought she looked just like a little angel!

Annibelle looks so precious! This is during the 4th of July family get-together. Someone took this picture with my camera! I think I have Mindee to thank for capturing memories for me. Thanks Mindee!!

Culinary Attempts

Haha. So this is Mimi, and it is actually September. I am at Mom and Dad's house teaching Mom how to use her blog, and I am coming across some awesome stories and great pictures.

The first story came from when I saw a picture of my dad smiling at cupcakes. I asked my mom what that was about, and she giggled and said they were the cupcakes from Hades. I thought I had heard her wrong.

Nope.

The cupcakes from Hades.

Apparently, there is a moral story here about what happens when you use items from your food storage. Don't share them with others until after you've made certain they're fine. This story occurred November 8, 2008.

Mom and Dad had a church activity to go to. They first tried to make key lime bars from a box in their food storage. The expiration date was not checked. Mom made the key lime bars, and then haha, they discovered that they were absolutely rancid. Disgusting. Dad says poisonous. They smelled funny, so Mom tasted them and had to rush to the sink. (Mimi thinks this is hilarious, because she was never allowed to spit out food from her mouth when she was little. Granted, the food was not rancid.)

So, they were running out of time before the activity, and it was up to Dad to make the cupcakes while Mom got ready. (Mimi originally wrote "Dad to save the day," but Dad corrected her, because there was "no saving of the day in this story.")

Dad learned from the first mistake and checked the expiration date on the cupcake mix, also from food storage. They were in the clear. Dad made his cupcakes, and they smelled delicious. Mom was very proud; she says it is the first batch he has ever made.

They were running out of time (and didn't want to transport frosted cupcakes) (and the cupcakes hadn't cooled), so they grabbed the frosting and headed to the church to frost them when they got there.

Upon arrival, an empty classroom was grabbed, and they started decorating. (Haha from Mimi.) With a few absolutely delicious cupcakes left to frost, Mom got some frosting on  her finger.

So she licked it.

And had to run immediately to the sink again.

The frosting was definitely rancid. They had not checked the expiration date on the frosting. So, they had to throw those away, too. They went over to the store and bought a coconut cake.

(Side note: They had a display at the ward activity that was promoting the temple. It was supposed to be gorgeous and say something about heavenly experiences, but all their dessert attempts were from Hades. Dad says this part is too painful to discuss, so I only have Mom's viewpoint for it.)

Also in November, Mom taught Dad how to bake pies. I think these attempts were much more successful and attractive. Yum yum!

I think the star idea is so cool!

I believe the date on the pies was the end of November, because they were for Thanksgiving.

Dad is getting so domestic!!