The things kids say....

Daughter was cutting her grass other day and in an effort to teach the 5 year old about chores, she asked BT to pick up sticks in the yard so she could mow. Apparently they had already had a discussion about him watching his sister while Daughter cut the grass. He promptly told her she could run over them with the lawn mower because HIS job was to watch his sister while his mama cut the grass. I wasn't there when he said it, but I can just see the look on his face as he informed his mama what his job of the day was. And, watching his sister is no easy task. She is definitely an explorer, and an experimenter.. She is FEARLESS!!! But, he is up to the task.. He is usually the one who keeps us informed on her never ending antics!

We are thinking about going through swim lessons, again, with BT, and adding BK to the mix. BK has never had them, and needs them more than her brother since she does NOT hesitate to jump in the water, regardless of how deep or how brown. Going under water does not bother her at all. BT has had lessons three times, and only after the last lessons did we think he had finally learned something. Toward the end of the summer, he would finally let go of us when he was in water over his head and kick to the side. BK on the other hand, jumps in whether we are looking or not, and HATES any kind of flotation device that goes on her body... not swimmies, a ring, anything she has to sit in, etc. She WILL play with flotation devices that she controls herself, i.e., swim boards, surfer boards, etc., but do NOT attach anything to her body. Her reaction is NOT pretty... no matter how cute she is.. BT on the other hand, will happily put a ring on, and float around for hours. Not kidding.. Anyway.. there is a swim teacher that has been around for many, many years, and after 5 days, the child WILL know how to swim well enough to save his life if he falls in water over his head. I have heard "stories" about her, and how she tosses them in, and tells them to sink or swim, and apparently they DO swim, but I am not sure I could watch this. BK would handle it like a trooper, but BT would most likely NOT handle this well at all. Daughter learned to swim by this method at age 13 months, and it did work with her, but Daughter was fearless too. Sooooo, we shall see. We are still talking about it.

Weekend here was beautiful, but very windy and therefore a tad chilly.. We went to a crawfish boil at a local watering hole and the crawfish were VERY good.. I spent the rest of the weekend taking an elderly friend to get her hair done, and piddling around my house. Daughter and I did manage to shop a little and find a dress for her to wear to the wedding of a CHILD SHE USED TO BABYSIT!!! Of course, he is no longer a child, but it is hard to believe she used to babysit him, and his two sisters, when he was about 5 years old!!! Can't wait to go to that wedding..

I wonder if going to the wedding of a child my Daughter used to babysit makes me OLD!!? Not a chance!!!!! :)

Looking forward to the weekend...

I am so ready for this weekend. The week went by relatively fast, especially since I was off most of last week getting ready for Daughter's surprise guests. This week has been pretty quiet, and not nearly as busy as the past couple of weeks. Of course, it is has also rained a lot this week, with some really bad weather in these parts, and more is expected tonight. I am hoping it clears up by noon tomorrow because there is a GREAT crawfish boil that we go to annually, and I don't want it to get rained out. It is a two day event, but I would really like to go tomorrow.

The grandkids are gone this weekend, and once again, I am sad about that. I hate not seeing them for three days at a time. We took them to eat pizza last night at a restaurant where you can sit outside and eat. I am not saying they are bad in restaurants, but they are definitely better when you can sit outside with them. People don't seem to mind them wandering around and talking loudly so much when we are sitting outside. Know what I mean?! BT also requested we walk around a lake near the restaurant at least once, and I had on high heels. But, I did it. I think this counts as exercise, even in high heels.

And speaking of exercise, I started a workout regime this week. A friend at work told me about a program on Comcast Movies on Demand called the Red Carpet Workout, and I love it. It only takes 20 minutes and believe me, it works your parts.. In my case, some that have NEVER been worked before. Yesterday I could hardly move. Seriously... Today I feel much better and will probably be able to give it a go again today. I feel much better when I exercise, but I am usually willing to sacrifice that to spend time with the grandkids. Isn't playing with the grandkids considered exercise? :) Surely I can find 20 minutes a day, or at least every other day, to do this. My body certainly needs it, and when I go for my yearly check up next month, I can FINALLY tell my doctor I am "exercising" instead of asking if having a gym membership counts as exercise. All I really want is to not "jiggle" anymore. You know what I mean?!!! I got some parts that kind of jiggle and I DO NOT like that at all.

Happy Friday!!!

Daughter's Surprise Was the Best Ever!!!!

Daughter's birthday was this past Thursday and she chose to spend it with a bunch of friends sitting out on the reservoir, which was fine by me. Man and I made a brief appearance and then left. But, the best was yet to come on Friday, and she had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA!!!!! This had been in the planning for quite a while. Two of her childhood friends contacted me several, several weeks ago and wanted to surprise Daughter for her birthday. I was thrilled!!! It had been two years since we had seen them, and for one of them, Daughter was the surprise guest at her baby shower. It was time for payback, and it was HUGE! The friends arrived at about 3:00 this past Friday afternoon and we were sitting on the deck with a cool adult beverage when Daughter walked outside and realized who was there. And, if I had put my camera battery in the right way, it all would have been documented and you would be looking at pictures. But, I didn't so it is just committed to my memory and that of her friends. There will be pictures, but not of Daugher's mouth falling open when she first saw them. They had a great time, and when they left, Daughter was sad, and wished she had "just one more day" with them. But, on the bright side, we will see them again in a few weeks at a friend's wedding. We can't wait!

I have not had to work that hard to get ready for something in a very long time. I was keeping my household up and running, and trying to help Daughter finish numerous projects around her own house prior to the surprise guest arriving, and all without ever letting on to Daughter why we needed to hurry up and finish the projects. I FINALLY just said enough was enough for now, and we will do the rest later. A couple of hours before the guest arrived at my house, I even went to Daughter's house, made her bed, dusted one last time, turned on all the lamps, etc., just like she would do if she knew guest were coming. It was funny when she finally realized why I had been pushing her so hard for the last two weeks to finish everything.

I kept the grandkids all weekend so their mom could spend some time with friends she doesn't see often enough, and we had a blast. We went to the park, then got snowcones, then rode battery operated vehicles until they died, played in a large pot of water on the deck since we have not made our annual purchase of a swimming pool yet, ate lunch while we watched boats on the reservoir, ordered pizza, etc. They love to be outside and I try to take advantage of that on pretty days like we had this past weekend. I don't want them to ever be bored with G!!!

Grandkids - Part 2

The band gave all the kids blow-up guitars and BT never put his down. The drummer gave him his own personal drumsticks that he made at the end of the night. BT slept with them.

He loves music more than any kid I know. He sat in the grass and waited for an hour for the band to start playing so he could get up on the stage.. He is dripping with sweat, but he won't leave.

Just loving life!

This is the sweetest boy in the world. Of course, I am prejudice, but when I tell you he is a sweetheart, he is. He is affectionate and considerate beyond words.

I love this picture. We have several of the kids with their backs to us..

Grandkids....

Since I am still learning how to navigate the blogging system, the above pictures are in the wrong place.. I am trying to figure out how to put the words under the picture, and so far, I haven't been able to accomplish this.. Anyway!!!! This is BK. She is her mother's child. Absolutely. 100%. She was not switched at birth. She is independent, loves to be in the middle of everything that is going on, and doesn't miss a beat. She hates to sleep because she is afraid she is going to miss something. HER MOTHER'S CHILD!!!!

Daughter' Birthday!!!

Are my posts becoming monotonously about Daughter!? :)

Daughter's birthday is Thursday, and I have a surprise for her, but she can't get it until Friday. She won't be a fan of this waiting game, so I am not telling her I have a surprise for her. She would take off work and follow me around all day Friday if she knew she was getting something extra for her birthday, and I don't need that. I need her to work all day, until quitting time, so I can get everything in place to present her with her surprise. She has pretty much already received everything she is going to get from G and Man, but there is just one other thing... And, she would NEVER, EVER, NOT IN A MILLION YEARS, guess what it is.

More later!!!!

Painting...

Well, the painting is still yet to be finished. As amateur painters, we started out with really bad paint brushes, and apparently that is the key to a satisfactory paint job. So, Daughter ran to Ace Hardware, because it was closer than Lowe's, and bought two expensive paint brushes and we moved forward. What should have been two coats of paint on the front and back doors will now require a third coat because the first coat was put on with BAD brushes. Tonight we will finish the painting, at least for now. All the trim needs to be painted, but that will just have to be an ongoing project until it is complete. For now, I want a break from painting. I painted all of her bathroom cabinets, and trim in the master bath, and the trim and door in the kids/guest bath. Painting with oil base paint is very slow, but it covers better than the other options. Anyway, it is amazing what a coat of paint will do.. Everything is looking fresh and clean, and the Daughter with OCD was pleased with that for sure.

I am taking off the rest of the week, after today, to do some things around my own house, and do a few things around Daughter's house too. She has not yet developed "patience" and wants everything done RIGHT NOW, unless it interferes with an invitation to a crawfish boil or cookout. :) I told her I would dedicate a few hours to her yard and house one day this week while I am off. The kids are coming home Friday and our main projects need to be completed by then. We want it to be all about them when they get home after being gone for NINE days!!! I am very blessed in that I get to see them every day. I love it!!!