Monday, January 31, 2022

dumbness

This morning we took her to the vet for her lepto booster.   

It was the first experiment with a stressful situation since she started the Prozac a few weeks ago.

It went well.   Was not afraid of the vet tech at all, and strangers are usually a big deal to her, but not today.   She was not getting out of that car though.  I pulled on the front and Jay had to go around the other door and push from the other side.

While we were driving over there he asked where the little clip thing went for holding the cell phone on the dash.

Ach, was always falling off at random times.   "It's still here though," and I opened the center console. 

First a diaper, then a scissors, dental floss, a retractable measuring tape, covid masks.

"What are you doing??"   (That's what he said yesterday too, when I was watching poodle videos on tik tok.   I mean they were kind of funny, and poodles, you know.)

Plus you never know when there'll be a need for a diaper or a scissors.   Don't act like I'm crazy!  Plus, have you seen your van?  He just shook his head.

On the way home we stopped at the car wash.   The car was disgusting.  Well, Elin kind of hated it.  Her eyebrows were going everywhere at first, and then she crouched down in the back seat, trying to make herself small and hide.

And tonight Maria was here and we spent hours in the kitchen laughing.  


Thanks for making the last day of January the best kind of nice.

Love, MOM


 

Sunday, January 30, 2022

birthday presents

Behind her is one of the experiments that was in the science kit Maria sent her.  

They said this gift had come in the mail, but they didn't know who it was from.  The note didn't say that.  Well, Maria had mentioned to me that she'd sent a gift, but there was not a place to say it was from her.  

A couple texts confirmed.

Dannell said this is only the beginning. The kit has way more experiments.   The child is very happy about it.

When a kid is seven, birthdays are so exciting.  At basketball yesterday we handed off her gifts in the parking lot.  Later at home she opened them up.





Oh, honey, you make my day.   

Love, Grandma
 

basketball

All three teams won their games.     A couple games were close enough to be pretty exciting.

Jay was working on Kirsten's house yesterday, so I was on my own.  The big brother was helping coach.

These pictures aren't too good.   The camera grabbed focus on that lady's head instead of the player and they're running pretty fast.
 

Accidentally took no pictures at his game, so here's a nice one from his grandpa's wedding in December.
Afterward we went back to their house and hung out a while, ate snacks, played Don't Break the Ice, had the football game playing on TV, watched a kid do gymnastic stunts and hula, pretty easy going time.

Love you guys, Grandma and Grandpa
 

Friday, January 28, 2022

science fair

She came in third place in the Science Fair.   I heard she was doing something about ice melting and thought, oh wow.  Climate change is a big topic for a 5th grader to tackle. Wheee.

It was about a different kid of ice melting, more manageable and also an interesting project.

Way to go, Girlfriend!  I love you!

Love, Grandma and Grandpa and Everybody

 

working on the ceiling

As always, if you're involved in a project involving a ladder and saw and so forth, you probably want to have a big old dog right in the middle of everything.   She is sweet and funny, but she definitely parks herself right in the middle of the way.

It's getting there, so much work.  He's patient, measuring and cutting, nailing.  I have to stain and finish some more boards tonight.  The smell of it is unpleasant, but onward.  It won't get done without doing it.

Love, Val


 

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

happy birthday twins



We had a small, last minute party here tonight for his birthday.





He opened one gift with his teeth, just to amuse her:


They had energy galore.  Pandemic, super cold week, stuck in the house crazy.

It's amazing to me how much wild kids do not bother me when they're not my responsibility.  I noticed this on vacation at resorts in the past. Screaming, running, throwing things in the pool? I don't mind a bit.  It's nice, but I definitely wish I'd had a little more of this imperviousness when my kids were little.

But snide comments about their behavior would make me feel so inadequate and failing as a member of society in general, and as lacking in  responsibility toward them as improperly raised people.

Good Lord.  How ridiculous.


Squirrel out. It is January and nobody cares.

Cake time!





Happy Birthday, Buddy.  This whole family is lucky having you, and that's the truth.


And this sweet darling, his birthday buddy, pictures tonight!  Happy Birthday you beautiful girl!  I hope seven is the best year EVER.  You are so delightful in every way.  We love you like crazy.

Love, Grandma and Grandpa and Everybody
 

Monday, January 24, 2022

a fun monday

This morning a guy came to look at some broken chairs and a dresser to be repaired.  After that I went and got these guys and had a snuggle with their puppy. 

We stopped at the pet store and bought crickets for Lillian and then came back here for the rest of the day.

There were video games and ice cream, more snacks, lunch, a donut, art, Yahtzee, Bananagram.  They checked out the guinea pigs and played with Elin.


The day went by fast.  They didn't fight at all. They were very nice.
They had out all the nail polish and she teased her aunts.
Mondays don't come any better than this one.

Love, Grandma
 

winter saturday

Saturday we went up to Mark and Barb's to visit Jay's parents.   It was a pleasant afternoon in their cozy living room and we got to see Barb, Jenny, and Joe too.  

On the way home we stopped at Menards to get stain and varnish for the ceiling.  We bought cedar tongue and groove boards to put up.   The ceiling has not leaked at all in years and we're brave enough to attempt a ceiling in there again.


The boards come in these handy bundles.

It was very, very quiet around here.   Love, Val
 

Thursday, January 20, 2022

high school and so forth

They announced today that they're extending distance learning for another week.

It's not that there are so many students out with covid.  It's that they don't have staff.  Teachers have kids of their own with positive tests, short bus drivers and janitors, same reasons.

So.

She's being a good sport about it.  Pandemic high school, here we go again.

Her friend Hailey took these pictures and she's getting good at photography.

I love this pic too of our other pandemic student, doing college, Early Childhood Education, which is soooo lacking in actual children in all this. Glad her life includes time spent with children at least.

And this guy, an honor student, who said he doesn't want to do pandemic college, so he's not.  I definitely understand.  We'll see where time takes us.   We are living in a strange and twisty world.

Oh, this long winter is long.  It's barely rising over zero degrees F, and the weekend is forecast to be all snow.   We're fine, getting through it.

Onward.

Love, Val, aka MOM
 

band concert


It was a very nice band concert.   The director is enthusiastic and a good leader.  She gets a lot of music out of these young kids.

Nice work, Buddy!  Glad you're enjoying music and your hard work is paying off, plus there was the opportunity to play all together.

Love, Grandma and Grandpa
 

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

more youth basketball

It was a quiet weekend, got us out of the house anyway.
This game was fast and rough.  They did not win, but not for lack of trying.   So many shots just did not go through the basket.
But it was fun anyway, exciting game.

 Love Grandma