Arts on the Avenue..

That is the name of the function at Benton's school we attended last night. As soon as I picked them up from daycare yesterday, he informed me he wanted to attend Arts on the Avenue last night, and we did. And, they could not have been any sweeter. We arrived early, got our hands stamped so we could participate in arts and crafts functions and the fun began. When we walked into the school, we had to pass through the silent auction area. Benton wanted to know what all the stuff was sitting out for. I explained in great detail how a silent auction worked, and he was hooked. He had me put my name on several things he was interested in. I reminded him we would have to check back from time to time to make sure we were still high bidder and he was good with that. We looked at the art projects he had created, as well as art projects created by his entire class. I am telling you it was very impressive what they came up with.

We wandered into the area where individual artists were set up giving demonstrations of their skills. Benton was fascinated by it all, especially the pottery guy and the lady painting still life. In fact when we got home, he picked up a tablet and pen and starting drawing a picture of a vase of tulips Brandy had sitting on her breakfast room table. I have offered several times to pay for art lessons, but so far, he wants to do it on his own.

Bailey was fascinated by the ballet dancers. And to be totally honest, Benton loves him some ballet. He was introduced to ballet when he was 2 by his great grandmother and he was hooked. One of the items we bid on at the silent auction was a DVD of Ballet Magnificat - The Story of Ruth. He has seen this previously live, but wanted the DVD. Once the dancers left the stage, Bailey even talked to a couple of them. I was not close enough to hear what was said, but the fact she even talked to a stranger without me or her mother around was pretty impressive.

We ended the night by listening to a group of third graders playing music on a flute like instrument, and let me tell you, it was very well done. The music teacher at Benton's school is awesome and he loves her. Benton and Bailey sat mesmerized through the entire mini-concert. Once this was done, we headed back to check on our auction items and the auction was over. Unfortunately, we only won one thing, but fortunately, it was the item that Benton was the most concerned we might not win.. THE DVD OF THE BALLET!!!! $5.00 later it was his to take home. Bailey then declared she was hot and it was giving her a "hurt head" and she was ready to go.

We got home, took baths and settled down with ballet DVD. Benton fell asleep while watching it, and Bailey watched it in its entirety.

Another fabulous night with two of the people I love the most in this world!!!!

LOUD MARKS!!!!!

I picked the kids up from daycare on Tuesday since their mom had school that night, and we headed to G's house. As soon as we got in the truck, Benton started reading Cat in the Hat to me, non-stop, except when interrupted by his sister, who was just not that interested in Cat in the Hat. When we arrived at my house, he read some more and Bailey continued to interrupt and ask for Popsicles and ice cream. He did stop reading so he could share the Popsicle and an ice cream cone experience, and then he read some more. This is pretty much how the night went until right before they went to bed. When he was winding it down, he asked me if I knew what these "!" marks were at the end of the sentences, and before I could answer, he told me they were called "LOUD MARKS" and the more there were, the louder you could be. I laughed out loud!!!!!

After giving both a bath, I asked Bailey if she wanted me to brush her hair and she said "No G, I do it myself." So, she dragged the brush down each side of her head and declared the job well done. I asked her if I could finish the back, and she said "yes, but if I say ow then you are doing it too hard G and you need to stop."

What comes out of their little mouths never ceases to amaze me.

Babysitting...

I stayed with the grands last night while Daughter went to class. We went to Wendy's and got each a kid meal (not because they were hungry but because they wanted to see what the toy was this week), and then went home and ordered pizza a/k/a cheese sticks, cut in rectangles, from Papa John's, because everyone knows rectangle cheese sticks taste much better triangle cheese sticks. You really have no idea.. We played with birthday presents that had not even been opened yet, read books, watched too much Sponge Bob for me, and FINALLY, they realized they were bored and needed something else to do. Benton went to his room, dug through the mountain of un-used and some un-opened toys, and came back with a $5.00 lantern I had purchased for him at WalMart last year. He asked me to replace the batteries, and I did and it worked.. Bailey disappeared, went to her room, and came back with a similar lantern I had purchased for her, asked me to change the batteries, which i did, and it worked too. The biggest miracle in all of this is that Daughter had batteries to accommodate their needs. They wanted to know where they could go to use the lanterns, that was dark, and I suggested they put their coats on and go into the garage.. They did and believe it or not, they were amused for quite some time, or until their toes got numb from the cold. Then they came in, got baths, put on PJs, and played in the dark laundry room until almost bedtime.. And, I got to watch something on TV other than a walking, screaming, very annoying sponge.

Not no, BUT HELL NO!!!

When I was at Daughter's house the other night playing with the kids, out of the blue BT told his mama he wanted her to have another baby. I immediately said, "She needs another baby like a 14 year old needs another baby!.... Enough said. She loves the ones she has, but she doesn't need anymore, AND, she is single! Good grief!!!

Hanging out with the grandkids...

Monday was a school holiday for BT and for some reason the daycare followed suit and closed as well. I thought this was strange as it would appear that parents who depend on daycare would be put in a bind and either have to to take off work, or find someone to keep their children when daycare chooses to follow the school's schedule. I thought that was the purpose of daycare, to keep kids when parents are working!!! It just doesn't make much sense to me. But, anyway, I took off work and kept the kids so Daughter would not have to.

When I got the kids, we talked about what a beautiful day it was, their weekend with their dad, ran a couple of "G" errands, and then it was on to whatever they wanted to do. First stop for them was Barnes & Noble. They love this store and the first thing BT noticed when we walked in the door was a Christmas sale table. He found a puppet, pondered a stuffed gingerbread man, and BK found a "punkin" left over from Halloween. Nothing we needed, but since it was 75% off, I gave in, again. We also purchased a balloon animal making kit and a polar bear for a school project on Friday. BT informed me he needed something that lives outside in the cold. As soon as he saw the polar bear, he knew that was it, although I am pretty sure I have purchased at least one polar bear previously and it is resting in the top of his closet.

BK was just along for the ride. She spent about 30 minutes in a chair in the kids' department listening to musical books and singing along. I think she may be a future candidate for American Idol.. She loves to sing. We stayed at B&N until they were ready to move on to something else... like ice cream, but unfortunately, the ice cream shop was not open at 10:35 A.M. on Monday morning. We then ran through the car wash, which they love to do, and then headed to McDonald's for a "nutritious" lunch of chicken nuggets, although I feel sure they were both more concerned about what chipmunk from Alvin and the Chipmunks they would get with the lunch, and unfortunately, they were out of Alvin characters and gave them some super hero character that neither one could identify. Although they do not pay any attention to the previous Alvin character they obtained with their chicken nuggets on another day, not getting one today was a bit distressing for some reason.

We then headed to Gramere's for lunch with her, and then back home to practice our puppet show and balloon animal making skills. I always try to let the kids play by themselves some because I think this is when they are most creative, especially BT. BK on the other hand, test me with "let's see what I can get into while G is not looking." She is definitely her mother's child.

I cleaned off the deck and got ready to grill hamburgers for dinner. It was another great day with the grandkids...

How about them Saints!!!!

Pumpkins...

We decorated pumpkins this past weekend at Daughter's house. BT said this one was his mama.

Here is the family. From left to right they are:

Daughter, BK, BT and Gramere. BK is responsible for Gramere's face. BT was the artist behind the remaining pumpkins' faces, including giving himself three eyes.

They seem very happy sitting there on hearth having their picture made.
On the day we went to look for pumpkins, BK was having issues. She was picking up pumpkins and tossing them around like they were nothing. Her mama got on to her, and BT tried to make her understand pumpkins were not for throwing. She didn't care. Meltdown ensued.

She put her hand over her face and moved away from her brother so we couldn't take her picture. There were no tears.. just wailing.. loud wailing.

This was the first pumpkin she tossed.

And here was the next one. And yes, they were heavy, but apparently she is stronger than we thought. And, yes people were staring at us, but we wanted to capture the moments so we delayed making her stop until the photo had been taken.

Book Fair..

BT's school had a Book Fair for his school at Barnes & Nobles last night. He was definitely excited about going. When Man picked him up at daycare yesterday, he asked BT if he wanted to go eat pizza.. BT declined because he was concerned he would be late for the Book Fair. He is definitely related to me. I am never late to any event, and have a very low tolerance of people who are chronically late. Another story for another day. Anyway, BT and BK had grilled cheese sandwiches at my house, and then we headed to Barnes & Nobles. Grilled cheese was the only thing BT thought I had time to prepare prior to the Book Fair. HE DID NOT WANT TO BE LATE! We were 30 minutes early, but BT wanted to have time to look at EVERY SINGLE BOOK in the children's section. I think he succeeded. I had taken him to the book store this past weekend, per his request, and he loved it. The Saints were playing, but I said "what the heck," we can't be gone that long. We were gone for over an hour. Thank goodness for DVR!!! He picked out 4 books for himself and 2 for his sister. His mission last night was to get the one book he did not get this past weekend. It was a book on the anatomy of a frog. He loved it, but wouldn't get it over the weekend because he thought it was too expensive. But, apparently four days later, on Thursday, the price of the book was just right. I now know stuff about a frog's anatomy I didn't learn in 10th grade biology.

BT sat next to one of his friends while listening to the principle of his school read Curious George. When Mrs. Jones asked questions, I could hear him answer the questions over the other 40 or so children present for the reading. Once the reading was over, we picked out a book from his teacher's wish list, purchased it and donated it in his name to the school this morning. He loved the idea that he (G) was buying a book and giving it to the school. We did have to read the book last night prior to going to bed, since BT said I needed to know what it was about prior to donating it to the school. So, today, it is a slightly used book, but I can honestly say I did not lick my fingers when the turning the pages, but BK was eating grapes and BT was eating cheese as I was reading and they might have touched it, once or twice.

BK loves her brother.. can you tell? Either that, or she wanted to let that other little girl know she shouldn't mess with her "brudder"...

She is her mother's child...

Conversation between BT and BK this morning on the way to school:

BT: I am rolling my window down G...

BK: Roll your window up! You are going to mess up my hair!

And that is exactly what Daughter says everytime they roll the windows down..

Meet Riley...

also known as the cousin to Riley a/k/a Elf on a Shelf. Yep, they both have the same name. I don't know how it all happened, but I do know Cousin Riley is related to Riley a/k/a Elf on a Shelf, because B.T. said so. They are cousins... I think Cousin Riley may be from another planet, but I can't be sure..

I don't think they are first cousins..and probably not second cousins either.. Judge for yourself.

Late summer fun..

One tired princess...

Riding the train..

Reviewing the zoo map to make sure we don't lose our way..

Checking out the bear.. or he might have been checking her out..

Sitting in the cave under the beaver dam..

Gotta make sure our Monster Truck is ready for the leap over the pool..

When diving for "alligators," a girl needs her goggles.

My Treasures...

Picture day at school is today.. BT is wearing his "collarn" shirt for this special ocassion and BK broke out the bracelets..

"You be in BIG trouble mama."

A couple of weeks ago, Daughter and I were taking the kids to eat and in the process of getting everything ready to go, Daughter may have forgotten something. She started her car prior to our getting everyone in the car and buckled up in an attempt to keep our hineys from sizzling when they came in contact with the leather seats. It was the day the temp reached 105. BT, for some unknown reason, got in the car when Daughter started the car. I guess sweating is not one of his issues. I was in the house dealing with BK and some random issue she was having at the moment. When done, I walked outside to put her in the car, and Daughter was walking back toward the house. All of a sudden the car starting rolling forward, TOWARD MAN'S CAR that was parked in the garage!!! Thinking that I might be way stronger than I actually am, in spite of carrying a 3-year old around, often, I grabbed the door handle in an attempt to stop the car. Yes I did. I actually believed I had the ability to stop a car with one hand. I could not get the door open for some reason, since I was thinking I could jump in and save the day, IF I COULD GET THE DOOR OPEN. Might have been that I panicked since Daughter and Man are both beyond ANAL about their vehicles and all these visions of what would transpire if their vehicles actually touched, acccidentally or otherwise. Dealing with both of them would have simply been too much. Daughter finally realized what was happening, or she heard me scream really loud "YOUR CAR IS NOT IN PARK, YOUR CAR IS NOT IN PARK!" She came running and was able to open the door I had previously been unable to open, jump in and hit the brake. And, BT who was sitting in his car seat UNBUCKLED, never realized what was going on. And the car was rolling UP a hill... After we all calmed down, and the sweat had dried, we headed to the restaurant. BT, in listening to us talk about the catastrophic incident we had just avoided, finally realized what had happened and told his mama that Man would have grounded her if she had actually hit his car. He followed it up with "you know how Man is about his car mama." And, BK picked up on what was going on and said, "You be in BIG trouble mama if you hit Man's car."

Grandkids, again...

They are finally back after another week with their dad. They have one more week they have to go stay with him this summer, and I don't know if BT will be able to handle it. He loves being at his home. He simply does not consider his dad's house home, and I don't know that he ever will. Home to him is where his mama is.

I picked them from daycare yesterday since Daughter had to work the late shift. We ordered pizza and watched Sponge Bob.. As soon as their mother pulled up in the driveway, BT was ready to go to his house. He asked me if this hurt my feelings.. (can you imagine a 5 year old boy being concerned about someone's feelings?).. I told him it absolutely did not hurt my feelings. I totally understood him wanting to be home, with his stuff, his bed, his movies, etc. But, just in case I had not seen enough of them yet, and I had not, BK asked me if I was coming to her house, and I said yes.

They really celebrated being home by having a concert. Life is good.

Grandkids are back!!!!

After being gone for ten very long days, they are back! We spent Monday afternoon doing whatever they wanted to do.. Those activities included riding in the Doodlebug, playing freeze tag, simons says, playing in the sprinkler, playing in the pool, eating fried fish and fresh tomatoes (BK did that, not BT - he had a cheese sandwich and a croissant), etc. BK also requested I cook corn, and I did, and she ate like a champ. I tried to tell Benton the fish was homemade fishsticks and he still wouldn't try it. It was actually fried trout and it was very good. Thanks for sharing boss!





BT arrived wearing his 4th of July glitter hat. He is "ready to celebrate America." He is so aware of what is going on this week! I had surprises for both of them, and they loved it all. They gave Man due credit for the stuff they knew he had supplied (freebies from a function he attended last week) and they loved their travel puppy pillows I bought them.





Last night we took them to Mazzios for family night. This meant all the pizza they could eat and balloon animals made by Mr. Clown. I asked BK what she wanted Mr. Clown to make her, and she said a pink flower. He did just that, according to her color instructions. I asked BT what he was going to ask him to make him, and he said a robot. I told him he should have a backup just in case. When he told Mr. Clown he wanted a robot, Mr. Clown didn't blink. He asked what colors he wanted and BT said he wanted a red body, white arms and blue legs, and voila!!!!

He couldn't have been happier. And although it looks like BK is beating her brother in the head with her flower, she is actually waving at Mr. Clown.

When Mr. Clown moved on to another table, BK wanted to talk to him some more, so she walked up to him and swatted him on the booty to get his attention and giggled. I thought it was hilarious, but apparently Mr. Clown left his sense of humor home. He didn't even smile. He was not injured. Get over it Mr. Clown!!! She is two!!! Next time, we will go back to Pizza Inn. That Clown is way friendlier and is always laughing!

Just for the record.. BK ate a salad with black olives and tomatos and ranch dressing, pickled okra (she thought it was a pickle), spaghetti and pizza. She ate all of the salad. She picked out what she wanted on it when I was fixing her plate. I love to cook for her. She will eat anything, including sushi (California Roll) and loves it.

This afternoon, we head to the pool!..

It has been a LONG 10 days...

It has been ten days since I last saw my grandchildren. Divorce sucks! Remember this John and Kate!!!! It sucks!!!!

I will see them tonight and I can't wait!!! I have surprises for them, a new supply of popsicles and fresh water in their pool. They did ask Daughter about me when she talked to them so I know they have not forgotten their G!

We have big plans for this week...a trip to the water park, balloon glow, fireworks, swimming, concert in the park, etc. Lots of fun planned especially for them.

Last Weekend

The grandkids are getting ready to go spend a week with their dad... and I am sad!!! I am going to miss them so much.! I am working on a list of things to do while they are gone so I can keep myself occupied.

Since the kids are going to be gone for a week, we told them we would do fun stuff a couple of nights this week. They wanted to go back to the pool Tuesday afternoon and order pizza for dinner, to be delivered to the pool, and we did. We invited the friends to come back, and it was a great evening, except BK stepped off the bottom step into the 3 feet of water, but she was ok with it, and BT was walking around the edge of the pool and slipped and fell in head first in 4 feet of water. He can stand up in 3 feet, but 4 feet is just over his head. Since we know he doesn't handle things like this very well, Daughter and I were in the water before his feet went under. He immediately said he was going back to the baby pool, and he did for about 2 minutes. He didn't walk around the edge of the pool anymore, but he did get back in the 3 feet section and was fine.

Today I am picking them up from school and going to get snowcones. They don't just want to get a snowcone, they want to sit outside where it is 95 degrees in the shade and eat the snowcone and people watch. And yes, I do it. Then we are going back my house to cookout, and play in the little pool I keep for them on my deck. BK loves to do the cannonball in this pool. She also loves to take her clothes off and swim. She is very comfortable with her figure right now. I hope she always feels this comfortable in her skin..

And, I baked them a cake. BT says it is the best cake he has ever had. Not sure that is a compliment since I don't recall him eating a lot of cake in his lifetime, but I will take it as a compliment.

Grandkids, again...

Daughter and I took the kids to the pool Sunday and met a friend of her's that had brought his two kids that are the same age as the grandkids. Babysitters!!!! Ages 2 and 5.. Yippee!!! Actually I watched all four of them, a lot.. And, I am very grateful I was paying attention. The visiting 5 year old got in water over her head and was struggling to keep her head above water. Not one to freak out since I know I can get to her in just seconds (and I don't want to scare the kids), and never having been around her in the pool before, I asked her dad was she ok, and he immediately knew she was NOT, and he and Daughter both dove in the pool simultaneously and her dad grabbed her within 5 seconds of me noticing her struggling. She was scared but ok, and having just completed a week of swim lessons, she was able to keep herself above water until the adults noticed her struggle. She was back in the pool shortly thereafter and didn't get in water over her head again. Lesson learned for sure.

BK was watching all the activity in the big pool and would go stand at the side and count to 3 and say Cannonball!!! and then run to the steps and hop down to the first one. She did this countless times throughout the day and I told Daugther that at some point she was going to forget to run to the steps, and actually jump into 3 feet of water, which is over her head by about 10 inches. Sure enough, she counted to 3, squatted down in a jumping position, shouted Cannonball at the top of her little lungs and jumped into 3 feet of water, and much to our amazement, came back to the top and grabbed the side of the pool as Daughter was reaching for her. Daughter pulled her out, BK wiped her hair out of her eyes and headed back to the baby pool where she needed to be, and continued to dive for the toys she had thrown in earlier. Another lesson learned.

Never one to put himself in danger, BT advised us we needed to make sure we were watching them because they are, afterall, just kids. Thanks BT!

Grandkids, again...

The other night Daughter and the kids came over to eat (shocker huh!). I was grilling hamburgers because BK wanted a "big bugga." I love, love Fresh Market and ran in there to get the supplies we needed for "big buggas" and I also picked up a carton of sushi... California Roll. Daughter and I started eating the sushi while the burgers were cooking and of course BK wanted to try it. She will try absolutely anything, especially if it is served with a condiment, or as she calls it, a "dip." So I gave her a piece of sushi, let her dip it in the soy sauce and she loved it. BT on the other hand looked at us like we were eating roadkill. BK also ate cucumbers and tomatoes after dipping them in ranch dressing, a plum, and her big bugga. BT ate a CHEESE sandwich. Not grilled cheese, but two pieces of bread and one piece of American cheese. He ate the whole thing and declared it was very good. Hard to believe they are related at times.

Grandkids...

Daughter picked the grandkids up from daycare yesterday and headed to my house for a cookout. I had purchased a new slip-n-slide for the kids to keep at my house and I was in the front yard setting it up when they pulled in the driveway. BT was extremely excited since in his opinion, this one was sooooo different than the one at his house. It was not. BK was so excited she decided to by-pass putting on a swimsuit, undressed COMPLETELY in the front yard, and took a dive down it. She kept telling us to watch her and her naked self run from the sidewalk to the slide and land in the puddle of water at the end. We attempted to convince her to go inside and put on her swimsuit. She didn't want a swimsuit on. So, we told her it was shorts and a top. She agreed to put it on. BT put his suit on and back outside we went. We even put extra kid shampoo on the slide to make it extra slippery. BT was loving it. He declared it a great day and said it was most fun he ever had!!! (I love it when he tells me that!!) BK walked over to the slide, stood on it for a minute, and declared her shirt was wet and needed to come off. We told her it was a swimsuit and she reminded us we told her it was shorts and a top. So, we tried to convince her it was a swimsuit and she wasn't buying it. Off came the clothes, again. Turns out, she doesn't mind being wet at all, as long as she doesn't have clothes on, and clothes include swimsuits. She doesn't like her clothes to be wet, EVER!!! She confirmed this again in the backyard, when she reached in the pool to get something out, and got a spot of water the size of a quarter on her dress and immedilately proceeded to take the dress off. She had been at my house for 45 minutes and had changed clothes 4 times. If she got anything on her wet again, besides her birthday suit, she was going to have wear my clothes. So, we gave her a bath, put her pajamas on her, and let her watch "Shek" a/k/a "Shrek"..

I won't even get into the mess they made of my jewelry trays while they were supposed to be watching "Shek"...

Weekend..

We spent Saturday at the pool with the grandkids. The only bad thing is, when we go with the kids, I only get sun on one side so I can watch them. I could turn over, and get comfortable, since I am sure they would not drown in the 30 seconds it would take me to get up, tie my top back on and pull them out of the water, but BT worries we are not doing our job unless we are sitting on the edge of the pool, or sitting upright in a chair watching them every second. We DO watch them carefully, but they are in 2 feet of water, and I really don't anticipate either of them going under and being unable to get up in water that shallow. And, when BT did get in the big pool (with his ring, even though I have spent over $600.00 for three two-week sessions of swim lessons for him alone), and convinced his sister to sit on the steps in the big pool, he told us we were not doing our job because she was going up and down the steps and might fall in. I tried reassure him she would not drown before we could get to her, but he was not convinced for some reason.

And, he got fried at the pool. We put sunscreen on both of them religiously, and the redheaded kid that he is got fried. This was a first. He wanted the emergency spray, also known as Solarcaine. And they both stayed with me Saturday night so I pulled an all-nighter as his personal nurse for part of the night, and dealing with a 2 1/2 year old that would not stay in bed unless I was in there with her. I finally took her upstairs and slept with her so we could both get some sleep. I felt like I was dealing with a newborn! I had to have a nap later in the day which is very unusual for me. I don't usually get still long enough to fall asleep, except at night when I watch TV. And no, I am not getting old..